We are a people with pliable moral and ethical standards. Chalta hai, jugaad, we are like this only, kindly adjust, tedhi ungli, patli gully are cute verbal disguises for dishonesty. Taking liberties with the letter of the law has alway been okay. +

A watchman in our society, on an average, lasts 3 months. Just when we get a hang of each other's eccentricities, he disappears. So you have to start all over with the new man. 'Don't ever ring my bell twice... I carry my bags myself, thank you... '. And so on. +

Rakesh was different. He looked 16, though he was 21. Wide eyed, eager, sincere to a fault. He would magically get to the gate before you could honk, he'd never miss a courier, the water tank never got empty on his watch, the cars he washed sparkled. +

Before Rakesh, we had a run of disastrous men. He was like Kapil Dev walking in at 17 for 5. In a couple of days, we knew we had a keeper. Like those animated drops of lubricant in Castrol ads, Rakesh was everywhere at the same time, keeping our Society humming efficiently. +

Residents competed with each other to offer him a snack, a cup of tea, a t shirt from a sales conference, an old mobile phone. They all made small talk with him. Like writers on a talent show production, they discovered his back story. Jaunpur. Sick father. 2 sisters. Cows. +

He worked days in our society. And nights at another. He had no home in Mumbai. Yet he showed no signs of fatigue. Even Mrs.Menon had no complaint. That's saying something. Her last complaint was, '..the watchman makes loud noises brushing his teeth... unacceptable..' +

My father likes to brag. Specially about his athletic abilities. Truth is, he does manage to catch the toast before it falls to the floor. At half his age, I can't do that. "Keeper's reflexes", he says. The rest of us exchange 'there he goes again' glances. Mom just smiles. +

We've heard his 'I could have played for India' story a few times. About how one dropped catch in a crucial match cost him his India berth. How he quit the game after that. And became an actuary. Instead of people studying his stats, he studied theirs. +

It's true that his keeper-reflexes have saved many a pickle jar, egg, and tea cup. He has thumbed his nose at gravity so often. we jokingly call him Rakesh Sharma. He'd have preferred Kiri or Rod or Alan. +

Here's his story. Years ago, his team was one wicket away from victory. The opponents two runs away. The pitch was crumbling. Dogra bowled a beaut. The ball pitched and reared up. It took the bat's shoulder and sailed towards him. That was the India cap flying into his hands. +

Tragically, along with the ball, a clod from the disintegrating pitch flew up too. Dad's eyes stayed on the clod. While the ball mockingly wafted by him. And rolled over the rope. It was a catch Kachra could have taken. +

Bill Bernbach, the most quotable of all the advertising Gods, once said, "It's not a principle till it costs you money.' It is only as an entrepreneur (I wish there was a less ostentatious word for this), that I fully understood the genius of that simple sentence. +

Every now and again, you meet a moral dilemma. They are the most troubling kind. Unlike the 'sambar daalke ya alag?' variety of dilemma. I'm talking about business opportunities that come with the faint, or not so faint, whiff of blackness in the lentils. +

We live in a grayscale world. Viewed through multi-hued glasses. A world where doctored and engineered have unflattering meanings. Forget about squeaky clean, nobody even seems to be scratchy clean. Even hallowed seems like a typo for hollowed. +

Shouldn't we take briefs at face value? After all, we are communicators, not investigators. Shouldn't we take shelter behind caveat emptor? Pass on the legal responsibility to the client and the rest to the customer? +

We are sloganeers and image makers, aren't we? Paid for our cleverness. Not for our, what's that word, scruples? That word is always a bit elusive. +

This isn't a story set in the year everyone loves to hate. In fact, that was a pretty good year for Rahul. It suited him well. He was anyway an expert at staying indoors and shunning human company. +

He liked nothing more than to make two packets of Maggi using three sachets of tastemaker, a cup of tea brewed for precisely 150 seconds, and then settle down on his chair that was specifically chosen because it could rest the plate and cup on its broad arms. And a book too. +

He'd sit there and think thoughts like 'Even my name is so lame. It's the default option every copywriter uses while writing an ad about a young executive. Don't they know most Rahuls are in their fifties now?' +

Anyway, what I am about to narrate happened a year before the big bad one. On the day that the world has arbitrarily decided to burden with great import. New Year's Eve. A day that really meant nothing to Rahul. But late that evening basic arithmetic caught up with him. +

He had run out of tastemaker. There were six packets of noodles on his shelf, their throats slit, robbed of their magical sachets with the mysterious powers. Sealed with rubber bands, the packets stared back blandly at Rahul. +

Rana's mother insisted he call his father Pitaji. Not Papa, Baba, Babuji, and definitely not Daddy. 'But Ma,' he used to complain, 'this is the 21st century, not pracheen Bharat'. 'That's why I'm not asking you to call him Pitashri', she would retort. +

On the other hand, Sweety's mother, a very modern lady indeed, made sure she (Sweety) called her father Daddy. He didn't mind being called anything. Pop, Dad, Baba, Daddykins, Popsy.. as long as he got his quota of hugs and kisses from his darling daughter. +

Rana grew into a strapping young man. Earning raised (but respectful) eyebrows, when his friends heard him call his father Pitaji. But Pitaji deserved that honour. For he was an honourable man. +

He worked long night shifts at a distant factory 6 days of the week. At home, he was kind, loving, and indulgent during the few hours he was awake. His wife cherished his diligence, discipline, and devotion to her. She fed him well, and made sure he got his rest. +

Every morning at the factory, he'd hand over duty to Daddy, the Day Manager, and head home. Daddy worked all day till Pitaji returned to relieve him. On Wednesday, both of them took a much deserved break, when the factory had its weekly holiday. +

I know the #COVID-19 numbers in India are not looking good, but here are my (not so) random thoughts on it

We have 2 options – one, rant & rail against the ‘system’ and lament how it has let us down; second, do whatever we can to avoid getting infected & if infected, minimize adverse consequences to ourselves & others. If you belong to the first, you can stop reading now

How can we avoid getting infected? There’s no magic bullet, I’m afraid. This is primarily a “stick to the basics” approach. More difficult than it sounds.

First, maintain all precautions that we know help. These include masks (whenever you are not at home and not alone), physical distancing to the extent possible, and washing hands frequently. The 3 Ws – Wear a mask, Watch your distance, Wash your hands.

Masks work, and are probably the most important precaution given our current understanding that aerosols are the predominant mechanism of spread. The best is a well-fitting N95 mask, which is now widely available & not too expensive – you could re-use them too.

newly minted champion of hindus, sri sri @ncbn saar.. you might have forgotten we haven't.

your own "scheme" of Divya Darshanam i.e sending 1.3 lakh poor hindus to pilgrimage.

cost: 100 crs.

borne by - TTD & 7 major temples.

cost to tax-payer: 0. Z-E-R-O. 1+

Scheme -
RO plant at Srisailam.

Development works or Construction works at various temples across AP.

Kalyana Mantapas at various places in AP.

cost: a few hundred crores.

borne by: TTD

cost to tax-payer: 0. Z-E-R-O. 2+

Scheme -
Construction works at various temples across AP.

Kalyana Mantapas at various places in AP.

cost: a few hundred crores.

borne by: TTD

cost to tax-payer: 0. Z-E-R-O. 3+

Scheme -

Land for Bharat Electronics Ltd.

51 acres.

borne by: TTD

cost to tax-payer: 0. Z-E-R-O. 4+

Scheme -

Venkateswara Swamy temple at Amaravati. in CRDA limits.

Cost: 50 lakh per acre.

borne by; TTD

cost to tax-payer: 0. Z-E-R-O. 5+

J. Farish, a member of the Bombay government, writes in his letter in 1838~

"The natives of India must be kept down by a sense of our power, or they must willingly submit from a conviction that we are wiser, more just, and more humane to improve their conditions."

He further writes, "If well-directed, the progress of education would undoubtedly increase our moral hold over India, but, at the same time, we should also ensuring that it does not lead the Natives to a consciousness of their own strength."

As the Colonial government wanted natives to help British surveyors and engineers in their work, it translated the Engineering curriculum to vernacular languages. The first such attempt was made in a college set up in Bombay by Elphinstone, with Lt. George Jervis as its director.

Also, Colonial authorities found it much simpler and politically wiser to create a class of cheaply paid but loyal Indian low-level bureaucrats to help staff the provincial offices and act as a buffer or intermediary class to stand between the government and the masses.

Charles Trevelyan, Macaulay's brother-in-law, wrote in his book On the Education of The People of India (1838), "We British should not try to instill in the native a deep grasp of subjects, but to force them to ape & recite English, and metaphysics in the most slavish fashion."

THREAD

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Saturn in Shravana – Unfolding the hidden mysteries
 
Saturn is currently transiting the Vishnu’s own nakshatra i.e., Shravana.This transit of karma karaka carries a divine message of transformation which a common man might not understands. By the way of this article,

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I want to take you to the transcendal journey where hidden clues about karma and destiny can be decoded.

I don’t want to complicate the things so let’s start from some general knowledge about the nakshatra of Shravana. The star of Shravana is ruled by moon according to

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Vimshottari Dasha scheme and it is opposite moon’s own house of cancer. So, the first important thing to understand is that any planet which will be placed in the nakshatra of Shravana will aspect moon’s own house too. Here is the catch. As the planet is affecting the

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cancer sign too which is natural 4th house of Kalpurusha Kundli, it will definitely impact our mind and emotions. #Saturn is a restrictive planet currently in own sign of #Capricorn. The Saturn transit through this sign is believed to bring gloom and depressive tendencies

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all over the globe. Additionally, when it transits through #Shraavana, there is possibility of upheavals and major up and downs all over the globe. According to Brihat Samhita, Saturn in the Shravan star creates issues for the king’s officer or King’s chief Brahmin.