Amit Goes Blogging

The other day, I read in a newspaper about two separate incidents of a 9-year old and a 10-year old kid found involved in sexual activities. Reacting to this some activists opined that it's time we set-up condom vending machines in schools and some even talked of introducing sex-education from preschool. The incident and the reactions to it have both set me worrying about the future of human society. I pondered deeply on this issue. When I say deep, I mean to have begun from whether this issue has to be reckoned with as a problem in the first place, to identifying it with a cultural decadence that forebodes a doomed humanity. And, deep thought has always driven me to suspension of judgement. All the views and the counter views on this subject have only scratched the surface without getting at their implications. None of them seem to sufficiently gauge the magnitude of the problem. Those who have offered a solution seem more concerned about their view than the issue. Dread of p...

In this age of self-help books and personality development courses, certain one-liners have played havoc in the contented lives of the masses. These one-liners are sustenance unto millions who suffer from lack of self-worth. They are charged, as it were, with divine potency, making the repetitioner of them surmount incompetency. "Believe in yourself", "You have it in you", "You can do it" and many more such tug at the human gullibility for self-belief. You will agree with me when you see girls of all sizes and shapes flocking to air hostess training institutes. Girls, regardless of their vital statistics, seek admission into these institutes on the strength of that woeful one-liner, "Believe in yourself." And, none of these girls wants to work for a domestic airline. They want to be on the aircrew of either Kingfisher or Lufthansa or some renowned international airlines. Hats off to the counsellors who convince these girls into dreaming such s...

In the years gone by, I had the rare privilege of meeting some extraordinary people and even a brief time spent with them was a learning of a lifetime. Each of them had something to give unasked, something to share lovingly, something to evoke gently in me. Among them again, are a few sweet ones I hold close to my heart - my girlfriends of all ages. From them I learnt how powerful a women gets when she embraces her femininity. Their femininity comprises their tenderness, their innate charm, their subtle creativity, their vibrant love, their balmy touch, and other magical ingredients. Glamour doesn't define a woman; geniality defines her. It is one thing to be simply charming and quite another to be charmingly simple. It is all the difference of a rhetoric prose and an absorbing poetry, a difference of a moaning sensuality and an amusing lisp of a child; a difference of a booming excitement and a meditative repose; a tickle of a gossip and the solace of a gospel. These sweet...

'Live-in relationship' is a dream I have cherished since my college days. Not me alone, but innumerable others who are victims of a disturbing sex ratio, and are left out in the competition, also cherish this dream. It takes tons of good deeds of past life to enjoy this premarital privilege. Each day opening my eyes to a sultry face sleeping next to me; nudging each other, only to come back in snuggles till the rug tatters in the heat of passion; and, watch the girl grow shy on realising that we had slipped into each other's clothes - celestial feast, I say! But, will it ever come true. I shall celebrate the feminine presence in every nook and corner of my adobe. Wish to catch a glimpse of my fantasy? Standing under the shower, I would consider it Grace, if her brassiere hanging from the shower slips and hangs from my ear. Wow! And, I shall encourage this impropriety without ever complaining about her uncouth habits. Let her scatter things, turn the room into a maze but onl...

I never commit myself on issues that involve morality. But, history is a witness to the trade-off affected between morality and human advancement. Every social advancement was led by an impeachment of an older moral order, not to speak of the economic and the technological developments that mowed over the weeds of morality with gay abandon. But, society's doggedness to the moral sense is inexorable. I see three reasons for this. One, moral sense restrains the unruly spirits of men, which if left unbridled can lead to a social disorder. Two, one man's moral behaviour is in other man's interest, for self-abnegation is at the root of all ethics. Three, in treading a moral path, man shows his reverence for the past, which, to him, shall ever remain more glorious than his present. Every great principle, over time, get cluttered with non-essentials and expended in valuing the redundant. We choose a bunch of morals from the ones planted by tradition amidst us and discount them as ...

New year resolutions are not an individual thing anymore. Even organizations take a fancy to them. And, when the company management resolves to do something, it doesn't fail in its resolve. My company boasts of a free work culture and of promoting a sense of well-being among its employees. But, well-being cannot be stretched to employee welfare. There is a thin line that divides them and has to be appreciated. This new year marks a change in the attitude of the organization. Now, the cafeteria will not serve as a lounge and the time spent playing TT and carrom cannot pass for research in the timesheet. The movement to the cafeteria will now be controlled by a swipe card. And, employees will also have to manage their social contacts over the phone from their seats and not from the privacy of the cafeteria. Please inform your fiancé about this and ask them not to prolong their phone calls. People who got engaged and married while at Clarion report that they have hardly anything left ...

In today's world, smart work has eaten away at the importance of hardwork. To emerge victorious is all that matters. So, carrying chits to exams is seen as a smart option, especially by engineering students. Is it wise to invade the enemy camp without a fall back plan? (That's the introduction straight from a filler article in a tabloid!) There are different kinds of 'malpractioners' depending on their preparation and fortitude. This also decides the size of the chits that range from a list of formulae on a post-it to a mini photocopy of text-book. Most of the times, the battle is fought with only fortitude on one's side. The courageous (who rely only on fortitude) are thorough going cheaters and are looked upon by others for their valour. The amateur cheaters seek their guidance. They train them in the psychological warfare to be adopted in the exam hall. The courageous hold divergent opinions on things like where the chit should be hidden, the appropriate tim...

(Dedicated to all smokers and ...) I celebrate the unwinding that occurs as I breathe in the first puff of smoke. If breathing has ever been a pleasure, it was while smoking. Each puff that you inhale in a relaxed state is a unit of satisfaction. Well, four thousand chemicals contribute to your joy of smoking. And, once addicted, you admire your ready loyalty to it. It is a very subtle love affair that you strike when cigarette starts obsessively intruding your thoughts. And, this devotion thrives over all opposition. Neither the fear of being calumniated by society nor being put under oath nor the pinching of the purse nor a terrible denture nor the blackening of lips nor the statutory warning can derail you from reaching out to those 'coffin nails'. I am not undermining the harmful effects of cigarette. They are all there and every smoker is aware of its dangers. I am only referring to the sense of belonging one feels to the butt and how it carves a place for itself in our ...

Such a dreadful thought! What if it becomes a reality! I admit my fear although it exposes me as a male chauvinistic pig. The fear does not arise because of her financial independence but the financial might that mostly decides what is right in our lives (it also decides 'who is right'). Money and resources is what it takes to empower a man or a woman and also to overpower others. The spirit of manhood is something that a boy grows into. The idea takes root in him when he looks up to his father as the salvager when difficulties strike the family. He sees that a male figure heads the family in all its important decisions. I have no idea of how it is in other countries, but, in India, a boy is regarded as the 'lamp of the family' and before he merits such eulogy, he has to burn. Manhood is an outcome of gruesome severities of life that attend upon him. He is called upon to live up to his family's name. He pays a price for it. Education is the first ordeal that he is t...

As children, we end up performing such rare feats of bravery that have no parallel in our adult life. The games that we play, the conditions that we play in, the rules that we frame at these games match the valour of knights, only in place of a dagger, we had a heavy plastic ball or a rubber ball and instead of killing we had to injure that came very near to killing if you could see someone writhing in pain. It was a game of seven stones. The stones were arranged vertically one on top of the other. Boys divided themselves into two teams and would throw the ball, by turns, at the pile of stones and scatter them. If the other party caught the ball before it fell on the ground, the team lost a point. Otherwise, the team that had scattered the stone would rearrange them. It was not as simple as that. We had to arrange them while dodging the ball hurled at us. Sometimes, when the 7th stone was about to be enthroned, the ball would come aiming at your eye and blind you for the evening. ...