How a girl saved a kitten that got almost killed by a cruel guy

It was yesterday evening and I was leaving my flat to grab something for dinner and I saw an orange kitten around my door. It was very friendly and gave me a kitty hug by rubbing its body and face against my legs. It was purring and I have never seen a kitten so friendly. And I am sure you would have seen various cat videos and stories about how friendly or unfriendly the cats are. So before you guys pounce upon me for writing that the cat is friendly, let me tell you something that researchers claim. A cat is actually declaring you are its property by rubbing its body against you. So a kitten has adopted me. Now it would bring me whatever it hunts so that I can treasure it.

We have cats at our home in our hometown and I am used to cats since I was a kid. But I have never seen a kitten becoming friendly with a stranger. I stay with my cousin brother and I was not sure whether to keep this kitten as a pet. So I held the kitten by its scruff and went to the flat next floor where a couple of friends stay. They told me that just then the kitten had surveyed their flat and peed in their hall and asked me to take it downstairs immediately.

So I took it down and left it near my door to go buy some milk for it. Meanwhile it started running in the parking area and tried to get out of our apartment complex through the gap in the gate. It got stuck and so I pulled it back and held it by the scruff. That is when I saw this girl on the street who said something to me. I looked in to her to hear again what she said. She was like, "Don't be cruel to the kitten". Cruel? Oh. Alright! She, just like many others expressed her fake love for this abandoned kitten and acted smart by passing her comments and went on minding her own business. So much for an animal lover.

Before these fake people show their fake love to other animals, why not know the facts? I was holding the kitten by its scruff. And she thought that must be painful for the kitten. May be most of the people think that way. The best way to carry a cat or a kitten is to hold by its scruff. Haven't you seen how the mother cat (Be it a Lion or Tiger or a domestic cat) carries its younger ones? When you do this way, the kitten or the cat becomes still and would not be aggressive. May be you guys should check out this article.

In another related incident, I trampled down a centipede with my shoes few days back that was exiting our classroom and I heard my classmates screaming at me not to kill that. I am not sure how these people would have reacted if it was found inside their bag or if it was found near their bed or what would they do if they had a toddler at home. Most of the folks who screamed consume meat and they tried teaching me a lesson on loving centipedes. Either I am a hypocrite who is a vegetarian but do not mind killing something thinking that might harm us or they are hypocrites who eat flesh but do not mind teaching me about loving centipedes. 

PS - I did not kill a centipede on a trekking expedition. I killed one that came out of the classroom. And here I was trying to save that kitten and help it find a new home. And for those wondering what happened to that kitten, when I came back with a packet of milk, the kitten wasn't there.

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Why innovation should compliment “Make in India” program?

Recently, when I was flying to the US for a job assignment, I walked down the memory lane and was thinking about the path I had chosen and what could have happened had I chosen a different path. I am happy with my present job, and the path I have chosen is similar to most of the guys from a social background like mine - finished engineering, then an MBA, joined an MNC and life is sailing smooth. I am sure, had I chosen a different path, life would not have been as smooth as the present one. It would have been a roller coaster ride. I am not sure, how my parents would have taken that. This would be the thought everyone at my age would have had.

These days I am seeing lot of youngsters rejecting the plush offers from corporate entities to pursue their dreams. They were definitely not running behind money unlike most of us. A recent article I read mentions that there are many successful people who have changed their field of work not once or twice but around 12 times to do what mattered the most for them. The only thing common among these people is they did not do different things, they innovated ways to do things differently and they shook the entire market by delivering more value to the consumers.

Time is ripe now for people who were waiting at the sidelines to plunge into business. The Government of India is setting up a start-up fund to the tune of 10,000 crores to promote a better start-up ecosystem in India. One thing that we should focus on is innovation. Entrepreneurs should focus on disruptive innovation like what Steve Jobs did to the music player. Music players were always there but iPod changed the way we listen to music. Though India is not known for innovating new products, Indians are known for the so called ‘Jugaad’ innovations where one somehow manages to create stuff with very little resources but the creation turns out to be a very efficient one. We cannot call our Mars Mission as Jugaad innovation, but we did it at the fraction of the cost that had put other space powers to shame. Almost every engineering college hostel would have seen hundreds of Jugaad innovations. From making an omelet using iron box to boiling milk to wearing helmet while chopping onions, we have seen it all.

But these folks once they get placed in an MNC just become one among the herd and all the innovative ideas end up in the cubicle. No one thinks out of the cubicle. A friend of mine once told me that when he approached his boss with an innovative idea, his boss said, “I am the boss here and do what I say.” Now that friend is his own boss. We need such bosses and such guys to take our nation forward. I am very confident that, a nation with 1.2 billion people can generate millions of ideas and those ideas need to be put to use to create innovations. Such ideas not only propel a country’s economy but will be the core driving force for humanity to prosper in future.

 The flagship “Make in India” program of the Prime Minister is aimed at generating new jobs and increasing the GDP growth and I am sure it would attract investments into India in the form of technology and money. But it would make our nation a contract manufacturing hub. We had an edge few years back when BPOs were the sunrise sector in India as majority of the population can converse in English and the outsourcing companies had a cost advantage. But today, countries like Vietnam, Philippines attract such projects and they are cost-effective compared to India. In the future, Make in India might also become less viable for countries that manufacture in India because of the currency appreciation when the economy takes the upward trajectory. It is not only better but a necessity to encourage enterprises and start-ups to innovate and it is the responsibility of the government and the people to create an ecosystem where innovative people thrive and innovations disrupt innovations.

This article is written by Kshitiz Harsh. Follow him on Facebook here.

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Am I being watched......

For those of you who know me well, saying that I am observant, would be an understatement. And so it was; my antenna was up early this morning as I waited to board a flight at the Bangalore Airport.

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I find observing people and the goings on around me more interesting than burying oneself in the free newspapers that are ever present in the airport.

I zeroed in on an old man who was tearing parts of a newspaper. He looked around furtively and continued with his task. Peopled around him, muddled in their own world, did not seem to notice this rather strange behaviour. He finished with one newspaper and commenced with the next. When he found something that interested him, he glanced furtively around and tore that bit. Intrigued I strolled over to where he was sitting. What was he tearing? Imagine my surprise when I noticed that he was tearing Sudoku and crossword puzzles from the newspapers and putting them into his pocket. He caught my eye and flushed!

My roving eye took in the youngster listening to his Ipod. The beatified look on his face, the half smile and the nodding of his head indicated that he was listening to his current anthem. A pretty young girl passed him by; there was an exchange of glances. A slow smile formed on his face but it froze as the girl walked on by expressionless.

Somewhere behind me a middle aged lady was taking instructions on her mobile phone as to how to switch it off on the flight. Without looking behind, I was able to make out that she was a novice on using the phone as well as talking on it. Heads were turning as she let loose a torrent of words in a loud nasal twang. She hollered that she could not hear the person on the other end. So natural; when the voice on the other side fades, we tend to raise our own voice.

A family of four was lost. They were probably infrequent fliers. The patriarch was looking for the toilet but was embarrassed to ask anybody around him. He asked his wife and children to be on the lookout for one. Just then their flight was announced. There was panic. The patriarch rushed to the nearest airline personnel and with his digit finger raised asked the directions to the toilet. He was directed towards it; and his entourage joined in escorting him to his pit stop.

Disinterested voices announced the arrival and departures of flights. Ground staff went about their task in robotic fashion. People of all shades and hues passed through the boarding gates; some bored others excited. Physically challenged individuals were hauled along in wheel chairs. Babies cried as if in protest. Then it was my turn to board my flight. One glance at the queue and I had my next victim. 

But was I being watched?

This is written by Professor Lionel Aranha. He is an Adjunct Faculty in the Humanities and Liberal Arts Area of IIM Kozhikode. Follow him on Facebook here.

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Way to go, India!

Dhoni once told his wife that she is only the third most important thing in his life after his country and his parents. When asked if he has his newborn on his mind (whom he hasn't even met), Dhoni denied, and said that he is focused only on the job at hand. Playing for his country. Cool, calm, an excellent wicket keeper, an outstanding batsman and one of the best captains India has ever seen. 7 wins, 70 wickets, and a well played semi final.

He had tears in his eyes at the end of the match, especially when asked if he will play in the 2019 World Cup. And the things people are saying about him! About Kohli! About Anushka! The cruel jokes, the insults. When did the mindset of Indians change so drastically? When did it become so disgusting and shameful? And to think we were so proud of our culture, the sense of respect we have in our language, thoughts, actions.

It's not just about cricket. The issue is so much deeper than that. It's about the mentality. Mentality about sports, religion, politics, people, women, the poor, power, equality, rights and a million other things. When did it change so much? Or maybe it's been changing all these years and I started noticing this only with the regular use of social media. I thought some morons I met after moving away from home were exceptional. But I see the larger picture now!

Before that, maybe I was in my own world, living by the advice and rules my parents brought me up with. It's so simple. Respect. Don't judge. Be kind. Don't lie. Love unconditionally. Take extra care of children and senior citizens. Avoid harsh words or fights. Keep your integrity. Don't compromise with your principles.

I know sometimes it's not as simple as it sounds. That it's not just black and white, but numerous gray areas. But the basics? Why can't just the basics be followed? If you peel off the layers of teams, religions, nationalities, languages, genders, age groups, qualifications, orientations, actions, mistakes, and the nature of people, the basic is just to be a good human being. And once you are a good human being, you can be a good everything! All the layers will be as good as the root, then! Why is it so hard to understand?

Once again I couldn't finish the national anthem yesterday without choking up. It's sad that the love for my nation runs in my veins but everything else going on has started to disgust me.

Well, nowadays, every single thing like this results in a rant from me. I immediately start feeling angry, sad, disappointed, helpless, disgusted.. And to think ours is one of the most respectful, noble and rich cultures in the world. What a waste!

Anyway, if I was MS Dhoni, I would retire and decide not to play the 2019 World Cup. No point in playing for morons. But, you see, he wants to serve the army in some way after he retires from cricket. Oh, just patriotism and the satisfaction of being a righteous man. Silly thing to be bothered with, isn't it?

Aah, at least after he retires from the army, he would have his cricket money to fall back on instead of joining the others at traffic signals, hungry and disrespected.

Way to go, India!

This article is written by Krishna Raval Maithel. Follow her on Twitter here.

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Thinking out of the class - IIMK Professor's advice for the graduating students

Now that you are graduating & moving into the real world of business, a few points to ponder:

1.    Global gas & PPTs do continue to work. But try massaging egos and buffing of posteriors as well.

2.    If you get a good boss, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become an entrepreneur.

3.    Just because your fishing expedition wasn’t a grand success on campus, don’t, for heaven’s sake; fall in love with the first person who walks into your line of vision.

4.    You will be afforded with the opportunity of meeting people who think their crap smells of lavender. You don’t need to imitate them. Remember the story of the rabbit – the poor chap died of strain trying to imitate the elephant taking a dump.

5.    Learn to be humble; humility doesn’t kill. Remember the African proverb: ‘When the great lord passes the peasants bow deeply and silently fart.’

6.    Bide your time & do get married. In the long run, marriage is all about meeting of minds & not mating of bodies. It’s about companionship.

         a.    For the ladies; prince charming is a myth. Remember the Malayalam proverb pointing out that it is difficult to tie an elephant in the cowshed.

         b.    For the guys; never lead a girl whose father considers her as a princess to the altar. She usually thinks she’s the queen.

7.    Cherish the fleeting moments that you get to spend with your parents. They aren’t going to be around for long. There is no point in regretting later that you did not have time for them. Their union of passion resulted in you; your mother bore you for the whole of 9 months & then both your father & mother groomed you for the next 12 years!

8.    Money isn’t everything in life. Don’t chase money. It will come around when you have given up chasing it. Make enough for your needs & some; but not to satiate your greed. Need can be satisfied but greed can never be.

9.    I’ve learnt that the beauty of life does not depend on how happy you are; but on how happy others can be because of you.

10.    Make your children the focal point of your happiness. Allow them to bloom as per the laws of nature. Teach them that there is a brilliant world beyond the government sponsored education system that we helped to perpetuate.

11.    One day, sooner or later, you will have to leave this world. When you came in you bawled your lungs out; when you leave you should be remembered as a smile on someone’s lips in spite of the tears that may flow!

Goodbye.

Take care & be good!

This advice is given by Professor Lionel Aranha to all the graduating students. He is an Adjunct Faculty in the Humanities & Liberal Arts Area of IIM Kozhikode. Follow him on Facebook here.

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Religion: The satanic temple for kids

Does religion actually teach the true values of life to kids and bring out the best in them or does it actually impede their natural potential. Here are the ten advantages of raising children without religion

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1. Fearless - This is true. Kids are not afraid of devil and Satan. They are not afraid of spending overnight in house by themselves. Nobody taught them of devils, hell and Satan. Free their minds of evil and harmful thoughts. Kids are more outgoing when the fear factor to subdue them is not there.

2. Less Friction - There is no friction between kids and parents - no harassment or nagging them to go to church or temple and participate. My childhood memories are full of my mother doing same to me.

3. Family Time - Quality time / free time Sunday. Sunday can be a very good family day for plenty of activities. Sunday was otherwise a lost day in my childhood.

4. Respect - This is very true. Kids respect parents as they think parents are broad minded and kids appreciate parents. As they grow up, they will find out religions are one of the major reasons for wars and fights in the world. Kids feel hypocritical if parents follow religions and then complain about wars and fights.

5. Marriage - Kids can be friendly with anyone and are even free to select their life partners without the bounds of religions. This is huge welcoming factor for the kids to be happy in life after marriage. Lots of time, the person they wanted to be with ended up in a different religion.

6. Rebellious attitude - Rebellious attitude is not there with kids as parents don't tell them to do things which they don't like.

7. Well Mannered - Kids are more charitable, benevolent and good mannered. This is what normally the kids become as against the common belief that religions are only source of teaching morality.

8. Sex - Sexual behaviors are normal: kids when they grow up become sexually active and can do things with an open mind without feeling guilty. This will lead them to behave very responsibly in engaging and in handling sexual desires with the opposite sex. Not feeling guilty is a huge factor in growing to be responsible adults.

9. Ethical - Kids are found highly ethical. Religions play a negative role in making people unethical. Everything religions teach are against normal thinking. Example, Most Christians preach non-Christians will end up in hell. When the teacher lectures about evolution, churches teach opposite. This will make them believe against rational things-parents are irrational as they tell the kids to follow things blindly without questioning.

10. Sensitivity - Insensitive to animals and other species: religions make humans or Homo sapiens a superior species. It is really not true. We are very similar to chimps. However our 20 years of training is what is making us think scientifically and logically. Cave men did behave like animals

This article is written by Abraham Binoy. He is the President at Baylight Construction LLC, Englewood, Florida. Follow him on Facebook here.

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Pakistan wants India to win against Australia

Though supporting Pakistan for a cricket match is frowned upon in India, it is surprising for me to find few Pakistanis showing allegiance to India for the semi-finals against Australia in this World Cup. I was browsing through social media for the past two days and I found interesting facts to support my hypothesis. In one post, an Indian working in Middle East commented that he had seen Pakistanis supporting India when Pakistan is not playing. But he equally blamed Indians for not supporting Pakistan when India is not playing. He mentioned, “We Indians do support Sri Lanka or Bangladesh but not Pakistan.” He added that, most Pakistanis support India when their nation is not playing. It is really interesting for someone like me who had never interacted with any Pakistanis.

If you’re an active follower of cricket, you might know about Mohammad Bashir, a Pakistani who supports India when Pakistan is not playing. In fact, Dhoni used to arrange tickets for him.

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Here is a blogger from Pakistan supporting India after Pakistan lost to Australia. Follow her here

 

I have heard stories from School and College friends stating that Muslims in India in their locality used to burst crackers when Pakistan wins against India. I personally asked few of my Muslim friends which nation they would support. This question of me blew the fuse of many and they were angry at me for asking such a stupid question. Before jumping the gun and stamping me as an RSS agent, I am sure you’d have heard about the 2011 semi-finals between India and Pakistan when Srinagar was shut down on the day of encounter and fall of wickets on the Indian side was cheered by bursting crackers. May be, I should not have stereotyped and jumped to conclusions. You cannot blame me too. I have asked this question to few of my Tamil friends, “If the LTTE occupied area in Sri Lanka was announced as a separate country and if they had a cricket team, and if they played against India, which team would you support.”

I am sure, the answers I got were very surprising. I remember an article published by a Chinese magazine that said each state in India has a sub-level identity and a wider Indian level identity is missing in India and therefore each state can be disintegrated into separate nations. Though it is a fantasy for China to think that way, the answers to my question intrigued me. Even today, Tamils feel that the media is biased towards the state. Let me quote an example, a leading English daily mentioned, “Indian fishermen fishing near territorial waters of Pakistan got arrested by Pakistan” while when Sri Lankan navy arrest the fishermen from Rameshwaram, the same newspaper mentioned, “ Tamil fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan navy.” Why not Gujarati fishermen in the earlier case and why Tamil fishermen in the latter case? This post was doing rounds in the social media for a while.

May be this is the agenda of the Political masters to divide and rule to keep the powers to themselves. I am not sure how many who doesn’t know the language Tamil know this fact that the word “Nadu” in Tamil means country. So what Tamil Nadu means is Tamil Country. Seems like a larger political agenda. I am not trying to justify the answers my friends gave but I am trying to find answers for myself. Before writing this article I asked few friends why they did not support Pakistan in cricket matches when India is not playing. Pat came the reply, we hate them. When I probed them further, some said, it is because of religion. So I asked them, do you hate UAE too? They said NO. After talking to almost like twelve friends, the conclusion is, they export terrorism into India and have killed innocent civilians. They quoted Kargil and then Mumbai attacks and numerous bomb blasts that happened in India.

In 1999 test match between India and Pakistan, the Chennai crowd at Chinnaswamy stadium gave Pakistan a standing ovation when they won the match. Is that possible anymore? Why is it that the trend has changed and we don't even remember that such an event happened? So people in India hate Pakistan for its terror activities in Indian soil. What could be the reason for Pakistanis to support India in cricket matches when India is not playing? Do they also realize that the terror attacks in India are because of the terrorists who infiltrate from the Pakistani side? Or is it because the very few rational thinkers in Pakistan are the ones active in social media? Whether this was their opinion for long or things changed after Pakistan started imploding on its own due to internal crisis. Whatever it may be, it is a surprise for someone like me.

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