Today, I resolve to start doing what I have been meaning to do for long. All this while, I have been using my blog as a princess diary. Not anymore. I realised the impact one can create with blogs and want to use mine to be of some use to the community. One worthwhile cause I found was reading about the Indian constitution and putting it across. Like the field of medical sciences, the law has been one area which hitherto has best been left to experts. All we learn in school is our fundamental rights and the Preamble. I have great faith in the pioneers who won our country its freedom and drafted the Indian Constitution. I believe they would have had great foresight and the lack of adequate knowledge of the Indian Constitution among the masses is the main cause today of law being abused. So, I want to read sections of the Constitution and put down what I understand from it. It may be possible that my interpretation is wrong and I am hoping if somebody someday stumbles upon my blog, he/she will share his/her views. It is a slow, long-drawn process but this is something that may benefit me as well as others. So, why not?
For starters, here's the link to the Indian Constitution:
http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/welcome.html
And for reference, the Indian Penal Code:
http://www.indialawinfo.com/bareacts/ipc.html
And here's some nice info of the various Articles of the Constitution that I found on Wikipedia and from next time, I will pick out one of the Articles and delve further:
Part I - consists of Articles 1 - 4 on the Union and its Territory
Part II - consists of Articles 5 - 11 on Citizenship.
Part III - consists of Articles 12 - 35 on Fundamental Rights.
Articles 14 - 18 on Right to Equality,
Articles 19 - 22 on Right to Freedom,
Articles 23 - 24 on Right against Exploitation,
Articles 25 - 28 on Right to Freedom of Religion,
Articles 29 - 31 on Cultural and Educational Rights,
Articles 32 - 35 on Right to Constitutional Remedies.
Part IV - consists of Articles 36 - 51 on Directive Principles of State Policy.
Part IV (A) consists of Article 51A - Fundamental Duties of each citizen of India.
Part V - consists of Articles on the Union.
Chapter I - Articles 52 to 78 on The Executive.
Articles 52 - 73 on the President and Vice-President,
Articles 74 - 75 on Council of Ministers,
Articles 76 - Attorney General of India,
Articles 77 - 78 on the Conduct of Government Business
Chapter II - Articles 79 - 122 on Parliament.
Articles 79 - 88 on Constitution of Parliament,
Articles 89 - 98 on Officers of Parliament,
Articles 99 - 100 on Conduct of Business,
Articles 101 - 104 on Disqualification of members,
Articles 105 - 106 on Powers, privileges and Immunities of Parliament and its Members,
Articles 107 - 111 on Legislative Procedure,
Articles 112 - 117 on Procedure in Financial Matters,
Articles 118 - 122 on Procedure Generally.
Chapter III - Article 123 on the Legislative Powers of the President.
Article 123 on Power of president to promulgate Ordinances during recess of Parliament
Chapter IV - Articles 124 - 147 on The Union Judiciary.
Articles 124 - 147 Establishment and Constitution of the Supreme Court
Chapter V - Articles 148 - 151 on the Controller and Auditor-General of India.
Articles 148 - 151 on Duties and powers of Comptroller and Auditor-General.
Part VI - Articles on the States.
Chapter I - Article 152 on the General definition of a State of the Union of India
Article 152 - Exclusion of the state of Jammu and Kashmir from the general definition of a state of the Union of India.
Chapter II - Articles 153 - 167 on The Executive
Articles 153 - 162 on The Governor,
Articles 163 - 164 on The Council of Ministers,
Article 165 on the Advocate-General for the State.
Articles 166 - 167 on the Conduct of Government Business.
Chapter III - Articles 168 - 212 on The State Legislature.
Articles 168 - 177 General
Articles 178 - 187 on the Officers of the State Legislature,
Articles 188 - 189 on Conduct of Business,
Articles 190 - 193 on Disqualification of members,
Articles 194 - 195 on Powers, Privileges and Immunities Parliament and its Members,
Articles 196 - 201 on Legislative Procedure,
Articles 202 - 207 on Procedure in Financial Matters,
Articles 208 - 212 on Procedure Generally.
Chapter IV - Article 213 on the Legislative Powers of the Governor
Article 213 - Power of governer to promulgate Ordinances during recess of Assembly of state.
Chapter V - Articles 214 - 231 on The High Courts in the States.
Articles 214 - 231 on High Courts in the States,
Chapter VI - Articles 233 - 237 on the Subordinate Courts
Articles 232 - 237 on Subordinate Courts
Part VII - consists of Articles on States in the B part of the First schedule.
Article 238 Repealed, Replaced by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 29 and Sch.
Part VIII - consists of Articles on The Union Territories
Articles 239 - 242 Administration, creation of Council of Ministers and High Courts
Part IX - consists of Articles on the Panchayat system.
Articles 243 - 243O on the Gram Sabha and Panchayat system
Part IXA - consists of Articles on Municipalties.
Articles 243P - 243ZG on Municipalties
Part X - consists of Articles on the scheduled and Tribal Areas
Articles 244 - 244A on Administration, creation of Council of Ministers, and legislatures.
Part XI - consists of Articles on Relations between the Union and the States.
Chapter I - Articles 245 - 255 on the Distribution of Legislative Powers
Articles 245 - 255 on Distribution of Legislative Relations
Chapter II - Articles 256 - 263 on Administrative Relations
Articles 256 - 261 - General
Article 262 - on Disputes relating to waters.
Article 263 - on Co-ordination between States
Part XII - consists of Articles on Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits
Chapter I - Articles 264 - 291 on Finance
Articles 264 - 267 General
Articles 268 - 281 on Distribution Revenues between the Union and the States
Articles 282 - 291 on Miscellaneous Financial Provisions
Chapter II - Articles 292 - 293 on Borrowing
Articles 292 - 293 on Borrowing by States
Chapter III - Articles 294 - 300 on Property, Contracts, Right, Liabilities, Obligations and Suits
Articles 294 - 300 on Succession to property assets, liabilities, and obligations.
Chapter IV - Article 300A on the Right to Property
Article 300A - on Persons not to be deprived of property save by authority of law
Part XIII - consists of Articles on Trade and Commerce within the territory of India
Articles 301 - 305 on Freedom of Trade and Commerce, and the power of Parliament and States to impose restrictions on the same
Article 306 - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 29 and Sch.
Article 307 - Appointment of authority for carrying out the purposes of articles 301 to 304.
Part XIV - consists of Articles on Services Under the Union and the States
Chapter I - Articles 308 - 314 on Services
Articles 308 - 313 on Services
Article 314 - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Twenty-eighth Amendment) Act, 1972, s. 3 (w.e.f. 29-8-1972).
Chapter II - Articles 315 - 323 on the Public Service Commissions
Articles 315 - 323 on Public Service Commissions
Part XIVA - consists of Articles on Tribunals
Articles 323 A - 323 B
Part XV - consists of Articles on Elections
Articles 324 - 329 on Elections
Article 329A - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978, s. 36 (w.e.f. 20-6-1979).
Part XVI - consists of Articles on Special Provisions Relating to certain Classes.
Articles 330 - 342 on Reservations
Part XVII - consists of Articles on Official Language
Chapter I - Articles 343 - 344 on Language of the Union
Articles 343 - 344 Official Language of the Union
Chapter II - Articles 345 - 347 on Regional Languages
Articles 345 - 347 on Language of the State
Chapter III - Articles 348 - 349 on Language of the Supreme Court, High courts, Etc
Articles 348 - 349 on Language used in Supreme Court, High courts Etc
Chapter IV - Articles 350 - 351 on Special Directives
Article 350 - on Language to be used in representations for redress of grievances.
Article 350A - on Facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at primary stage.
Article 350B - on provision for Special Officer for linguistic minorities.
Article 351 - on Directive for development of the Hindi language.
Part XVIII - consists of Articles on Emergency Provisions
Articles 352 - 359 on Emergency Provisions
Article 359A - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Sixty-third Amendment) Act, 1989, s. 3 (w.e.f. 6-1-1990).
Article 360 - on Provisions as to financial emergency.
Part XIX - Miscellaneous
Articles 361 - 361A - Miscellaneous
Article 362 - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 1971, s. 2.
Articles 363 - 367 - Miscellaneous
Part XX - consists of Articles on Amendment of the Constitution
Articles 368 on the Power of parliament to amend the constitution and procedure therefor
Part XXI - consists of Articles on Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions
Articles 369 - 378A on Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions
Article 379 - 391 - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956,
s. 29 and Sch.
Article 392 - on the Power of the President to remove difficulties.
Part XXII consists of Articles on short title, date of commencement, Authoritative text in Hindi and Repeals.
Articles 393 - 395 Commencement, authoritative text in Hindi and repeals [3]
Monday, October 30, 2006
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Maggi!
MAGGI-the first dish that any Indian boy or girl learns to make; the dish that many Indians staying abroad for studies or on work survive on; the dish that still spells a mini-celebration even now when mummy makes it at home some evening. Maggi is synonymous to 'noodles' for our generation; no matter what the brand, noodles are almost always referred to as 'Maggi' at home:)
A dish that can be made as simple or as complicated as you wish. Everyone has their own secret special touch to add to it when they make it. I, for instance, add a dash of butter (Utterly Butterly Delicious Amul!) and some tomato sauce (again Maggi sauce:)). My brother meticulously adds all sorts of vegetables like carrots, onions, peas, tomatoes. And I still tease my husband when he insists on draining the water out of Maggi before having it-I show him the instructions on the pack which specifically mention that the water is not to be drained out.
Many brands entered the noodles market in recent years like Top Ramen or Wai-Wai(!) and Maggi came up with many variations like 'atta' noodles but some people like my bro-in-law still prefer good old Maggi Masala. To confess, though I fight for Top Ramen Oye(!) Tomato when we shop, I still dont really mind Maggi Masala.
Then, there's the Maggi Club. My brother and I have fond childhood memories of playing all the board games that we used to trade for using empty Maggi packets. We used to debate the pros and cons of each game before choosing and ordering for one from a list that used to frequently change so as to not let the excitement die. I would still love to sit down for a game or two when I visit my parents nowadays. In keeping with the times, their website, http://www.maggiclub.com is definitely worth a visit though you cant register if you were born before 1985:(
Exceptions apart, Maggi is a universal favourite for adding a little bit of cheer to a long, dull day. In its simplest form, it is quick and easy to make and that definitely is its USP over the other wholesome and reasonably tasty dishes which would require more time and effort.
So, Hats off to the modest/stylish, tasty/bland, seemingly innocuous/exciting, in short, confusing but memorable dish called Maggi that is part of not only the childhood but also other phases of life of every Indian.
A dish that can be made as simple or as complicated as you wish. Everyone has their own secret special touch to add to it when they make it. I, for instance, add a dash of butter (Utterly Butterly Delicious Amul!) and some tomato sauce (again Maggi sauce:)). My brother meticulously adds all sorts of vegetables like carrots, onions, peas, tomatoes. And I still tease my husband when he insists on draining the water out of Maggi before having it-I show him the instructions on the pack which specifically mention that the water is not to be drained out.
Many brands entered the noodles market in recent years like Top Ramen or Wai-Wai(!) and Maggi came up with many variations like 'atta' noodles but some people like my bro-in-law still prefer good old Maggi Masala. To confess, though I fight for Top Ramen Oye(!) Tomato when we shop, I still dont really mind Maggi Masala.
Then, there's the Maggi Club. My brother and I have fond childhood memories of playing all the board games that we used to trade for using empty Maggi packets. We used to debate the pros and cons of each game before choosing and ordering for one from a list that used to frequently change so as to not let the excitement die. I would still love to sit down for a game or two when I visit my parents nowadays. In keeping with the times, their website, http://www.maggiclub.com is definitely worth a visit though you cant register if you were born before 1985:(
Exceptions apart, Maggi is a universal favourite for adding a little bit of cheer to a long, dull day. In its simplest form, it is quick and easy to make and that definitely is its USP over the other wholesome and reasonably tasty dishes which would require more time and effort.
So, Hats off to the modest/stylish, tasty/bland, seemingly innocuous/exciting, in short, confusing but memorable dish called Maggi that is part of not only the childhood but also other phases of life of every Indian.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
There's a song in this heart of mine...
This post is not to give gyan as usual but to rave about some beautiful songs that I have heard in recent (or maybe not-so-recent) times. I dont know (and maybe dont care) how many people will agree with me but I like these songs nevertheless. So, here goes:
1. Chalo, tumko lekar chalein from Jism: Shreya's voice, expressions and the lyrics make this song an out-of-the-world experience!!
2. Jadoo hai Nasha hai (again) from Jism: I hate the duet but the solo by Shreya again is a treat! After these 2 songs from Jism and Bairi Piya from Devdas, I'm completely in love with this girl's voice. Hats off to her!
3. Sajna ve sajna from Chameli: This song has a very sweet memory associated it. One of my close pals from college got married last year. During the sangeet ceremony, she had performed for this song (yes, the bride performed/ danced during the sangeet ceremony of her wedding!). The song was so situational and meaningful that I was bowled over.
4. Kaatril Varum Geethame from Oru Naal Oru Kanavu-A beautiful song with good synchronisation among the singers. A good blend of Carnatic music and ghazal form. 'Halka halka-sa yeh nasha' from Chocolate in Hindi is also a good example of excellent synchronisation and good lyrics.
5. Pani Thuli and Kanda Naal Mudhalaai from Kanda Naal Mudhal-The former is a wonderful duet except for the jarring chorus bit. Kudos to Shreya once more and KK. The beats are not conventional and make a good impact. Kanda Naal Mudhalaai reminds me of the classical numbers from Alai Paayuthey and Kandukonden Kandukonden.
6. Noothana from Karka kasadara: A very different song. I love the combination of beats, flute and violin. Somehow, reminds me of 'Thom Thom Thithithom' and 'Narumugaiye', both excellent numbers! 'Minmini Kangalil' from the same movie is also worth a hear because of the violin bits but Sadhana Sargam's pronunciation puts one off. This one is similar to the umpteen heroine introduction numbers, the best of them being "Chinna chinna aasai" from Roja.
Other recent favourites already feature on everybody's favourite list. So, I prefer to restrict the list to the above melodious numbers. But who knows, as I listen to more songs, I may add sequels to this post:))
Signing off with a few favourite lines from a song that I just remembered for no specific reason:
"You know, I love the rain,
I love the rain..
There's a song in this heart of mine,
There's a smile on my face everytime
Because I love the rain!"
1. Chalo, tumko lekar chalein from Jism: Shreya's voice, expressions and the lyrics make this song an out-of-the-world experience!!
2. Jadoo hai Nasha hai (again) from Jism: I hate the duet but the solo by Shreya again is a treat! After these 2 songs from Jism and Bairi Piya from Devdas, I'm completely in love with this girl's voice. Hats off to her!
3. Sajna ve sajna from Chameli: This song has a very sweet memory associated it. One of my close pals from college got married last year. During the sangeet ceremony, she had performed for this song (yes, the bride performed/ danced during the sangeet ceremony of her wedding!). The song was so situational and meaningful that I was bowled over.
4. Kaatril Varum Geethame from Oru Naal Oru Kanavu-A beautiful song with good synchronisation among the singers. A good blend of Carnatic music and ghazal form. 'Halka halka-sa yeh nasha' from Chocolate in Hindi is also a good example of excellent synchronisation and good lyrics.
5. Pani Thuli and Kanda Naal Mudhalaai from Kanda Naal Mudhal-The former is a wonderful duet except for the jarring chorus bit. Kudos to Shreya once more and KK. The beats are not conventional and make a good impact. Kanda Naal Mudhalaai reminds me of the classical numbers from Alai Paayuthey and Kandukonden Kandukonden.
6. Noothana from Karka kasadara: A very different song. I love the combination of beats, flute and violin. Somehow, reminds me of 'Thom Thom Thithithom' and 'Narumugaiye', both excellent numbers! 'Minmini Kangalil' from the same movie is also worth a hear because of the violin bits but Sadhana Sargam's pronunciation puts one off. This one is similar to the umpteen heroine introduction numbers, the best of them being "Chinna chinna aasai" from Roja.
Other recent favourites already feature on everybody's favourite list. So, I prefer to restrict the list to the above melodious numbers. But who knows, as I listen to more songs, I may add sequels to this post:))
Signing off with a few favourite lines from a song that I just remembered for no specific reason:
"You know, I love the rain,
I love the rain..
There's a song in this heart of mine,
There's a smile on my face everytime
Because I love the rain!"
Friday, February 10, 2006
What we have always known
Again, there's been a long gap between my last post and this one. I will not claim the dumb reason of not having time. It is just that I have been feeling for quite some time now that, "Who am I to comment on something?" Even now, I am writing not because I wanted to voice my opinion on a topic. I just wanted to put down a few stray thoughts into words so that I can mull over them further. Last weekend, I had registered to attend the Landmark Forum. For people who asked me what it is, I couldn't really say anything beyond "It is a self-development programme". I attended it on Friday from 9 am to 12 am (midnight) and decided that I wasn't really doing it out of my own interest but just because I couldn't say 'no' to my brother who recommended me to it. It is so easy, isn't it-putting the blame on others? Anyway, my other reason was if I continued the 9 am to midnight schedule on Saturday and Sunday as well, I would be too exhausted to attend office on Monday. So, I silenced the little voice in my head which was telling me, "Oh! But you are wasting so much money!" and skipped the course on Saturday and Sunday. Mind you, I did not find anything wrong with the course. I would still recommend it to people who want to better the quality of their lives by overcoming shortcomings.
The thought that surprised and annoyed me was that most of what self-development books and courses tell us are what we have always known. "Be authentic","Be forgiving","Don't read more meaning into things than what they actually are" and so on. As the instructor of the course said, "Do you take notes to learn and remember how to ride a bicycle?" Or walk? Or speak? These are things that just get imbibed and stay on. You never really forget them. Then, why do we need other people and situations to remind us about our humane side? When and how do we stop being considerate?
The flip side of this is I know I am not a saint and I don't think anybody is. So, why do self-development books and courses tell us to be saints? To never lose our temper? To forgive wrongs that others do to us and not nurse grudges? So, is sanity in striking a balance between both the above and continue to be what we are?
Make me not God Almighty,
Nor in the Devil's league, do consider me .
Let me just be human but
What is it to be human, can you tell me?
The thought that surprised and annoyed me was that most of what self-development books and courses tell us are what we have always known. "Be authentic","Be forgiving","Don't read more meaning into things than what they actually are" and so on. As the instructor of the course said, "Do you take notes to learn and remember how to ride a bicycle?" Or walk? Or speak? These are things that just get imbibed and stay on. You never really forget them. Then, why do we need other people and situations to remind us about our humane side? When and how do we stop being considerate?
The flip side of this is I know I am not a saint and I don't think anybody is. So, why do self-development books and courses tell us to be saints? To never lose our temper? To forgive wrongs that others do to us and not nurse grudges? So, is sanity in striking a balance between both the above and continue to be what we are?
Make me not God Almighty,
Nor in the Devil's league, do consider me .
Let me just be human but
What is it to be human, can you tell me?
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