Knowledge is free

Today, I did something that made me feel good. In that sense, I have been selfish for, I did it to make myself happy. I could also be counted as a bragger for gloating about it here. But the reason I am putting it here because I want more of us to realise the value we can add and make a conscious contribution.

There is a different kind of discrimination that people cutting across countries, religions, castes and creeds practise today and that is based on knowledge. As with other powers, there are people who have the power of knowledge and those who do not. People who have it sometimes abuse the power in oneupmanship over the have-nots. They may either make gains or withhold the knowledge which may otherwise have put everyone on an even keel. Some others may distort or misuse the knowledge to bring about harm. Wouldn't it be nice to stop this abuse if all of us had easy and equal access to all the knowledge and information around and the only way someone would fall back would probably be because of their laziness around not gaining that power? I look forward to such a world where knowledge flows freely without fear or insecurity.

There are so many people around trying to bring about that change. Like, for example, the man who is trying to set up computers in the remotest villages of Asian countries so that children can freely access the tonnes of information online and learn more than they ever possibly could from simplistic schoolbooks. I was initially skeptical about this idea assuming vandalism and porn access but surprising statistics reveal the former was in a miniscule (less than 10 I think) percentage of cases and there was no occurrence of the latter. Think about the impact this one man has the potential of creating-children from rural areas will be on an even footing with the urban kids when it comes to exposure (in a positive sense) and of course, knowledge. They (rural kids) will not lose out on opportunities just because they (rather their parents) chose to create their home outside noisy, polluted, overcrowded but busy, cosmopolitan, trendy cities.

Then there is also the man who is collecting , repairing and donating cycles to kids in remote villages in India so that they can commute to schools which may be miles away from home. In most cases, the people in towns and cities no longer had use for the cycles and they were simply lying around. This kind gentleman collected such cycles, got them repaired (change of tyres, seats,chain and painting probably) and donated them to children for whom the nearest school was probably atleast 10 kilometres away. Now, the children need not remain uneducated just because they had no means of commuting to school.

A salute to such people who are going out of their way to remove the discrimination based on the power of knowledge. I added my own miniscule drop to the sea of efforts today but there is room for doing so much more. Go on, help spread knowledge. Happy holidays!

Des Parfums

There was a time when we had not heard of the concept of deos (deodorants for the uninitiated). Yes, yes, makes it sound like I'm an old hag, ain't I? To tell you the truth, maybe I am but lets not deviate from the topic. This is about my tryst with the mysterious world of perfumes. I am a complete ignoramus when it comes to perfumes and my taste(?) of fragrances is about as developed as a donkey(for want of a better comparison. No offence intended, all ye animal activists out there). So, there was a time when we made do with Hamam soap and Ponds powder and temperatures had not soared due to global warming. Yes, summer temperatures were mid-30s but lets save global warming for another day. So, we saved up the rare bottles of Impulse and Fa that uncle got us from USA during his semester holidays(another typical TamBram phenomenon of the time-children finish B.E. and go abroad to do M.S.) for the special occasions like the New Year's Eve party. Then came Rexona with the first deo in India-a small rollon at a tempting inaugural price. We got totally hooked. After ensuring that everyone was totally addicted to the concept of daily deo use, Rexona started its exponential inflation of price but people could not retreat. Cut to the past few years... There are so many brands of deo in the market-Fa, Implulse, Rexona, Spinz, Nivea, Yardley, Enchanteur...I could go on, not discounting the men brands like Axe(!), Brut, etcetra, etcetra. Don't judge me by all the names I know(:-P)

My brother and I are polar opposites when it comes to the world of perfumes. His idea of a perfect gift for someone special is an expensive bottle of specially chosen perfume while I grab for the first bottle in the closet every morning, not caring whether it is a perfume deo spray or my husband's after-shave! Yes, I still can't understand how my brother could even dream splurging $50 on a bottle of perfume for my mother on one of his annual trips home from US. And I definitely do not understand him regretting he got me the 'Jennifer Lopez' perfume as he would now not be able to buy the same for his wife. Heck, is it a life-threatening issue if two people end up smelling the same? The probability is even more less because my sis-in-law, my brother and I are at the same place (same house to be more specific if you will) less than a week per year. So, what's the chance of me wearing the JLo at that particular time considering that I have about 7 bottles of perfume (not counting the deo sprays) collected(rather gifted to me) over the years? I don't even wear perfume everyday!

Anyway, the clincher that ultimately made me give up trying to understand the mystery world of perfumes was when my sis-in-law's brother(!) and I were both in London on office assignments and we decided to go shopping for gifts for the family. Some well-meaning (!) lady in my office suggested Selfridges(If you have ever been somewhere there, I can see you rolling your eyes:)). Now that I look back, I realise I had asked my client for suggestions and though she would deny it, I'm sure she hated me:). Anyway, so, Selfridges it was and man! I must deviate at this point to say a word or two about the shop (that's an understatement but anyway). It was probably my first window to the world of high fashion and top class brands! CK, YSL, TH, D&G, Gucci and many more that I don't even know and appreciate! I was overwhelmed. I suspect so was B (my sis-in-law's brother). So, what did we do? We went and got my brother a C&K kit and a my sis-in-law the latest YSL summer make up collection. And I will not put the price down here for fear of sending the weak-hearted into cardiac arrest. To say that it burned a hole in our pockets is an understatement. Lets say it was more like burning the whole b****y pocket! Now I wont deny that my sweet sibling and sis-in-law are every bit worth those gifts but forgive my modest upbringing-I do not appreciate splurging a fortune on a bottle. And I don't care even if it smells like God himself (or herself)!

My sweet big brother has also given up trying to educate this bumpkin on the sophistication of perfume choice. He says girls should choose more flowery or fruity smells while guys go for the serious deep aromas. Heck, I DON'T LIKE flowery fruity smells (except for the CK rose perfume in my closet) ! Why is it or rather, is it really a cardinal sin to like something that does not fit inside the frame of so-called sophistication? You may be wondering why I am ranting about this so much. Because I have a confession to make-brother, dont read this-I wear the Axe Below Zero(blue bottle-special edition last summer) deo everyday ;-P

My Daddy made this!

Yes, thats what I felt like proclaiming again and again to all those who would listen during the recently concluded Aero Show. It is ironic that I grew up listening to aircraft engines being tested and seeing practice fighter planes but never got a chance to come to the Aero Show all these years. In fact, since our office is close to the airport, while many of my colleagues complain of the noise of aircraft, I secretly get annoyed at them as well as feel happy to be near the sights and sounds of my childhood. So, when I learnt that Dad could afford to get me a pass this time, I grabbed the opportunity to go to the show with both hands! It was a brilliant experience watching the typhoon, Boeing, MIG, SU-30 and Dhruv (sorry, couldnt manage more names-I am not good at this). It was indeed astonishing to watch the mid-air acrobatics and definitely, hats off to the Sarang team! But it really was a proud moment for a daughter to see the SU-30 soar and proclaim to family and friends that ,"Hey, my dad made this! He was involved in the setup of the factory for manufacturing the engines, he was involved in the engine manufacture as well and now, he is involved in the aircraft manufacturing"- he has tried and is nearly succeeding at achieving a seemingly impossible deadline for manufacture and delivery even though he got the opportunity to take over quite late last year. I am very happy that I at last got an opportunity to brag about my dad's work as well. My little one was apprehensive at first to see the planes but he started enjoying himself soon. In fact, on our return home, he has been asking for a fan to be fitted on top of the plane he has for it to double-up as a copter. We went and asked Dad for a "test-drive" of Dhruv!:) Come on, car and bike shows have it, so, why not airplanes?;) Dad of course didn't oblige but atleast helped us get a photo-op in a stationary copter-that was also good. Though the AeroShow trip was tiresome for the little one, we certainly hope to come back and next time, we both will know all the planes by name!