Category Archives: Random

When I started Crocheting…

Image April 1, 2014 jcisnowjs 4 Comments

Recently I got a new Hobby – Crocheting.

It turned out so much fun that I am kinda hooked on it, literally. 🙂

But it’s not the first time I hold a crochet hook in my hands. In fact, I don’t even remember, when I did it the first time. :O

I must be in 6^th or 7^th standard, when I got enrolled into Home Science classes. I didn’t wanted to, as cooking and home science was an alien subject to me at that time. I would have preferred meeting an alien than joining a home science class. Only problem, it was compulsory to attend. All the girls have to take home science as one of their subject.

What does being in an Home Science class meant?

It meant that I have to learn about decorating a home, have to show my cooking expertise to my teachers, have to learn crochet and sewing too, in short, have to learn everything that a good girl/women should know in order to run a household. Phew!!!

It was the most difficult subject of mine at that time. But since I was too little to do anything on my own, I was sure that my Mother would aid me. Actually, I hoped that she would make all the stuff for me, and I will simply take all the credit. Silly me. 😦

My parents come from the value system where helping someone means aiding them in doing stuff not doing it for them. Now I can understand how it has helped me in making me what I am, Independent. But at that time, I was so disappointed just knowing that I have to hold the crochet hook in my own hands to complete my assignments.

My Mother introduced me to crochet and I made few patterns also. One lamp cover, handkerchiefs, and may be a television cover. I don’t remember exactly, was it a table cover or a television cover. I hated it. Hated it so much that I was happy to change my school next year, just because then I won’t have to attend home science classes any more.

I didn’t liked the classes but I liked the way all girls used to compete with each other. Showing their art and craft in the most stylish ways, sprinkling them with color bombs, adding every known and unknown glittering thing on their projects. Their food didn’t tasted good but it looked as it had directly came out of a master chef’s kitchen. The fattest teachers used to judge the food competition, and she used to look at the food as if it was a piece of art in an art gallery. I hated that particular teacher for that particular day only. Sometimes, I used to think that one day I’ll become a teacher so that I can splurge on all these tasty delicacies made by students. LOL. What life ambitions I had?

Now that all this is over I am happy to pick up my long lost hobby of Crocheting and I am enjoying it this time. Till now, I have made a baby cap and boots and one waffle stitch scarf.

Let’s see how far it goes this time.

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Story of Kavita – Enslaved in The Name of God, Helped by Mortals

Image February 5, 2014 jcisnowjs Leave a comment

Kavita seems to be an ordinary looking middle aged woman working her way out to earn a living, but look deep inside her eyes and you will see the pain and humiliation that she has gone through. To make the matter worse, what happened to her was done all in the name of God. How can any God be so merciless to deny a girl the right to study, right to stay with her family, right to have a family of her own, right to have a decent relationship in her life, right to marry a man, right to dream, right to be her.

Kavita was a Devdaasi, translated it means Slave of God. In actuality it means more than just a slave, it means married to the God for her entire life, but serve all the Men.

Devdaasi was a very old system practiced in India. Some say that it is still active in some of the rural villages of India. In this system, girls of 5 and 6 years of ages, were given to the temples, where they were married to the God in big ceremonies. The girl thus married to the God, can not marry anyone else, and served all her life in the temple as a slave. But, this was not all. Girls who were married to God, had no free will and thus mostly she was forced into prostitution. Only god knows how many girls have faced this humiliation of serving these devilish desires of men. Irony being a prostitute has a right to say no, but being slaves a Devdaasi didn’t even had that right. They were just reduced to being a Temple Prostitute.

Now that this practice is almost in extinction phase but still the ones like Kavita, who have come out of the system are working hard to make their ends meet. Being a single mother of two teen age children in a small village of Karnataka, India, she finds it hard to even manage the school fees of her kids. To top it all, as the stigma of Devdaasi is attached to her now for permanently, she and the likes of her do not find any job opportunity. Only thing that is left for them to live a dignified life is to start their own small business.

How can you Help Kavita?

Kavita has started a small business of selling textiles. But she needs more support to scale up her business. Her friends Kasthuri and Mallava also have the same stories. They are in buffalo and goat rearing business. What all of them need is some support from all of us so that they can scale up their business, and help their families to build a better future. These 3 women seek a loan of Rs.45,000, repayable over 18 months, to expand their small scale businesses. To help them and learn more about the cause, please visit Milaap’s site here.

Milaap and Mass are NGO, working with ASSET India Foundation for the empowerment of these women. These organizations are helping these women to come out of the Devdaasi system by providing them small support to start their own business and be financially independent. They are also helping their kids against human trafficking and giving them opportunity to study.

You can help Kavita and her group by lending her a helping hand in scaling up her business by lending a loan. In case you can not lend a loan, then do spread the word so that others who can, come to know of her plight and help her.

Please visit the Milaap’s site here to help Kavita. Because slavery to Man or to God, slavery is still slavery and there is nothing more valuable than Freedom.

Help her.

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Story of Few Unwanted Hairs

Image January 13, 2014 jcisnowjs 4 Comments

I love photos. Love watching them, love clicking them and love being in them(only when I am looking awesome). Point being, I love Photos.

Now, what did a photo has to do with Unwanted Hairs?

Well, long story short, I was watching wedding photos of a friend. She was looking damn beautiful! On this note, why do every girl look so beautiful on her wedding day? Why not everyday can be a wedding day, as long as looks are concerned. :O

Coming back, she was looking beautiful in each of her photograph. I was admiring her each posture, her smile, her dress, venue, flowers, everything was so beautiful. Beautiful, until I saw long black and very visible hairs on her hand. (yup, only hand). She was sitting with a flower bouquet in her hand, those long hairy arms, suddenly an image of a hairy male (Anil Kapoor to be precise) popped in my mind with a wedding dress and a flower bouquet in his hand. The girl who was looking so beautiful to me, suddenly she was not. Am I that shallow? 😦

I am generally not. I don’t judge people based on their looks, dress or size n shape (except when we are talking about their brain size). I started questioning myself, why is this bothering me too much? What’s wrong with having hairs on your legs or arms (going no further)? Why do we women torture ourselves (I actually feel pampered when I do so) to get a clean waxed look? Is it just for looking good to others? What is the need to have waxed legs, even when you are not showing them?

Maybe, some of us ladies won’t get so bothered about it. I know men would do. They would prefer a female who is clean, waxed and not at all hairy (That’s my perception of males :P). So, do we wax ourselves for the opposite sex? Maybe. But, is it the only reason?

Thinking of it, it’s kind of ritual now for females to go for a full bikini wax just before their wedding. All know the reason. 😛 Then why didn’t my friend did so. Was she trying to make a statement? Or was she too busy that she totally forgot about it. Or it doesn’t matter to her at all. :O

Maybe, it’s all three, or maybe none. Well, for me I can say that I prefer a clean and waxed look, but it’s because I like it that way. Body hairs feels dirty and unhygienic to me. Maybe hairs on someone’s hand do not contribute much towards unhygienic mess, but it’s my pick to be hair free. Frankly speaking, underarms hairs disgust me more. Have seen some ladies with hairy sweaty armpits in gym, and it’s gross. Really gross. Female or Male long underarm hairs are a complete no no. But still, it’s a personal choice and should always be. So, it should not bother me if someone else has a different belief. Well, lesson learned. (self talk helps 🙂 )

I saw those pics again, and this time, it didn’t bother me. Not at all. She was looking beautiful with a broad and confident smile on her face. 🙂

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Delhi Election 2013: Best thing that has happened to congress so far.

December 10, 2013 jcisnowjs 4 Comments

Elections for five states are over, results are out, and what a performance…..

BJP: Pass,

AAP: Distinction;

Congress: Fail (actually, if there can be anything worse than failure, then that).

Celebrations, sorrows, amusement, anger, disappointment, excitement; so many emotions are there on social networking sites. If we leave Mizoram results behind then it’s a really poor performance by the congress party. Lost 3 ruling states Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, with a big margin to opposition and couldn’t even shake the throne of Shivraaj Singh Chauhan from Madhya Pradesh. Most intriguing were Delhi’s results, with AAP ( a completely new party/ideology) emerging second largest after BJP.

I am not really comfortable calling AAP a party, it’s more of an ideology. Ideology of Anna, which was hijacked and then carried forward by Arvind Kejriwal. People have voted not for AAP the party but for the ideology that AAP stands for, for the values that AAP has shown, and for the honesty that people were craving for in the political system. It’s a whole new world. Who could have thought that a party which is actually just a year old will rattle heavyweights Congress and BJP with their marvelous victory of 28 seats. I bet, even Kejriwal hadn’t thought of winning by this much. But, this is not an easy road, It’s easier to talk about good and honest governance but it’s a totally different ballgame to actually provide one. With rumors of re-elections, it is not clear whether AAP or BJP will form the government in Delhi. But, my wish is to see AAP as the ruling party. I don’t want Kejriwal to sit in opposition and call out media conferences every time they do not agree to ruling party decisions. I want them to rule, and deliver every promise that they have made for winning election. I want them to provide transparent and good governance. I want them to prove that they are not just an ideology, but party with a working and practical ideology.

Our very own party with difference:BJP, is gaining momentum with each passing day, courtesy none other than Mr. Modi. But, if the current election results are any indication then other than Modi there are two major factors that are favoring BJP. These factors are poor governance of congress on national level and good governance of BJP in BJP ruled states. It was the good governance of Shivraaj Singh Chauhan in MP, which has proved once again that there is no other alternative. It was the anti incumbency voting in congress ruled states, which has translated into success for BJP. To top it all, BJP has a charismatic leader. A leader who has proved his governance, his decision making abilities, his motivational and inspiring persona and above all a leader who is not heir to a popular dynasty but rather has risen from somewhere within us. Narendra Modi. Right now, he seems like the only leader who has the vision and a will. But, is it enough for BJP, enough to come to power? I am not very sure. I do believe that there is a “Modi Lehar” but BJP will need a “Modi Aandhi” to actually sweep away all the big and small obstacles (regional parties) and come to power in center. Till then “Dilli abhi door hai”…..

Coming back to from where I started – The Congress. Oh my dear Congress, what can I say about you. It looks like that you have seen the worst in Delhi elections, but believe me this is the best thing that has happened to you. Why I am saying this? Well, to start off, you needed it, you needed that big jolt, a thunder lightning or a “zor ka jhatka”, just so that you can see the reality. Just so that you can see where are you headed to. This is the best thing happened to you, because now you can open your eyes to see. Look around, you are surrounded with parasitic Yes-Men.

I feel amused when I hear some of them asking to declare Rahul Gandhi as congress PM candidate for coming elections. Why? Do you want to end his political career? It’s too late now, there is no option other than defeat, then why do you want to make Rahul Gandhi a face of failure. Spare him this time. Think about what you can do to minimize the margin of your defeat. Make some changes, drastic one. Do something, or at least pretend, that you are doing something. Exercise your PR, not through media but through social media. We all know media is paid, we don’t believe in journalists as much we believe in trolls on twitter. If you can’t do anything futile, at least try to be humble, show some respect to voters. India does not live around 10 Janpath anymore. Shifting is in progress, you better book your movers and packers. See you at the other side……

Capital punishment: Delhi faces President’s rule (dnaindia.com)
With 78% strike rate, Narendra Modi helps BJP decimate Congress in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh (dnaindia.com)
Congress scorched by BJP’s massive wins (thehindu.com)
Who did AAP snatch the seats from? And BJP? (jayajha.wordpress.com)

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Boss and Employee Sexual Relationship: Who is using whom?

Image November 22, 2013 jcisnowjs 2 Comments

Boss & Employee Sexual Relationship — Boss and Employee Sexual Relationship

Indian media is going frenzy with the allegations pressed against the “Tehelka” Magazine editor “Tarun Tejpal”, of sexually harassing a junior journalist. It is shocking to see a renowned media person involved in such a crime, but more shocking is his statement “I feel atonement cannot be just words. I must do the penance that lacerates me. I am therefore offering to recuse myself from the editorship of Tehelka, and from the Tehelka office, for the next six months.”. Read full letter here.

Is this enough? I don’t think so, moreover who is he to decide what punishment he should get? I am quite miffed by this incident, but intent of writing this post is not to talk about this case. Intent is to share my thoughts on the Boss and Employee relationship; relationship that is more than just office work.

Men and women working in an organization together is pretty common, more common is the healthy flirting that goes on between them in the office environment. I am calling it healthy, because this could be a way to break that sexual barrier/tension between the two sexes. But where to draw the line?

Answer to this is not very simple. It actually varies from person to person. Depends totally on the how the other one is going to perceive your gesture. But it’s never a good idea when the two person involved are Boss & Employee or Senior and Junior. If one of them has the power to influence the appraisal or work assignments of the other one, than they should not be, more than the friendly coworker.

Having worked in major organizations for more than seven years, I have witnessed few of such incidents. One that I would like to cite here, is that of a manager who was giving some extra attention to a female employee working two ranks lower than him. It came in notice when that female employee got promoted way before her scheduled time, even when she was not working on any active projects. Manager got sacked, and girl got promoted, again.

Sometimes it’s the other way round too. I have seen many girls, specially in IT field, who are surviving in the industry not because of their knowledge but because of their other skills. One senior manager once asked me to give good ratings to a girl working under me. I objected, as she used to spend more time in coffee breaks and arranging parties in office, than in completing her assigned work. The girl was positioned under another team leader, the very next day. A cute smile, a gentle pat and a little twinkle in your eyes can get you a long way. Long long way…. 🙂

To share a funny incident, once I have seen a guy, helping a girl in distress by trying to write a Java software code for her. Funny thing was, he didn’t even knew what Java was. He couldn’t complete her work, but he did manage to sit with her for half the day. What did the girl get? She managed to get the attention of her team leader, who than sat with her for other half of the day, to complete her work.