Baksheesh & Inaam

Kings are gone, but their practices are haunting India.

Come festival season or any perceived favour in the course of routine performance of any task, the ‘Baksheeh’ lurks around to embarrass you and remind that one isn’t as pauper as the seeker and neither as rich as the king to not mind parting the sum in that form. It becomes more painful when ‘Baksheesh’ is demanded as a right rather than received as a reward. People are so used to ‘Baksheesh & Inaam’, that they demand one even if they haven’t done anything extraordinary and even if the task performed is purely part of their duty and responsibility.

Government too has institutionalised this attitude of the ruler and the ruled among its employees by granting yearly bonus on some occasions.  The kingdom continues, servitude and slavery institutionalised with no addition to efficiency.

• Buy any big-ticket product, gatekeeper awaits ‘Baksheesh’.
• Your wife delivers a child undergoing painful labour, everyone from hospital ward boy to your driver become expectant of and entitled to ‘Baksheesh’.
• Answer your door bell before and after a major festival, every second person demands ‘Baksheesh’.
• The list is looooooong.

Even if you don’t want to, the workers expect an ‘Inaam’ from you. One can’t just give any sum as ‘Baksheesh or Inaam’ and get-away with it easily… there are RATES which you have to adhere or be ready to receive ugly looks, lowered standard of service or just refusal to accept ‘Baksheesh’ as a display of character, self-respect and defiance. Other names to ‘Baksheesh & Inaam’ are… “Khushi se & Chai paani”.

There is no escape from this ritual in this part of the world. One can’t equate it with either bribing or begging, but can merely justify it as a convenience fee… aren’t we spoiled by those ‘Maharajas’ of the yore! I hate it, like I love it…. when I have to give and receive respectively.

Under the Carpet

This post has got nothing to do with the most famous pass time of our political class and the second nature of the babus, hiding the facts and trying to present the irrelevant as the most important issue to the general public. It is about the most common occurrence in our houses.

“Anything which is not used for six months need not be purchased.”

The above statement should amply explain that I am referring to the habit of a household to keep on accumulating things which it seldom uses. We normally doesn’t realise how many once-used or unwanted and unessential things lie in our houses. We realise these useless things lying around, when we change our house or move to a different town.

Our memory too fails us in reminding that the thing which we go to purchase when required is already lying in some forgotten corner of the house. And even when we spot the thing, we might hesitate to dispose it thinking that that might be of some use sometime in future… which might never come.

Some websites offer us the opportunity to get rid off unwanted stuff, but our nature of holding things for some or the other reason including sentimental, holds us back from doing so. Some cultures or counter-cultures practice frugal living… I too think its time to do that to save money, effort and space in the house.

But I might not do so, because the fun of finding an unexpected thing lying in a corner of the house is nothing less than an exiting ‘DISCOVERY’.

Waking Up Early

Since a couple of years I have been waking up at an exact time of the day everyday, which can qualify to be called 'early', the time of writing and posting these lines is no reference to the time of the day. 

So, what is 'waking up early', is it a sign of disciplined living, a sign of ageing, indication of the previous day or night which was peaceful, a sign of adjusted and tuned body clock, just a habit, compulsion or need to attend to some task, or due to some tension, stress or disease condition!  But whatever may be the reason, I realised it is good in more than one way.

• You can enjoy life more than others, cause sleeping is such a waste of time (though sleeping used to be my favourite thing once).
• Watch TV without disturbance from and or giving-away to the pressure of other members of the family.
• Enjoy the play of colours and light in the morning sky.
• Have a good walk in the calm surroundings, pure air and birds singing along.
• Peacefully ponder on the not so peaceful thoughts criss-crossing your mind.
• Be prepared to face the day in a more relaxed manner.
• Lastly, retain the 'Right to Sleep' right away if you don't feel like doing any of the above...

I choose to sleep again today....!

Shouting is not sensible

The  Editor-in-Chief and News anchor for the news channel ‘TIMES NOW’ Mr Arnab Goswami maybe a very knowledgeable person, but he sure is one irritating and intimidating character. The news channel may have many viewers and it has managed to get those many number of people feeling repulsive whenever this man is seen on the screen.

Why does he SHOUT? Does he think that shouting is a quality and class act of presentation and the only way for attracting more TRPs! He may be having good understanding about the political issues, he definitely has a gift of gibber-jabber but he surely is and becomes irksome on some occasions. I have rarely seen him let the panellist on any discussion complete their points of view.

‘TIMES NOW’ belongs to the group that publishes the English newspaper ‘Times of India’, which is nothing but a popular and colourful tabloid in my view. The music on the TV channel too plays as if it is always readying the nation and the viewer for a war.

The channel surely needs a different theme, a change in presentation pattern and a good pleasant background music… a minimum to retain the viewers, if they can’t change their STAR ANCHOR!

Doodling

Doodling is a decent word describing idleness, what does one do if there is  nothing more important to do or has some time to wail away! In the past one just slept, watched TV, read or do petty tasks and attend to odds which get left out in the otherwise busy routine.

But with the city living and change in life styles it is far less expensive and convenient to seek entertainment and engagement on the internet. Social interaction may not be the aim always, the inherent human dumbness makes people to get fully engaged on social sites. The old timers and the uninitiated may call this addiction, but it is not. It is far more educative and informative, only if one knows and consciously engages in productive net surfing.

Multi-tasking is one thing which everyone must do to maximise and optimise the time and resources available in our immediate sphere of day-to-day living environment.