Blog@GraceJunction

Lehmann Brothers is not the only people to be facing the brunt of the economic slowdown but rather it’s also the layman on the streets who is equally suffering. One of the major reasons of this worldwide financial crisis is the piling delinquencies and defaults on loans which have left all major financial institutions reeling under the pressure of mounting losses and the increasing pressure from the investors and management to salvage all that is slipping out of their hands.

The effect of the monster sub prime crisis has lifted its ugly face in India as well. Most of the financial institutions are going through a tough face, cost cutting at its peak, hiring freezed and firing and laying off employees seem to be the way forward. The only people who seem to be keeping their jobs are the Collection and recovery agents, the nightmare for any defaulting customer. (more…)

Three boys aged six ran a “sex club” at a Brisbane state school demanding and receiving sexual favours from girls one year their seniors! The Brisbane father said his son was one of a trio seen performing various sex acts in a toilet block.

His revelations came as uproar was sparked by another story, which told how the sexual assault of a seven-year-old girl by a young classmate was dismissed as a “childhood experiment” by a country school principal. The young victim was forced to perform oral sex on the boy who had threatened her with violence.

Meanwhile, on the Sunshine Coast, a gang of nine-year-old boys has been accused of “grooming” children as young as five to engage in sex acts. Investigators were told victims were rewarded with candies. (more…)

Ten thousand years ago the agricultural revolution launched a slow wave of change. The industrial revolution, starting roughly 350 years ago, triggered a second – faster – wave of change. In the mid-1950s the United States started on the path to a completely new kind of economy – one based on knowledge rather than muscle power. This is part of a gigantic wave of technological, social and cultural change. What we’re living through now is history’s third great wave of change – one that is arriving at hyper-speed and is global in extent.

This new way of life – it’s really a new civilization or, for that matter, a “super-civilization” – is spreading out from the United States and has cells in many other parts of the world, from Japan and Singapore and China to India and Brazil.

The first phase of this current upheaval is the digital revolution and its social and cultural effects. The next phase is the fusion of the digital revolution with the genetic and biological revolution. (more…)

Last week I happened to visit a nationalized bank after a long time. Frankly speaking I expected to see some changes in the office premises and the attitude of the employees. Not that all of them were the same always, but there were some branches whose employees were extremely helpful and courteous but I was talking about the approach adopted in these competitive times.

When I went to the counter to enquire, the officer just pointed me to another desk without even looking up at me. When I confirmed the direction, he just nodded and seemed to not care. The next experience was not too good either, a middle aged lady was handling some customers and wore a frustrated look, probably because of handling a continuous flow of customers from the morning. My problem seemed to evoke some interest on her face when she realized that she can get some easy deposits but that too disappeared when she came to know that I wanted to continue it at another branch of theirs. What followed were the same old pointers with fingers without much human touch. (more…)

Every morning I approach the news papers with the fear of getting de-sensitized. Today for instance, The Times of India, Ahmedabad Edition carried news about an act of unnatural proportions – Man having sex with a calf! The matter was brought in to light due to the animal protection activists you may read the entire article here.

Thank God, there are at least some people in the society (People for Animal) who think that there is something called as evil / wrong and the matter was brought to light. A voiceless animal found some one who could fight for its cause; unfortunately our big mouthed society has none! (more…)

There is a magnificent story in Marie Chapian’s book “Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy”. The book told of the sufferings of the true church in Yugoslavia, where so much wrong has been perpetrated by the politicized ecclesiastical hierarchy. That which has gone on in the name of Christ for the enriching and empowering of corrupt church officials has been a terrible affront to decency.

One day an evangelist by the name of Jakov arrived in a certain village. He commiserated with an elderly man named Cimmerman on the tragedies he had experienced and talked to him of the love of Christ. Cimmerman abruptly interrupted Jakov and told him that he wished to have nothing to do with Christianity. He reminded Jakov of the dreadful history of the church in his town, a history replete with plundering, exploiting, and indeed with killing innocent people. (more…)

“If we can have BMW and Mercedes Benz as two separate companies, why can we not have the Indian Premier League and the Indian Cricket League”, a beleagured Kapil Dev!!

Poor Kapil Dev, one of the best cricketers India has seen, is fondly remembered for his 175 not out against Zimbabwe. That innings probably was a turning point in the way batsmen approached the One Day game ever since. Kapil’s face is always recollected, lifting up the Prudential Cup, with a Haryanavi smile that reflected his Indian Soul! (more…)

His glittering teeth would have got him millions of rupees had he been noticed by any toothpaste/toothbrush manufacturing companies. I had always found it one of the most endearing smiles in the world. But that day it was devoid of all that spirited charm and excitement.

I asked him, “What happened Pappu?” (that’s what they called him. Plus, I never bothered to ask him his real name)

“I was really enjoying my vacation back home in Rajasthan. I had really begun deciphering my cousins’ school textbooks but my uncle called me back to Ahmedabad,” said the 7-year-old.

Like many boys of his age, Pappu has been working at this tea-stall in front of my office building. And while I may try to be righteous enough and complain to my colleagues of how these kids are deprived of their basic rights, I end up like others apparently doing nothing about it (while it is now I realise I could have done something about it…not that it’s too late.) (more…)

Usain Bolt is “too” tall to be a world class sprinter, Mike Friedman “too” fat to be an elite world class cyclist, Stefan Holm is “too” short to be a champion high jumper, and Erin Donohue is “too” short and stocky to be a star middle-distance runner. Yet all of them are Olympians, athletic anomlies, bucking conventional wisdom and somehow rising to the same arenas as Michael Phelps and Dara Torres.

Its amazing, how much man relies on statistics to make decisions, be it the vital or the numerical kind. But these wonderful people have attained that which has made experts revolve in their chairs and just confess, “It’s a mystery“!! (more…)

Ahsaas Channa, 9 year old, and having just finished working on Phoonk, the much awaited Ram Gopal Verma horror flick, insists that she’s a regular kid who likes to go out shopping with her mom and throws tantrums so that her mom buys her a doll. But as soon as cameras roll, she becomes a professional!

I would like to work with Aamir sir and Amithabh(ji). No more suffixes like ‘uncle’ intended. She praises Darsheel’s work in Taare Zameen Par but feels that she would have done that role better! She goes on to say that Aamir Sir and Yash Chopra are the best movie makers in the industry and that they can bring out the best in her! Ramuji is an amazing director, she adds. She has found that she likes challenges and she would like to do a role that challenges her skills, like Rani Mukherjee in Black. She has concluded that boys are big time losers and that she can easily bully them around. (more…)