Time to say Goodbye

I started this blog when I joined MBA. It has been a roller coaster ride and I have come to love my blog like my own baby that I have seen it grow month after month. However, this was my life as a MBA and well, sadly it's over. I might come back and post more articles but only if they are related to my blog title because lately I have found myself writing more on personal and societal issues than business!

Therefore I have moved my thoughts to a new blog A Collection of Thoughts. I know the name sounds so _____ but well I might change it later. lol. So if you want to continue to know me along my journey do join me here.

Thank you all for your comments, emails and time :)

Alvida....

The worse kind of addiction - TV Addiction

I admit it - I am a TV Addict. Name any channel - movies, soaps (logical one's like Balika Vadhu), news, business news, world news etc. I watch it all. I spend so many hours in front of the TV. I cut my vegetables in front of the TV if I can!! I keep the TV on while I do my cleaning. Kind of tell myself that "Hey, I am not alone, I have company". Worse of all, all my time and energy goes into the TV and I have found myself out of touch at social level, work level, my personal reading time and writing time all zapped by the idiot box which I find not idiotic at all... (Sigh!)

I do remember that once on the way to Burhanpur with my aunt, there was a sage (sadhu) wearing saffron clothes and he was the friendly kind who talked to everyone in the compartment. He talked on politics and why he would not lecture (give gyaan) on TV like other rishi munis because he does not believe in the concept that one can find peace and understanding drinking tea and listening to a sadhu. Yes, I did agree with him. After all spiritually demands as much singular attention as a maths problem. He also said one statement that still remains with me after four years "The worse kind of addiction is not alcohol, or cigarettes or drugs, it's the TV"

Truly, those like me will agree that the TV does steal away your time. I mean what not can we achieve by not watching TV.

One hour of Grey's anatomy - Cook up a great desert that will make your husband happy!!

Two hours of Balika vadhu(2to4) - Read at least 4 chapters on world history that will broaden your perspective and make you 'generally aware'

Too many hours of news - Write up your perspective of what is happening in this world and coming up with ideas that will help solve this challenges

A three hour movie- Go out, check out the fabulous discounts available - you never know when you can get something at a great price!

Ten minutes ad's - Call up a friend or relative and make your relationship warmer

Hmmm, Yes, there are certainly a lot of things one can do (not forgetting working, doing social work, exercising, walking) instead of spending endless hours in front of the TV and becoming an idiot.

Therefore, I am going to make a plan for myself. I am going to restrict my hours to watch only the news and of course one logical well done soap whose concept I like a lot - Balika Vadhu - which is half an hour de-stress time for me and only one hour of news. No more 'scoops' and 'breaking news' every other minute for me.

Here I go....

What attracts us really? The story, the characters or the Magician?

Recently I have watched episodes of 'Sex and the City'. Now many times when I tell people that I have watched these TV programmes or that I have watched 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S', they look at me twice. Most probably coz they see me wearing a veil and wonder what could I really understand from these programmes. On the other hand muslims may rightfully say 'it's a sin' to watch these shows.

Well, I personally think the show 'Sex and the city' is one of the best TV shows -from a narrative point of view (let's forget the concept) but yet, honestly, what makes the show narrative so good? Is it the four good looking successful women who have economic freedom. Ha, let's forget third world terminology, but in lay man's words 'Are rich, successful and beautiful' They sleep around with anyone they want, they don't have parent's or in-laws or children or obligations. Is it their freedom more than their 'adventures' that attract viewers?

I suppose a bit of both. One cannot deny that the makers of 'Sex and the city' and of 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S' are excellent story tellers. They are complimented by a bunch of really good actors and voila! You have a winning combination. The story is based on lives in Manhattan which is where a lot of people dream to want to be. Their story is about friendship, careers, love - the basic raw emotion of a human being.

Then I ask, is it wrong for me to be attracted to such programmes? Yes - I have wasted a number of hours on them whereas I could have read something on politics or come to know the capital city of Rwanda. Secondly, though these programmes have never made me wish to be these characters coz i feel sad for them. Honestly, sad. What I truly enjoyed was the way they are told. The camera angles, the over voice, the good looking actors and their expressions. Amazing! In fact, it makes me wanna get out and make my own movie!

By the way, though my stories blog is centered around muslim characters and our world and way of living, I am also quite capable of writing a secular story. There was a time I had a house full audience of hostel girls as I sat and made them picture a movie that I had made, imagined, scene by scene, with the credits rolling.

I assure you they did not let me have an interval :)

Therefore, a creative person would watch programmes, not because it eptimotises their 'hidden need to be that' or one tempted to this kind of life but simply because it's an enthralling presentation whether good or bad.

And so the magician is not the story or the characters, but the story teller. An artful story teller can take any bit of news, events, imagination and weave up a thread of magic by how he tells the story. Its these magicians that attracts us all to good shows, good books and good blogs.

So the world hates Islam - Accept it.

Wow, that's a statement! The 'Accept it' part comes from a breathing workshop I did where if you cannot change things, then it is better to accept it. Once your emotions stop fighting what is happening then you can clearly think your way out of it.

The question is- is there anyway out of it. It just dawned on me that wow, I mean people really hate muslims and Islam. You notice it everwhere. Unless you are not staying in a Muslim country then you are bound to feel the hostility and in best case a mild pity for you for being Muslim. In fact countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh face it nationally as 'Muslim countries' oh ho ho...keep away!

Its human nature that wherever a person goes or is, wants to be appreciated, respected and looked up. Irrespective of your color, creed or religion. When you don't find it, you move ahead, away and far away. This is a theory applicable everywhere. Whether it is emotional distancing or physical.

Therefore, coming back to my title. I am now accepting the fact that the world hates Islam. By world I mean countries that are not Muslim or those who may have minority Muslims and do not regard them as equal citizens. Though even as I type this, I find it so hard to digest.

'Obama won despite being half-muslim' - Give me a break!!!

Ok now I am truly frustrated and angry at the whole Obama thing. Yeah, sure it's touching that a black guy is a president of a country which happens to be at this time a powerful one. A country that has seen blacks as slaves and third grade citizens.

And a country that shows how much they hate muslims and Islam for everywhere, every column, ever commentator seems to say that despite being half-muslim, his muslim background, his second muslim father, him attending 'madrassa' (O my God was that a terror school??!!!) in Indonesia, his conversion, his claim of never being a muslim!! and just so happened he converted to christianity from no religion. he was before that, i assume an atheist? or do these reports and reporters want him to be rather an athiest or an antagonist turned christian but never muslim turned christian!

How do you think such comments and such writings, one by Arindram chowdhury himself in his paid advertisement where he manages to include an article written by him may be because no one wants to pay him for his opinion, that he says, 'him being half-muslim' what the hell is half muslim??!!! Either you are a muslim or you are not. Are you trying to say that being a muslim is a shit thing?

I wonder whether America would have voted for the so called 'Barack Obama' if he ever put his proper MUSLIM name 'MUBARAK HUSSEIN OBAMA' though he still maintains the meaning of Mubarak - which means blessings - and says Barack means blessing in Swahili! Does he know that Swahili is a mixed language of the African Bantu language + Arabic + Hindi + Portuguese?? Does he know that Swahili's Mubarak is borrowed from Arabic. Would he be ashamed of saying that his name means 'Blessing' in ARABIC?

This is the double standard, on your face 'I HATE ISLAM AND MUSLIMS' by not only the people who campaigned for Obama trying to hide his 'Muslim' background or for the matter of fact the man himself seems ashamed of his paternal side's religion for I have not heard a voice from his mouth saying 'Islam is a good religion. My family are muslims and this should be proof for the world that Muslims are not terrorists' along with his president elect speech 'Tonight is your answer'. No, the guy is equally ashamed mind you. That is the messaged he is clearly sending to his 'Americans'.

Countries like Europe and the rest of the world like today's 'advertised' column clearly shares this belief that the word muslim is assoiciated with 'scum' or just check up your vocabulary and find something more deteriorating.

How does this go down with TRUE AND PROUDLY WHOLE, COMPLETE MUSLIMS? I would say first of all- I AM PROUD TO BE A MUSLIM. Magnify that a zillion times so that you can read it wherever you turn. To be a muslim means to have submitted to your creator. To be loyal and humble and obedient to God. That is what being a muslim means.

Obama has a lot to proove himself being the first black president (Ironically he does not get his 'blackness' from America's African Americans but rather from a Kenyan father who was an exchange student. He is not even complete African American but in the words of his half-muslim description, he can be called half-African American - Howz that?) Well not go to the level of these 'half-people', One can in a way thank God that America is in a recession and the president has his hands full with restoring the economy otherwise idle minds and military makes them think they can wage war on infants trying to produce weapons of mass destruction (what a joke). America has the history of attacking other countries for no reason apart from personal gain than any other. Vietnam - Check. Afganisthan - Check. Iraq - Check. Who in his right frame of mind attacks a WHOLE country with MISSILES to dish out one terrorist hiding in God knows which cave!!! How would America respond if Iraq attacked America because of what terror the American soliders spread in Iraq torturing prisoners, raping women, killing families? Who is the real terrorist?

America - but does the world say anything. No. Nothing.

By America of course I am at least intelligent enough to know that it's those in power, in the chair that take these decisions. What would the poor average middle class working 3 jobs a day American care? or know? or understand what is happening? and the few who do, protest in a rally that is hardly given a heed.

So if you are asking the question if Obama will be good for the world. It depends on which world your are talking of. He is hoping to be good for America and restore the economy which I hope he does. America may be poor now and so may not attack another 'muslim mass destruction weapon making' country. But apart from these, he will hardly make a difference for the muslim world which he and his croonies claim he is not from. And the number of people writing about 'muslims' in bad light will only increase. Muslims feeling isolated more than ever... and who knows another Hitler may arise this time with hatred for 'Muslims'... for if there is gonna be another holocaust, be sure, the burning bodies will be of 'Muslims'.

Tears of Bosnia - I was killed because I was a muslim.

An unbelievable holocaust that I do not think the world knows of unlike Hitler's hatred for jews.

And finally, the pack of cards collapses...

We all are witnessing the downfall of the stock market and the banks going bankrupt and stock markets across the world going down. Now we are slowly hearing the news of how the economy is effected and the demand going down thus effecting the supply->profits->lowering costs->retrenchment of employees->Unemployment.

There was news that a MBA grad family guy killed his family - wife,mom-in-law and 3 kids and later shot himself in San Fransisco because of the financial crisis the global crisis had created in his life or which he let himself be part of his life.

Well what do you expect if you build this so-called financial system on a pack of cards and expect it to last for generations? Like my husband remarked 'There is no fundamental analysis and industrial analysis. It's all fake' It only takes one chip to fall for the entire system to fail.

I think when Bears and Stern's went down, that was the yellow light before the red (Lehman clearly) that all is not well. I don't know how many people deal with derivatives and short selling and all that bunch of gambling but gambling it is. You cannot deny it. Only this is the more glamorous, legal and 'you need to get a degree' to excel it in kind of gambling.

I remember travelling around India during 2005 when the stock market was on a bull's run and everyone was praising the so called aritificial growth of India's GDP. I didn't see any of it on road. There were beggars still on the roads,the trains, people without shoes, people with torn clothes and shouting 'Shoe Polish'. The roads were the same, the villages were the same, the station was the same. If India had really grown, we would have seen it physically.

There have been times over the past few years during the bull's run that I was 'advised' to invest in Mutual funds and that they will grow and all. But somehow in my heart I felt uneasy. I mean ok, I am ready to invest in companies like power, real estate, pharma but then a Mutual fund whether equity or debt always has that small tiny % of investments in debts. Debts->Interest->Haram. So clearly thumb rule was it's not Halal.

So today I have nothing in mutual funds. I have a few shares of a power company and a hotel group before my Demat was frozen and I was asked to make a PAN card to continue trading and I was not interested so for the past 3 years, I have not bought any shares. In a way a blessing in disguise due to my procastination and hesistation. Yes I do look forward to the markets going down to 10000 and then may be I will buy a few IT shares and Gold.

My ideology in buying shares is that.. You are buying a part of a company. You are becoming a partner. And no one goes into any business unless long term, give a shot of at least 2-3 years. I'd like to go for 15 years so all this up's and down's won't matter. After 15 years when I need some funding for example my children's fees then I would sell my stake and hopefully it would be a profitable partnership.

However, this whole gambling bit of trading everyday, running numbers in your head is bullshit. Sorry but I just hate that because if I were to list my company on the market, I would expect some loyalty and not be taken as a company to be used as a football to make some change. I know it is purely sentimental and that is one aspect of the stock market that I do not like. There is always a scam or a downfall in 2-3-5 years. Those engaged in playing are hit the most.

Well the game continues. All is not over yet. This is the beginning of recession. We still have to see job cuts, salary cuts, the real estate has to go down and inflation to remain stable until after the recovery. So how long will this last? Another 2-3 years and then once again, people will start playing with cards and as the cards pile up, everyone will shout: "The bull is back!"