Blog@GraceJunction

The latest buzz in the field of science, technology and particularly robotics is: Will machines overpower man?

Recently while watching NDTV, I saw about robots possessing human emotions of “love” being created! The highlighted question was: Now that the robots are being advanced to the extent of being capable of expressing human emotions, along with superpower, strength and intellect, will robots replace humans?

So man does seem a bit bothered about whether machines will overpower and replace him. Ironic as it is, the existence of man is under question, and that too by his own creation! (Can I take the liberty to imagine God saying, “Now man will know how it feels.”) (more…)

It was 7pm and I was fuming.  Nothing had gone right for me.  The ideas that I had painstakingly worked on all week were dismissed by my boss in less than three seconds. 

A colleague had promised to help me get through my deadline but conveniently forgot.  My cellphone service provider threatened to block my outgoing calls if I did not pay the bill till the end of the day and worst of them all….my paycheck arrived…and the young upstart who joined the company yesterday was suddenly earning more than me! (yes…I sneaked into his payslip…come on, my suspicion wasnt without reason!!) (more…)

Picture this: A young marketing manager in his early twenties living in a posh locality and earning a handsome Rs 60,000 per month (and thankfully a bachelor) is contemplating suicide.

And why not? The guy just finds out that he is supposed to pay equated monthly installments (EMIs) worth Rs 80,000. No wonder, the very thought of burly collection executives thumping at his door might be giving him sleepless nights.

But who is to be blamed? The one who takes such loans or the one who gives?

From the time when applying for a loan was an ordeal to a time when it has been made a child’s play, the sheer availability of money has led many to take the plunge. From the time when providing all the right documents to assure your credibility to the bank or a financial institution was like walking through fire, to a time when one can avail credit even through a phone call. (more…)

Ghaziabad, April 26, 2008:
In a grotesque incident, three educated sons of a UP Power Corporation engineer, along with a cousin, punched, kicked and beat their mother to death with a rod late in the night believing that she had been possessed by the spirit of a dead relative.

The violence didn’t end there. The foursome then tried to ‘‘sacrifice’’ a sister-in-law in an attempt to bring their dead mother back to life. They also beat up and injured their sister, her husband, the husband’s father and two sisters, when they tried to intervene. All except their brother-in-law, Rohit Kumar, had to be hospitalized. The gruesome drama lasted for a hour and half. (more…)

People across the world give great importance to their names and the name of their offspring’s and loved ones. So much that, the name of an individual gives a first impression these days about them and their background. A survey pointed out that British parents spend 30 million hours a year picking the names of their newborn child. The survey also pointed out that most parents felt, choosing the right name can be crucial for their children to get on in life. Parents agonize for up to 45 hours over the name of their child – a combined 30 million hours annually in Britain. One in three parents believed the right name can give a child confidence while up to 2 million thought it could help their child’s career. (more…)

In these present times, perhaps the most defensive word used by most people is “excuse me”. People do not do what they have to (and they have an attitude that reflects it too) and then they use these words as a shield to save themselves! These two words are used in every area and aspect of life e.g. for not reaching school or college on time, not reaching office or violating the traffic rules etc and the list is endless. We have excuse(s) for everything!

Why we use these words is because we do not want anyone to blame us for not doing things in the proper way or at the proper time. We want to avoid doing them and then we also want to go scot-free and unrestricted. It only shows our lack of sincerity towards most of the things we do (or we are supposed to do). We take things lightly without even trying to know seriousness or gravity of it. (more…)

“India tops the world in suicides among teenagers. Exam stress and depression are key reasons but other urban pressures are taking a heavy toll” says the cover note article of India Today magazine.

Here’s the sketchy view of the article:

• 16 suicides a day or 6000 a year is the rate at which teenagers snuff out their lives in India.
• 2006-07, 5875 students took their own life. ( NCRB)
• Every 90 minutes a teenage tries to commit suicide.
• But every 6 hours, one succeeds.
• 56% teen suicides in the country are reported between March and July, every year
• More adolescents die of suicide than AIDS, cancer, heart disease, obesity, birth defects and lung disease.   (more…)

A lot has happened in the last decade or more. The face of India has evidently changed, but more alarming and worrying is the change in the soul and fabric of India.

I will just highlight one such issue to make my point about this decade of decadence.

A news item in a national daily a few months ago described a sorry tale. It was about the sorry plight of the widow of India’s one of the greatest music directors – late Sachin Dev Burman. Mrs. Meera Dev Burman, the lady in distress, is also the mother of another great Indian musician – late Rahul Dev Burman, and the mother in law of the one of the greatest singers of the Hindi film industry, Asha Bhonsle [nee Dev Burman]. (more…)

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression….” States the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a declaration that was later adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

Also known as Article 19 of UDHR, it permits freedom to hold opinion without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. It extends not only to books, theatrical works and paintings, but also to posters, television, music videos and comic books - whatever the human creative impulse produces.

A Yale art major, Aliza Schvarts wants to make a statement. Beginning today i.e. 22nd April 2008, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself “as often as possible” while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process. (more…)

Hey Gigibhai your blog on the act of forgiving (Priyanka Gandhi forgiving to forget), is what inspired me to write this sequel. Thanks for that blog it was very touching and very well written …

Evil, can never be fought and won, evil has to meet its equal or more powerful rival, before it can be (eradicated) stopped. Evil was the act of bombing and victims were those who experienced the loss.

The effect of every evil deed continues even after the actual crime is over, as evil would continue to haunt and terrorize the victim by bringing in painful memories, hatred, vengeance etc.. Even though the victim of a crime may come to terms with the pain and loss, evil at every step will continue to victimize the victim ! (more…)