children and monkeys and animal droppings!

kids can do the most embarrassing things at the most inconvenient times!

we recently had a good friend over for dinner. our daughter was going through a 'i don't like daddy' kind of phase... and took a great liking for the friend who had dropped in for dinner...

suddenly in the middle of our casual conversations she decided to declare that her mother was he mother and the visiting friend was her father! the three adults at the table decided to continue our conversation (i don't even remember what we were talking about!) as if nothing had happened... that only served to infuriate the little one, who was determined to get her message across... so she interrupted us again, made sure she had our collective attention and then proceeded to redefine her lineage!

as expected, there was some polite coughing and mumblings and 'ok beta' and laughter all around... and then everyone moved on... the little one smug in the knowledge that she had made her point... and the rest of us relieved that we were not subject to any more such revelations! :P

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we went to matheran this last week-end... one of our weekend get-aways with a group of 6 other families.

we had a whale of a time (i will put up the pics soon) and the kids had a 'blue whale of a time'!

some of the kids got it into their heads that i am the resident narrator of stories and all things amazing! :P
(i have a feeling most of the other dads spread such slander among their kids so that they could lounge around and eat/ drink/ sleep/ play tt without having their spouses throwing daggers at them (just by looks, mind you!) about taking care of their respective kids!

so i was the chosen one to impart them some invaluable knowledge which included naming various species of monkeys and apes and other simians; as well as the various types of dogs... since there were a large number of both species of animals in close vicinity!

later over one of our soul-enriching conversations that i normally have with the 'big boss' i told her about how we also learnt how to identify the animals by just examining the spoor (or potty as the kids preferred to call it)! :P

the big boss gave me 'the look' and said, 'i am sure it was your idea in the first place to educate them about such an esoteric subject as animal droppings!'

the big boss knows me so well! :P

how i wish!

i wish

moths wouldn't lead

such tragic lives,

and the sun wouldn't burn itself out

while traversing the heavens.

or the caterpillar wouldn't trap itself

in a cocoon of its own making,

and the moon wouldn't wax till

it becomes a shadow of its former self.

i wonder and search for answers

to still the turmoil within.

that's when you walk across the banks

of my ocean of consciousness

and the tumultuous waves subside

and in the clear crystal waters,

the answers reveal themselves to me.

the moth finds eternal glory

in the flame of knowledge,

and the sun lights up countless others

and breathes life into stone.

the caterpillar emerges as

a butterfly bright crimson and blue,

and the moon becomes a diadem

adorning the deep night sky!

now i wish

you were by my side

watching the moon wane

and light up the warm nights!

the day time stood still!

today i retraced my steps

went back to the beginning

of time

much before the world

was created

and much before

i reached out to you!

there too

i was searching for you

and i kept looking

at the horizon

for you to appear

and i waited,

through births, and deaths

through creation and destruction

through the waxing and the waning

through ebb and neap tides

through heaven and through hell!

and as i watched

you brushed past me

and turned and said you were sorry

and smiled with your eyes

and moved on.

that's when

my world as it existed

came to an end,

time stopped still

and another chapter

was begun on a new page.

now the moon has found

its orbit around the star

and it keeps moving in

closer over the millennia

waiting for the day

when it will eventually

be sucked in completely

and get completely

obliterated!

what can we do?

i didn't want to blog about it... about the mayhem and madness that ripped through the city last week... because i didn't know what to say that's not already being said... and i didn't have any meaningful suggestions or answers or solutions!

and although i still don't have a tv set at home i kept getting regular updates on sms and through the various web-sites i was checking regularly... (it was like some morbid cricket match that people were glued on to through the day!)

and now in the aftermath the city is on the boil... and a little of people are worried that the anger will cool off like it always does... and all of us will go back to our usual ways... and so will the politicians and the state and the police force ...

there are numerous smses being forwarded, online petitions being signed, candle marches being organised, signature campaigns being conducted... everybody wants to do something... some action to express their anger and frustration... hoping to send a message to the authorities ...

i am also forwarding all the messages i am getting, reading all the articles & blogs, signing all the petitions... but i am not convinced... i don't see any of this making any difference whatsoever... we have seen all this before and we will see it again... there will be a lot of public posturing and frantic behind-the-scene negotiations... who stays and who goes... a lot of announcements will be made... a lot of initiatives will be announced... and all of them will fizzle out before the year ends!

am i sounding too cynical? what do you expect?

is there something we can do?

here's a list of things you could do (thanks to mathatheist for sharing this with me!

• where voters can register - www.jaagore.com
• info on electoral candidates - http://www.adrindia.org/home/index.asp
• the right to go to the polling booth and reject all candidates - http://eci.gov.in/PROPOSED_ELECTORAL_REFORMS.pdf

so we all have to make sure we vote the next time... even if it means to go and reject all the candidates... but that's not enough, let us try find some good candidates in our constituencies who can be motivated to contest... or maybe some among us...

but that too might be too little and would take too long to make an impact at a national level... it would also require a lot of funding in today's age to come up with a viable alternative...

the other option would be for a forum to be created which carries on a dialog with all the candidates before elections and the office bearers after the elections. here are some ideas for such a forum -

• it should be non-partisan, not backed by any specific business house or media group or political party
  
• it should have representation from across various states/ religions/ economic backgrounds/ urban & rural backgrounds/ educational backgrounds/ age groups/ etc.
• it should be governed by a simple charter and should have its presence across the country in towns and cities
• it should define a list of specific concerns & issues of the public and engage each political party representative in each constituency in a public dialog; it should also be allowed to demand transparency from each candidate about their background, etc.
  
• this will help the public decided on the relative merits of each party and local candidate
• after the elections this forum would demand a quarterly review with the parties at a national level as well as at a local level to track the performance of each party and candidate
• a 'report card' would then be published which would help the ruling & opposition parties to focus on relevant issues and adopt necessary corrective measures
  

the idea of such a forum is not to relentlessly bash the politicians but to create a mechanism which will help in accountability and a meaningful dialog to help the politicians also serve the constituency better!

does anyone know of any such initiative being taken up by anyone? do you have any ideas of how this can be done? i would be keen to help in this kind of action!

p.s. also make sure we all pay our taxes to the government and demand accountability... let us all learn about the rti act so that we can use it effectively in our wards and areas!