Job Vs Passion Vs Practicality

Job vs Passion have been discussed in detail for a very long time, but still new perspectives have been popping up every now and then.  To add more flavor to this discussion, I have added in "Practicality ," which I personally feel is the determining factor in the Job vs Passion discussion.  I have seen people asking the young ones at home, What do you want to become when you grow up?  I hope we all have been asked the same question.  Many of us would have answered engineer,  doctor and lot of other famous professions while we were still scribbling  crayons or playing with clay and toys.  When we became teens, some of us started exploring the love for arts we had inside and wished that we become singers, musicians, artists, chefs, sports persons, writers, poets and more (I know there is very BIG list).  What I am trying to say here is that lot of us have had passion towards the arts side - but still resisted it and moved on with life.  One of the reasons why passions step back in life is because of the background.  I  have seen people labeling passion as hobbies (personal experience here).  People at home always say hobbies are good, but when hobbies start to transform into something big like passion we could hear something like this - "My son/daughter, I seriously think that it is time to spend more time on your studies and career."

The entire blame cannot be put on the parents or other influencers in life.  As people grow up they start to think more about career than passion which initiates the burial process of one's passion.  I strongly  believe passion never dies until you kill it (others cannot kill it).  I am convinced that one needs a lot of courage to pursue their passion than a regular day job.  To worsen things more, after getting married and having a child , the burial process of passion accelerates - but still not dead.

I have seen people complain that they are not able to pursue their passion because of their job and constantly blame their jobs.  This is not true as they have voluntarily pushed back their passions during education  itself.  I mean do not blame your job, you have started the process early during your education, then why blame your job? that was the time when they started thinking about career over passion.  Nowadays, so many students pursue engineering and other professional courses rather than arts and science degrees.  I doubt that those pursuing engineering and other professional courses are passionate about their field of study - I am very confident they aren't.  I have met a lot of engineers and have found only a few very passionate about their specific field of study.

I have talked in detail to a lot of my friends regarding why we have pushed aside passions back (some still call it as a serious hobby).  Each one of them came up with a very complicated long story which can be  represented by a single term "practicality."  They consider these long stories (practicality) to be an excuse to put back their passions.  They all forget the fact that this practicality is the key to roll back your passion and give life to it.  Making small changes to the hectic schedule and there you can balance your passion with work.  This post is not going to be about how to be passionate on your work.  That is a very researched subject and as I always Google is our best friend and you can find a lot on that there.

The big question comes now.  Is it easy to pursue your passion while you work? I want to be very honest here, not at all easy.  Next question from the married ones, do you think it is worth to spend your free time off work on passion than family?  Absolutely if it is a passion.  One thing to remember is that pursuing your passion off work is easy (relatively) when you are not married.  It is very hard to pursue your passion once you have your own family and a demanding job - but where there is a will there is a way and we could definitely make it happen.  I am not trying to be very optimistic here, but in reality I have been able to satisfy my passions considerably.

I love music.  I love cooking.  I love photography.   I love parrots and I have a companion parrot (very time demanding one).  I have a long list here as I have transformed my passions into serious hobbies - I believe it works that way rather than looking at it like passion.  On the other hand; I love my Job and I love my family very much.  This is where '"realistic practicality" comes in.  You may wonder how I am able to manage this long list.  It is pretty simple - organize and Prioritize.  This empowers you to handle time more efficiently.   I have a demanding full-time job but still I  am able to play drums with my friends during the weekends.  I  also find time to experiment with cooking in the mornings (squeezing in little time to quench your passion) before I get to work.  I spend everyday a lot (really a lot) of time with family after work.  Once in a while grab my camera and take some pictures and snug it close during the weekends and whenever or wherever I drive my car.  I also play online video games like CounterStrike and BattleField2 online very frequently.  While doing all this, I am also able to put in a few blog posts and take post requests from my wonderful little group of readers.  A very important note for people with multiple passions like me - you have to give more importance to your "main passion/passions" and less importance to "side passion/passionss" - prioritize that is what it is all about.  There is nothing wrong in having multiple passions and I have met a considerable number of people with many passions - so we are not "odd and different."  All I can say is do not try to confine your passion into a "single one" or a "small list" but do remember to have a limited list or a single "main passion" which is what your heart yearns more for than the others.

When the life demands to put a restraint to your passions, please do not try to bury them.  First of all, stop questioning yourself, why I have not become what I wanted to be?  This is life and we do not know what life has in store for us.  Do take passion along with you for a wild ride in LIFE.  Yes it is possible and definitely not exhausting because passion gives you more energy and recharges you.  If you do feel exhausted that means that is not passion at all.

As usual I have steered away from what I wanted say.  My blog posts are never planned and I type out as the idea flows out of my mind.  I think I have made a lot of points (complicated ones as usual) and I  would like to conclude this post with a small concluding note (may be a little long one).

PRACTICALITY is something which lets you BALANCE your regular JOB and PASSION.   You have to understand that you took a regular job because it was more practical.  Also it is practical to pursue your passion while loving your family and work.  I strongly believe if you are not spending some time on your passions you are definitely not HAPPY and if you are not happy you can never be passionate on your work.

Wait!!!  Passion for work - Yes I mean that.  Am I passionate on my work? definitely, a big YES.  A new question arises now in Lovecriminal's mind, How do you find your work to be passionate? Thank God - I think I have got an idea for another blog post "How to work with passion."  Sorry guys, our friend Google brought around 257,000,000 results for the same and do not like my post to be the 257,000,001; may be 257,000,001. Just Kidding !!!!!

 

Boy Girl Relationship / Friendship - Call it the way you want it

|||||||  This post is not intended to provide any relationship advice |||||||||| 

This post is about LoveCriminal's views on boy-girl / men-women relationship.  I have been getting repeated requests from my regular readers to write a blog post on my opinions on opposite sex relationship i.e. boy-girl relationship in case of teens or men-women relationship in case of adults.  I have been trying to dodge this topic for quite some time because I was a little unsure about this topic and something was preventing me (dunno what).  Anyway the time has come and here goes the post which I dedicate to one of my regular readers who  I wish would not like her (yes it is a 'she') name to be mentioned.  I would like to say thanks to her for making requests and inspiring me to write more.

If you want to find the reason why boys and girls (I also mean men and women throughout this post) crave for a relationship or friendship with the opposite sex, you obviously cannot find one.  I think it is  kinda situational because nowadays men and women can be found mixed together at almost every places (both at study and work).  The desired relationship can be either friendship, romantic one, a physically attracted one but I believe it it is mostly something like "everyone has a boyfriend or girlfriend and I should also have one."  The main mistake people make while starting a relationship is forgetting to define it.  I agree that human relationships especially the opposite-sex ones are unpredictable.  I have seen so many friendships ending up in wed locks.; likewise a lot of romantic relationships biting the dust in the long run.  We all do not know what life has in store for us, so do relationships.  I feel it would be better to define your relationship right in the beginning especially for the girls because you do not want to be snogged or caressed (no vulgarity intended) while watching a movie with your so called best friend.

This obviously does not mean that girls are innocent and pure.  There are exceptions in each gender.  Obviously, I have come across a few women who were very successful in maintaining diverse relationships (romantic, friendship and physical one) with a considerable number of men at the same time.  I have seen some desperate boys and girls making statements like "a boy and a girl can never be friends without being sexually attracted at some point."  Even though "sex" is a natural urge in humans, it does not mean that this sexual intention coexists with friendship.  It exists and is the main stay in certain relationships beyond friendship, something like friendship with benefits (casual relationship). - I will save a post on this one some other time.  Surprisingly, sex plays an important part in a considerable number of relationships (except "simple" friendship) - it may not be what the word means but just some snogging and caressing (which can be innocent too).

The most critical element in a relationship is commitment.  Without commitment, the relationship will tumble down so soon without the individuals knowing what happened and why it happened.  Do not ask me to define commitment because I am not good at defining complicated terms. like commitment.  According to me, commitment is not  magic to happen immediately; it is a slow process and is built over time and understanding.  Commitment does not mean that either of the two in relationship are having a romantic run, even simple friendships could benefit from commitment and can transform into something wonderful to treasure.  But remember, commitment does not mean  being possessive.  You have to respect your partner, they have an active social life too, they have the right to hang out with their friends (even the opposite sex ones).  Do not put down rules like whom they should interact with and whom they should not.  Too much rules and possessiveness are reasons why many relationships do not last.

I have come across many girls breaking a relationship by changing their mobile numbers - that means running away from the relationship.  This is not a smart idea in my opinion.  Every relationship has its own good and bad times and obviously the other person has the right to know that the relationship has ended and both can move on with their life.  It is easily said than executed - I know.  Try to put forward your reasons for breaking and listen to the other partner.  The other partner will definitely have a series of questions if they really want to continue the relationship.  If you can definitely answer their questions - yeah it is time to break the relationship.  If you can't answer them, I would definitely say about thinking twice because it is like you are trying to distance yourself than breaking the relationship.  If you still want to end the relationship, try to say as calmly as you can in a very neutral environment and try to make them understand.  Hopefully, even they are not convinced completely they will accept the reality in time and move on with life.  Breaking up hurts both  for the "dumper" and the "dumpee."  Breaking up can make your heart break but it will heal through time both for you and your ex ? (relationship goes here).

You may have a question like this, "hey lovecriminal, you have a given a short post on boy-girl relationship and what about friendship."  Lovecriminal believes friendship is also a form of relationship and obviously every individual would have celebrated, celebrating and will celebrate a lot of friendships and why talk about this more.  If you do indeed want a post to know LC's perspective on this "BUZZ ME" on the right column.  I completely agree with Dior Yamasake's quote "Friends are the most important ingredient in this recipe of life."

How to make chicken kothu parotta at home

I got requests for posting recipes (not slide shows and pics) after my blog post "LoveCriminal also knows to cook - Recipes on Demand."  As usual I got a little busy over time and it has been a little over a month since I posted anything related to food.

Today, I am going to share my own way of making Kothu Parotta.  I did a lot of research on this topic both on the web and on various Thattu Kadais and have come up with this recipe.  Yeah, a complete recipe this time.  I understand that my readers got a little irritated with my KFC Chicken Bucket Clone Recipe (Read it to know it).  I am bad with numbers but I have honestly tried to remember everything  this time.  I hope  I would be able to type it out on this blogspot Dashboard.

I have had best kothu parottas in Madurai.  I have seen people in Madurai boasting that Kothu Parotta actually originated there.  I can strongly say that parotta and kothu parotta will stand forever as a symbol of Thattu Kadais of South India, especially Tamil Nadu.  The ingredients and method of preparation is almost the same everywhere but each kothu parotta you have is unique in taste.

When I was young, I could hear the metal spatulas being hit vigorously on the iron girdle by the infamous parotta shop masters.  Then those spatulas transformed into metal cups; then they started cutting and tearing the parottas; I have even seen a shop which uses a mixer grinder to mince it.  The best kothu parottas I ever had are the ones my father used to buy for us at home (many, many years back).

I have never done any cooking lately, but today morning I decided to make some kothu parotta as I had some frozen parottas in the refrigerator and also some chicken curry made by my mom intended for idlis.  I prefer chicken curry over sambar - hope most of us do.  Here comes the chicken kothu parotta recipe,

Ingredients:

Onion -  2 cups chopped; Parottas - 8 nos. ; Tomato- 1 (medium-sized); red chilli powder-1 tbsp. (table spoon); eggs - 3 (4 would be better - I used only 3); chicken curry (if it is really spicy 1/2 cup is enough - depends on individuals); shredded chicken (from the curry); salt to taste; and curry leaves (fresh ones would be great).

Note: If you don't have chicken curry,  you can use the 'salna' which comes free with parottas in street shops - but I strongly urge you to use chicken curry. I will post the recipe of the curry soon (can't wait  - Google and YouTube are our great friends).
 

Before firing the stove:

Finely chop the onions.
Cut the tomato into thin slices.
Shred the chicken in the chicken curry.
Cut the parotta into thin slices (see above).  Refrigerate them for a few hours - this will greatly help while cutting.

After firing the stove:

Step 1:  Saute the cut parotta pieces along with little chicken curry (5 tbsp or more to taste).  Saute till it slightly browns as shown below (Kadai is better - I used a saucepan (kinda addicted)).

Step 2: Saute the chopped onions with salt as needed and a tbsp of red chilli powder (add more or less as per the hotness required).  Once the onions start to become translucent move them to the opposite side and crack 4 eggs (I used 3) onto the other side and make it like scrabbled eggs.  Then mix everything together on the saucepan (eggs and the onion).  Add a little more curry (5 tbsp or more to taste).

Step 3:  Add in the parotta pieces and mix them thoroughly and smash them as much as possible (thinking of a person you hate helps).  Next add in the shredded chicken pieces taken from the curry and mix them.  Throw some fresh curry leaves along with a drizzle of oil and give it a light mix and switch off the flame.  Place the thinly sliced tomatoes over it and let the tomato steam for a few minutes.

Step 4: Very Easy (Eat it or pack it).

Happiness Outsourced :)

This post is going to be about BPO industry in India and how it has been keeping thousands of Indians "happy" - hence the title "Happiness Outsourced."  This is going to be a quick short post by me and this post does not intend to analyze the pros and cons of working in a BPO, so please do not leave comments of the same - may be I could save it for another post.

BPO is a segment which constantly keeps on growing  without looking back in the ITES industry.  Companies with international market presence (especially US and UK) are convinced that outsourcing a process to India means effective and efficient work flow at reduced costs.  The ITES/BPO sector has grown so big in the past 10 years to a point where we could find several successful BPO units running even in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.  Few years back, this industry was restricted to Tier-1 cities (Mumbai/Chennai/Bangalore rocked and still rocks).  Today it is a different story, companies in Tier-1 cities are looking for options in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities due to reduced infrastructure costs and possible quality work force.  India is recognized as the world's best destination to outsource and it is because of the large English speaking Internet savvy youth available and the unique geographical location.

I remember hearing the word BPO first time in the late 1990s while I was still at school.  I never knew the real meaning of the same at that point of time.  The first outsourced service I remember is medical transcription which spread like a wild fire with new units mushrooming everywhere.  I was very skeptical about that industry but later on had a very long satisfactory run working in the same industry.  The BPO industry transformed greatly in the early 2000 as state dominated telecommunication services where pushed backward by private telecommunication providers.  It was the time I started to hear words like "call center," "inbound," "outbound," "voice," "non-voice" and many.  This time I was able to understand all these jargon because I had a couple of friends working in call centers.

As years passed by, whenever I visited Chennai or Bangalore I could find MNCs establishing subsidiaries of their parent companies in these cities.  As I worked for one of the leading health providers in  the US,  I could avail only the US holidays and the US weekends.  Whenever I needed a break, I used to hit the cities as I had friends and family there.  On these days,  I could find a large number of  BPO executives hanging out in all kinds of places -  they were everywhere - call it theaters, pubs, food joints.  It was like you could find one every 2 steps you take and they were very sociable.  Some of these executives (good friends of mine) I met were very outspoken and I felt as if they were bringing in a new cultural shift  - obviously now I could say they (we) definitely did.  On Monday evenings, the scene shifted and I could find the same large number of people hooked on to their mobiles and going to work - the same group which buzzed all the "hangout spots" sometime back.  All  faces going to work - happy.

BPOs have helped the Indian youth greatly.  I remember reading somewhere that almost 70% of  today's Indian youth work for BPOs.  They help fresh graduates to jump start their career as an executive and get attractive pay packages - making these jobs the best option for everyone with English language skills could get their hands at.  I dislike people when they say that BPO culture is bad and it has promoted the "pub" culture and also the "casual sex" culture.  Pubs existed long before BPOs existed and they were busy during the old times too.  The media has been very successful in amplifying news on sexscapades of BPO executives although everyone know the fact that it can happen anywhere and not limited to the BPO industry alone.  BPO executives are classic examples of the tweaked corporate cultural philosophy 'work hard smart, play party hard.'  I do not intend to get more into the "culture," will save it for another post - may be.

I honestly feel this post needs a sequel and definitely I will post one with more deeper insight.  Here comes the last few lines of this post:

I have been working in this sector for many years and so do lot of good friends of mine and I always feel that it is not just work outsourced by companies - it is indeed "Happiness Outsourced" which keeps thousands of Indians like me smiling and happy 24x7.

 

Japan Earthquake talks to the World

It will be a month in a few days since Japan experienced a massive earthquake.  The 23-foot tsunami  (it is a Japanese word) triggered by the earthquake shattered Japan's coast and engulfed homes, cars, boats and THOUSANDS OF LIVES.  I was heartbroken by the images and videos in the media.  In spite of this tragedy, on close monitoring of the situation I found Japan people to be very unique.  No wonder why Japan is called the land of the rising sun.  The world grieved for what happened in Japan - "hope, hope, hope, and infinite hope" is what I found in Japanese people on how they faced the disaster.

I still remember December 26, 2004 (Black Day in the history of India) and the memories still bring out tears.  I particularly witnessed the tsunami torn areas.  Me and my dad drove through one of the tsunami struck shoreline minutes before the tsunami hit the shore.  I remember seeing the sea waters bubbling.  It was a close death call but me and my dad were fortunate to survive that black day.  I remember women and men crying and running and beating their chest.  There was chaos everywhere.   It was in contrary in the case of Japan.  I could see people staying extremely calm and there was absolutely no chaos.  Everyone behaved normal as though they weren't hit by a natural disaster.  I wonder how they  remained so calm where everybody else would be panic stricken.  Their faces reflected the grief  but not fear -  strong minds and I bow down.

The Japanese people never stopped surprising me after the natural disaster also.  I could find them standing in queues in superstores to buy groceries and daily supplies like water and fuel to name a few.  I also saw a picture in which people were patiently waiting for banking services in a temporary makeshift arrangement.  I could find no pushing or fighting among the crowd.  Everyone were patiently waiting for their turn.  It showed how well the Japanese people understood the situation and behaved accordingly.  This was very much surprising - they looked so much organized.  I could find them patiently waiting for trains or other transport modes.  People behaved as if nothing happened (comparing the magnitude of the damage caused) but obviously we could see their grief struck faces.

I have seen movies on World War II where Japanese soldiers came attacking with bayonets against the Allied Forces equipped with 50 caliber machine guns and Thompson machine guns.  They were so brave and would sacrifice their lives for the country.  I am not going to key in more on this as America and Japan have a very bitter past.  Thanks to the U.S. Marines who extended invaluable helping hands during this disaster.  Now let me talk about the real heroes - about more than 50 people including workers, medical staff and scientists who battled  to save the Fukushima nuclear plant and their fellow citizens.  The radioactivity level was 10 million times higher than the usual level and still these brave men fought bravely and pumped water in and out and brought the situation (ticking time bomb) under control.  They have made great sacrifices which will be remembered through generations.  The Japanese people are greatly indebted to these heroes.

I viewed many videos in YouTube and I found ships hitting bridges and ships breaking into pieces.  Many people were taking amateur reality videos from their homes of the tsunami and the earthquake.  Did those people believe that Japanese construction can withstand anything? Lovecriminal can't answer.  Many houses were washed away but some (may be a few) of the big structures cracked, partially collapsed and stood still.  The bridges and roads  showed massive cracks. With an earthquake of such an high magnitude some of these partially collapsed buildings stood as evidences for the reliability and strength of Japanese architecture.

I stood up with the entire world during the Japanese earthquake through my prayers.  I never thought of writing this blog post until a good friend of mine Shabi Jordan wanted me to write a post on it.  I told her that this earthquake has got a lot of coverage and all I could do is pray for the victims.  I went through photos and videos of the disaster and the above thoughts on the earthquake struck my mind.  In spite of the great damage caused by this natural disaster - the Japan Earthquake talks back strongly to the world .

Bloggers Vs. Journalists

Who is better?  Blogger or Journalist - this is not this post about.  This post is about who is the 'best' out of the two. The blogger vs. journalist debate has been going on for quite sometime and probably ever will.  I am an infrequent and casual blogger and still my opinions are not biased.  I have great respect for reporters and journalists (though not all of them).  It is obvious that bloggers evolved from journalists.  Journalists have been existing long before the internet and digital age.

I am more famililar with blogs and I do feel most of the bloggers are not biased (not all).   Bloggers have the habit of writing what the news is from a reader's perspective - as it is mostly.  Journalists do have a tendency to be biased (there are good ones too) on what they write because they do not want to create unwanted feedback.  They are very cautious. The bloggers on the contrary never mind about the positive or negative feedback they get on what they write.  Journalists write down articles only to be read  by the public.  Journalists never get any reader's views on their articles.  They analyze and write the article keeping in mind who are involved and how to write it out in a professional manner (extrinsic factors).  The blogger on the other hand keys words straight from his heart (heart usually speaks the truth) - and it is definitely amateurish but good.

I Googled and came across a study which I would like to share.  PR Week and PR Newswire in its study done in mid-2010 came out with a fact that 52% percent of bloggers considered themselves to be journalists.  This shows bloggers are not at all casual in what they do even though they sit and write from home.  Bloggers consider themselves to be journalists because they understand their responsibility in bringing out real facts.  Most bloggers are more famous than journalists who cover news from the same stream.  Political views of certain  influential bloggers are gaining great momentum lately.

Let us dig a little about technology news now.  Basically, the way people search for news and reviews have changed lately.  Technology magazines just cover the specifications of a specific product.  Bloggers do a detailed review of a product and key down the pros and cons from a user perspective.  Most of the buying decisions are based on reviews on blogs rather than articles on magazines or newspapers.  This means bloggers have more influence on the consumers than technical writers and journalists.

Bloggers spread the news much faster than their main stream media counterparts.  Once a news hits on a specific blog - we could find it being exploding in Twitter, Facebook and other major social medias.  The blogosphere also brings diverse opinions (people-centric) on the same topic.  In the case of journalists, mixed opinions can be found (biased to either party involved in the news) very rare.  This is because main stream medias are owned by influential persons who have biased views (this is purely my perspective - correct me if I am wrong).

Blogs are taking over main stream media and this has led to all major main stream medias to have a number of dedicated blogs written by eminent journalists and bloggers.  If a journalist writes on a blog it is a news article on a blog - not a big change.  These main stream media companies should hire fresh talent available in the blogosphere who would be able to create unique content which would not reflect the news article.  Most mainstream media blogs have blog posts which reflect their news article (Mirror).

This post is not intended against journalists.  There are lot of good journalists around and they always will.  There are reporters and journalists who are not biased and bring truth the way it is.  They are persistent and determined to bring the truth and in order to bring it out they work in unpleasant and life threatening environments (journalists in conflict zones).  Internet is the lifeline of this century where people with diverse opinions connect and you cannot give a news based on journalism ethics - you have to understand the audience and transform.

Journalists and bloggers are doing the same thing but in different formats but their target is the audience.  Journalists have a "PRESS PASS" and bloggers have a "BLOG PASS."  The first one is physical and hard to get while the latter one is a piece of cake.  You can easily start a blog on Blogspot, TypePad, WordPress and more. Now, who is the best?  both, because they both are one (almost except method of exporting the news).  I have seen credible, reasonable, misleading (3 major types) of journalists.  Likewise, I have also come across honest, reasonable, doubtful and misleading bloggers.  So where are we now? Bloggers Vs. Journalists again.

Why I don't vote - voting does not change anything . . . . .

I have been reading a lot about elections lately in the newspaper.  I am a kind of person who does not put in new posts quite often.  I know it has been quite a while since I updated something on my  blog and here comes a post  - "Why I don't vote?"

No caption needed - picture tells it all

Some years back, like the majority of us, I too believed in voting even though we knew the fact that our single vote would not matter  (statistically).  I never believed that my vote could change something nor felt like I am part of a large group of people deciding on who would guide the country for the next few years (deep in my heart  like everyone of us, I always yearned for better conditions for everyone).  It gave me a feel like, may be your vote matters, so do vote.

My views on elections started to change as I discovered more and more about what is reality.  I believe people are good (I mean the voters) but not the politicians.  I do not want to blame the people, but the reality is they are easily tricked by extremely corrupted politicians.  Every time we vote, we vote with good intentions hoping for something good for everyone.  The candidates (some people are seasoned politicians - some others may represent common people) of the election may sound good until the elections are over.  Once they win the elections, they are not the person we thought them to be (we are tricked as usual).  We have to understand the basic fact that we all have evil in our hearts (including me) and when someone passes a test called election - he or she signs a contract with Satan (sorry to bring you in) and evil dominates their good intentions (even if they have any).  Sadly, it is obvious that even good people cannot contribute anything good to the society after being elected.  These people transform so quickly and starts enjoying decayed politics.

When you do not vote - YOU WIN

In the recent years, I have made a strong decision  that I won’t vote.  I never will cast votes again to select evil again.  My decision on not to vote anymore may seem 'pretty unfair.'   I do not care about anything you might say because I have heard enough arguments from people on this regard.  I am very much convinced that what I do is right.  You can call me liberal, antisocial, impassive, apathetic and more - I feel very much the same for people who vote and never witness any change - you gotta be on my side.  Most of us believe that voting is a process through which we can change things.  I feel sorry for people who think that people who don’t vote are not even fighting.  People ask me why I don't vote and during the end of the conversation tell me not to complain because I am not taking part in the democratic system.  Sorry folks! this isn't complaining - this is explaining my stance and how I feel sorry for you.

As I do not vote - it does not mean I approve the person who is elected (I am also familiar to arguments like these).  I would like to present another perspective on how your vote counts.  When you vote and someone is elected - it means you are giving them the right to rule you and whatever they do it  reflects your will (all the evil things like scandals, wars, unwanted policies, extra layer of taxes and more).  When you vote, you become a creator.  Unfortunately, you are creating something evil.  I wish to live in a world where my hands are clean and not bloodstained - so I do not vote.  People campaigning for votes are the people who have a lot of time and a lot of money.  Election is a process which measures who is more professional in "tricking people" and common people march towards the polling stations like scapegoats.

I ain't against democracy.  I encourage referendums to be conducted in all war torn regions to form new nations and elections to be conducted to select their own leaders.  Unfortunately, all democratic countries are not ready to conduct a referendum because if they give this right to be exercised - they will fail and majority of the people would vote against them.  This is the reason why a referendum is not conducted either in Kashmir or Tamil Eelam.  Mass graves are solid evidences of genocide in Lanka and so do other media evidences - but the International Community turns a blind eye and is not ready to conduct a referendum there.  That makes democracy a scam.

Stop coining words like young democracy, biggest democracy and hoping things will get better.  The bottom line is we all have tried for a change through generations and it has not worked out.  Even if I cast a vote - it would be nothing different, statistically also.  Politicians give fake promises during campaigns relying on your vote and after elected do not work based on your vote, but they work based on their own desire, party's desire, community, regional, or other special interests.

I never expect to bring any change to the world.  I consider elections to be disgusting - waste of time and money (mainly because it is not serving its purpose).  I have made up my mind that I will not be a part of the damage it creates deliberately through generations and I will never participate in this process to keep my hands clean from selecting evil people in power.  I feel free when I do not vote and I know I am different than most of the others - I love to stay that way.

I am winding up this post with a quick quote,

        Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil. ~ Jerry Garcia

Celebrating Women's Day

The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it. 

~ Roseanne Barr 

I strongly believe in this quote and find myself privileged to key in a special post for women on International Women's Day.   Every women around the globe will be celebrating this day and we could see on news lot of rallies all through the world on March 8.  I wish every single woman around the globe Happy Women's Day (sad fact is everyone cannot be happy while the world celebrates - that is reality - we will try to dig a little more in this post on that) . I consider this day to be a great opportunity to express my gratitude to every women in my life; family, friends, and women at work place and every single woman I have met and will meet throughout my life - you could find them almost everywhere.

Not only celebration:  There is nothing wrong in celebration - who said girls should not party?  party hard ladies -  you got to celebrate this day because being a woman is a great boon given by God - I believe.  But aside from all the celebrations, the main focus should be on establishing and maintaining equal rights and opportunities for women.  I have seen Women's Day being observed like Valentine's Day and Mother's Day - giving gifts to women of importance and praising women and so on.  I may sound a little different - no quite different, Yes, I am.  I believe Women's Day is all about taking the women's issues seriously and addressing them.

Autonomy:  I find this is the right time to key in a few words on autonomy.  Women should enjoy the quality of being autonomous - yes 'enjoy,' I mean it.  In a patriarchal society, autonomy is enjoyed only by men.  Women are foolish (sorry to say that) if they expect their male counterparts to give them permission to enjoy autonomy - that kills the definition of autonomy.  If you expect someone to decide what you do - it means you are dependent and not autonomous.  The term 'womanhood' according to me means an adult woman who is autonomous and not dictated by neither men or women.  The main reason for me stressing on autonomy is that if women start to function autonomous most of the feminist's issues will be addressed and we could witness a positive change - a welcome one.  Sexism would try to hinder the autonomy of women, but women should take a pledge this Women's Day to be autonomous.

Women in India:  Okay lets take quick peek at status of women in India.  Women in India are held back mainly by the gender roles they are expected to play in a patriarchal society.  Most men regard themselves to be more powerful and superior than women and this leads to prejudice.  History tells us that in ancient India, queens enjoyed equal power and sometimes even greater power.  We could also find a variety of goddesses being worshiped by Indians for centuries - powerful goddesses.

Today, the status of women has tumbled down.  We console ourselves by reading about a few successful women in the media, but still the status of women  in India is in now way comparable to other western countries.  We still read about women being tortured, raped and killed on an everyday basis.  This shows clearly that India is not shining.  If a country records frequent violence against women - it reflects the human values of the whole country.  We could find the female body being used commercially to bring in more sales to a wide range of products and flesh sells like hot cupcakes in the cinema industry.  Women are merely considered to be entertainers and puppets in the hands of sexists.

Signing off:  I would like to wind off this post with a few things that  I feel women are unique about.  The unconditional love they provide has no 'ifs' and 'buts' - no strings attached love.  Next one is the smile they are armed with.  When a man smiles its just a couple of muscle moving on his face, but when a woman smiles it is the smile in her heart which moves her lips to give out a smile.

Keep smiling ladies :)

Budget 2011- What is in store for common man?

Food and Fuel prices may come down because they are exempted from central excise duty.  Food prices have come down a little in the recent times, but definitely fuel has seen historical rises.  May be the cut down in central excise duty will make the regular fuel price hike a bit slower than being turbocharged. The price hike will try to grow with inflation and not over beat it in the short run.  Not much expectations from the government in this sector because the government always fails to stabilize these prices.

Farm equipments to cost less as customs duty is reduced from 5 percent to 4.5 percent.  The government has subsidy schemes but it reaches only the big land lords and small time farmers are having a hard time staying alive in India.  It is a day-to-day challenge for them to survive.  Surely, the Zamindars will add more tractors and equipments and reduce the man labor – and not pay back the agricultural loans..

Packed food items and snacks like flavored milk, chips, supari and ready to eat (microwave and eat stuff) will attract more excise duty.  This might result in less obese people in India – lets see.

Branded dresses will cost more as they attract excise duty of 10 percent.  Already, people are paying more for the brand value and thanks to government for making things much better (sarcasm).  Non-branded guys – make your collections bigger – we love you.

Raw silks will definitely be cheaper as excise duty is slashed from 30 percent to 5 percent.  I think this would not apply to designer bridal collections – see above (brand).  More weddings? Yes definitely, we need to contribute to the “GROWTH” of India – I meant population.

Quality treatment to cost more as the government has proposed service tax for treatment in private hospitals with more than 25 beds and air conditioning facility under the service tax net resulting in 5 percent tax.  Health check-ups will also attract service tax.  Doctors and Government have joined hands in stripping the patients.

Prices of Vaccines other than those which fall under National Immunisation Programme, will increase as they will attract a concessional duty of one per cent.  Vaccine prices are already rocket high – may be will chip in a little more with the grace of government.

Textbooks and stationery will cost more because of new layer of tax without CENVAT credit facility.  The government has been very kind enough to give importance to education (sarcasm).

Steel prices to come down which would reflect drop in prices of items using steel.  Steel prices are greatly influenced by international market and demand – so not much to come down.  My digestive system is not programmed to digest steel – don’t know about my readers.

Legal proceedings will also become costly (more costlier) affair – thanks to Mukherjee (sarcasm) for proposing service tax to cover all legal consultations, except individual to individual.  Lawyers can milk their clients better now.

Mobile phones to be costlier because of being listed in 130 items which would attract 1% hike in Central Excise Duty.  It would not have an effect because of other factors which constantly brings prices of mobiles down like technology becoming cheap.

Cars could cost less or the same as per budget because of no change in excise duty rates, but a rise in car prices is being expected because of various factors.  I feel there is no chance of car prices going down and chances are there for a small hike in prices.

Hotel accommodation will definitely be costlier with hotel stays attracting service tax of 5 percent (if tariff >1500).

Jewellery is exempted from central excise duty.  It might stabilize the hike in prices, but not bring the prices down because of continued demand.  The budget states labeled jewellery (I do not know what they mean – may be BIS marked or 916 KDM or branded ones like Tanishq) now attract 1% excise duty.  This hike in excise will definitely not make women happy.

Liquor is again a big victim to budget.  Air conditioned bars and permit rooms attract more service tax.  I think more people will move towards the famous TASMAC playing the role of landmarks in every cities in Tamilnadu.

Hybrid cars would cost less because of reduced duty.  Not applicable for CBU (Completely Build Unit) fuel guzzlers.  Hybrid cars are just entering the Indian market, so it would not reflect much among car enthusiasts.

Air travel will become much costlier due to raised service tax.  Business class tickets would set pockets on fire.

Raw silks will definitely be cheaper as excise duty is slashed from 30 percent to 5 percent.

 “Money is like a sixth sense - and you can't make use of the other five without it” -  Somerset Maugham

Spirituality Vs Religion (I am not an atheist)

I would like to begin this post with a quote which made me 'THINK' a lot,

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." - Steven Weinberg

I would like to open this post with a note that I am not an atheist.  I have strong faith in my religion and my religion has taught me a lot about virtues like peace, love, compassion and definitely no violence at all.  My religion is all about showing love towards fellow humans.  I would like to not to boast on my religion as I am afraid that my valuable readers would find this post to be biased towards my religion.  This topic is a  very critical topic which I believe would be valuable to diverse group of people having different religious faiths.

RELIGION = PEACE [Is it reality?]

Basically, religions date back to thousands of years and so do religious scriptures.  Every religion has its  major divisions with conflicting opinions on their scriptures.  Religion and spirituality sound like similar terms, but they are not.  I strongly believe religion should always be accompanied by spirituality to make the  world a better place.

What is religion?

We all know what religion is, but still I referred many dictionaries and came across so many definitions.  The main keyword is 'belief' in something that one strongly believes to exist and abide by its way - God.  Religion is supposed to control one's life, steer his or her life in the right direction.  So basically there is nothing wrong in religion - then why do conflicts rise in the name of religion.  A religious person believes in rituals - obviously rituals are not wrong as they are part of religion (but not spirituality) . Likewise,  some religious people spend more time in reading scriptures and tend to misinterpret them.  This leads to chaos and shakes the fundamental purpose of religion - peace and a better world for everyone.  Religion does not encourage doing something bad or evil in the name of God, it reflects love and love and hate can never coexist.  Some people are very good enough to find "hate scriptural lines not based on God or religion but by their own perspective."   This  is done by so called religious leaders of all religions. The love of a particular religion and the set of beliefs should never lead to formation of evil cults which indulge in fighting and killing people in the name of religion.  One cannot achieve martyrdom by being a suicide bomber  and destroying other religious monuments - no offense intended on any religion.  Religious conflicts are like a chain reaction and it is very hard to break the chain - but can be prevented.

What is spirituality?

Most people equate being spiritual with being more religious, being more close to God, believing more in God and more.  That is true and acceptable, but spirituality cannot exist without reverence.  Reverence is the feeling of profound awe and respect and often love (American Heritage Dictionary).  Spirituality is a simple concept than religion - but hard to understand.  Spirituality looks upon scriptures using inner mind's enlightenment.  Only a person who has discovered himself or herself will be able to take the path of spirituality.  Religion closely coexists with spirituality.  Spirituality is never influenced by extrinsic factors, so it is more divine.  To define spirituality in a sentence, spirituality is the feeling of accepting God in one's heart and believe that God lives inside them.  All scriptures portray God to be very kind and forgiving and through spirituality a person can attain this perspective of looking at life.  When religious beliefs  are powered by spirituality a person would have no hate towards members of other religions.  This leads to peace in a community, city, state, nation and world.

What is religious tolerance?

Religious tolerance helps to control the bloodshed based on religion.  Spirituality helps a person to be more tolerant towards other religions as spirituality is based on reality and inner mind - inner mind is always pure and good in a spiritual person.  Religious persons are not very tolerant towards other religions because they rely more on literature and inspired by speeches given by their religious leaders.  Still many religious leaders have been able to have considerable amount of tolerance towards other religions - but far less than the spiritual ones.  In reality, spirituality increases religious tolerance and thereby unity.

I don't want to extend this post any further as there is no shortage of religious and spiritual leaders across the globe.  They preach to millions of people.  If these individuals are able to embrace spirituality plus religion, human race will never be divided based on religion.  If people follow their religions with a spiritualistic approach, it is the path of love which would lead the world to peace.

All religions must be tolerated... for... every man must get to heaven his own way. 

~Frederick the Great

 

Lovecriminal also knows to cook - Recipes On Demand

Eating good food is great, but making good food is even great.  When I cook, I feel like an artist, painter, sculptor, engineer, programmer, writer, singer and more - I am not crazy.   Luckily, most of my trials at kitchen turn out to be good - I have had bad burnt ones too :(.  When the recipes turn out to be good, people often ask me to write those recipes for them or send them via e-mail.  I am not good at writing (especially writing recipes :P) so I have barely written any recipes (except the KFC one for which I got mixed responses - some say it cannot be called as a recipe because of lack of exact measurements).   I am not  like the famous Captain at KFC who deliberately want to hide the recipe.  I love open source and hate proprietary softwares.  I strongly believe that ingredients and measurements are "eater-specific."  I also do not measure things while I cook.  To make sure everything is good to my taste or the people who eat them (I ask them how hot, salty they want it - texture, MSG, more soy and more) and do a "Nakkify test."  I hope people know what test I mean.  A few drops on your hand and lick it - you will never go wrong and if it needs a fix, make changes and repeat the test again.

I would like to quote something here to support my point,

Good painting is like good cooking; it can be tasted, but not explained. - Maurice de Vlaminck

The good news is that I am planning to put in recipes in this blog on demand.  I also have a couple of guest bloggers who are willing to share their recipes here.  The most notable and notorious one is going to be  my friend Aarthi's blog called Yummy Tummy.  She tries new recipes over weekends.  She says she is inspired towards cooking by so many cooks like Nigella Lawson, Anjum Anand, Aarti Sequeira, Rachel Allen and many more.  Honestly, I have no clue who these people are - will Google and do some research on these guys.

You can request for recipes using the comment box widget.

This photo stream has a few pictures of Lovecriminal @ work in the kitchen.

Thats all on this post folks.

Life is a roller coaster . . .

I regularly come across people who say life is great, good and very good all the time.  They say they are happy always.  I envy them (not much) - at the same time I have a serious doubt in what they say.  No one can sustain being excited and happy about life always (just like 24x7).  We are supposed to have a few good times, a few or more bad times coming in cycles (random cycles) - that is life.  Life is like a roller coaster ride - definitely not smooth.  If a roller coaster ride runs straight and swift - it would definitely be called as a train ride that means nothing.  The real excitement of life is the unexpected happenings it has in store for us.

We have to understand the fact that life is filled with ups and downs.  We cannot help changing it - things happen eventually.  We are charged up when something good happens to us ; on the contrary we totally get drained out when something bad happens to us.  Actually, you have to stay charged high when you are down to push you out of it.  Likewise, do not waste your energy when you are having a great time - cos as you are feeling good you need no extra charge to propel yourself.  If you are too charged ,  you would get high and start to tailspin or burn yourself out because of the extreme charge.  Reserve the power for a tough day - it may not be that far.

There is no 'brake' available during the ride to take a pause in life and think, but before you strap yourself you know that you are in for a wild ride.  Everybody knows the fact that life in reality will not be fair all the time - but they forget the fact that they sometimes have time for preparation. 

Sometimes life will just go like a swift ride - circling the same place (you do not even know what direction are you headed too) - sit back and relax because you might either get a spike or a downfall after this short circling. which would need more of you.  You have to realize the fact that the ride is gonna be wild and you gotta stick with it till the end.

 This video does not reflect anything written in this post.
The title of this song inspired me to write this post.

Tips and strategies to face this ride?

Take the ride with a pessimistic approach (preparing for the worst) which would season you to face difficulties better as you are planned.  During the ride you will have spikes like marriage, children and a whole lot of good things in life - you do not need any help during that time.  During the worst times - transform into an optimist and start looking at brighter things in life like,

• if you have money problems - you have a job and you are healthy, you can come over it through time.
• if you lose your job - you could find a better job, may be it was time for you to change your job.
• you fall sick - you know you could regain your health or at least you are not dead.
• (you can approach all the problems this way)

A small tip is to look at yourself in a mirror and say "this is worse but definitely not the worst - that makes this worse a little better."

Easy to say, very difficult to follow, lets try taking life this way.....