Nobel for Obama but none for Mahatma! Is the Nobel Peace Prize a farce?

Use of dynamite as a weapon of mass destruction and sufferings of victors, vanquished and neutrals alike led Alfred Nobel to institute the Nobel Peace Prize with a motto to acknowledge " the most or the best work for fraternity among nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the promotion of peace congresses."

By calling the Nobel Peace Prize a farce, are we questioning the credibility of the committee of high intellectuals or, are we questioning the committee which had bestowed the honour on Mother Teresa for her work among the poor and destitute, Muhammad Yunnis and Bangladesh's Grameen Bank for their endeavor to end poverty, the enthusiastic Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai and our own R.K. Pachauri who led the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Have they not kept up with the tradition of awarding the prize to those who have initiated the mantra of world peace?

If your answer is a vehement NO, then i presume you are of the view that awardees such as Mikhail Gorbachev who facilitated the end of cold war, Martin Luther King who fought against racial segregation and discrimination, President Wilson Woodrow founder of League of Nations, did not deserve a merit!

Personal preferences stand on one side, and credibility on the other.

To analyze the case of Mahatma Gandhi let us sift the pages of the archives. Was Gandhi's work of global dimension?

He did not preach for peace but defiance in a peaceful manner. Ahimsa and Satyagraha were tools to facilitate the independence of his own country. He worked within the boundary of India and not for fraternity among nations. Even his struggle in South Africa was on behalf of the Indians, not the blacks whose lives were even worse.

In 1948 when his name was seriously considered his fellow countrymen did not let him live long enough. Due to practical reasons a posthumous award could not be conferred on him, but by reserving the prize for that year, place of Mahatma was silently yet respectfully left open.

If we are questioning the Nobel Committee's decision to award the Peace Prize to Obama, If we are saying that he only made promises and did not contribute any substance to world peace, we need to give it another thought.

From the ashes of the dead and obsolete, rise the phoenix of all that is relevant and pertinent.

The Nobel Peace Prize Committee has evolved with times its policy. It believes in being proactive rather than reactive. The Nobel Peace Prize is now being used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes that will lead to peace and harmony. This award is a call to action, a call for all nations to confront common challenges.

The Nobel Committee is a pragmatic body, which would like to maximise peace outcomes. It could of course have avoided controversy by giving the award to some inconsequential tree hugging activist somewhere. But crucial matters of global safety depend on decisions taken by powerful nations. The future of the world hinges on men like Obama!

THE AGE OF ROAD RAGE

Scene 1 : A busy interaction with traffic cops and lights conspicuous by their absence. High drama is enacted in the square jam packed with vehicles with drivers yelling and honking their loudest.

Scene 2 : One motorist whizzes past another. Not to lag behind the second one opens the throttle fully. The resultant race ends up in a smash on the centre divider, run over and multiple head injuries.

Welcome to the age of road rage. Our roads are fast becoming a theatre of iring public behaviour with motorists speeding down the way becoming more and more intolerant. reckless and rash. In this insane rush it is depressing to note that people's blood scoots faster that their vehicles, resulting in skirmishes which at times provoke reactions, fatal in nature.

The face of drivers are quite a sight to study with stress and tension written large on them. It is alarming how people shed the family and work related fury on their steering wheels. And others speed just for the incomprehensible pleasure, putting their lives at stake. They just don't care about the fact that "Speed Thrills But Kills".

If there is a will, there is a way. We can change the present scenario. That is, if we want to. It is in our very own hands, provided we amend our ways. Following traffic rules, keeping in mind that "Lane driving is Sane driving"  and keeping cool and alert is all it takes transpose road rage into a driving pleasure. Remember while driving that someone awaits you at home! 

ULTRASOUND SCREAMS : THE FEMALE FOETICIDE

In the 1980s it was a suspicion, in the 1990s, it was a near reality, in the 2000s, it is an indisputable fact : India is a country which likes to ensure that girls are never born.

Education is a very important factor, which decides how people react to social issues. But somethings are fixed in the people's mindset. That is the case with India. The rich, the poor alike, both are turning deaf to the silent screams of the girl child.

Advancement in technology was expected to bring a revolution. Well it has! The girl child is now killed even before she is born. And those who are born ..... well most are suffering way more severely. the emancipation of women is a much talked about issue. But action seems far out of sight.

Saina Nehwal - badminton sensation, Kalpna Chawla - woman in space, Aruna Kesavan - IAS topper.

Do we need any more examples? Its high time now!

Wake up India. Listen to her screams and save her. Remember, female foeticide is a crime.

FAST FOOD : THE TASTE OF DEATH

The times are for sure changing, and so is our lifestyle, our diet!

The readily available fast food is much in demand. Cheap and speedy. the 'Heat, Thaw n Eat' principle they call it. But where is it taking us to? Well, we certainly end up in the hospital after sometime.

The lifestyle of the city people is such that no one has time to cook. And those who do have the time, have no intention of taking the pain to cook. It is of course alot easier, to pick up the phone, dial a number and order. Within minutes the delicious delicacy is at your doorstep!

But do we think further, about whats inside that ready made meal you are happily devouring? 

Oil which would increase the cholesterol, tasting chemicals that lead to mental disorders, calories which we don't burn and much more. Over a period of time, regular exposure to them starts showing up in the form of heart diseases, obesity, blood pressure problems etc. We are left to take numerous visits to the hospitals, spending gigantic sums of money on treatment.

Thus, it is better to think before indulging as life and health are more important taste, for life is golden!

GIVE IT A BREAK !

Well i guess getting philosophical in the last two posts was what has been keeping me away from blogging. There are times when you don't know who on earth has taken over the reins of your soul.

Lets get back. I would prefer some mundane topics .

exempli gratia : What is it like living in NOIDA?

Yeah .............. guess thats a good one!

NOIDA : the oh-so famed hub of it all.

Well its a fairly cool place to stay and hang about with TGIP and CSM etc etc. And certainly one of the most famous places in the world! We had corespondents all the way from BBC and CNN right here. And we had news ............ the world sat there glued to their TV sets ! Transfixed ! Staring at D - 5, Sector - 31, NOIDA .

The story was about some bones (decomposed) found in a drain behind a house believed to be of human beings. The media and police started its investigation , in which the media as usual was one step ahead. It turned out that little kids from the adjoining village were kidnapped ( rather tricked) and harassed . Then there bones were acidified and then thrown into the drain behind.

Next up, traces of human flesh found around the microwave! It seemed that they were cannibals.

Soon after D -5 , Sector - 31, became a tourist site ! Give it a break ! Do the others living here don't have anything better to do than turning into a guide showing the world how proud we are of these famed crime sites in our city???

This was about a year back! Guys, this is India! The investigation is still on. Its predicted (everyone is rather sure) that the owner of the house will manage to get away with it while the servant would be the one paying for it all.

No longer was this incident forgotten and the people in noida got back to normal, the feeling of insecurity returned . This time the finger was pointed towards loved ones. A cold hearted story which left one and all aghast! The Aarushi double murder case was undoubtedly something out of my frequency. The agencies seem to be equally perturbed, and if they know the case they just don't seem to be willing to expose it.

The disgusting part is how these lowest minds on Earth work. You'd be left amazed by the shallow thinking of these supposedly Homo sapiens sapiens. Some of them go about telling everyone to get attention, and others went a step ahead to say they were from D.P.S. noida even when they aren't. This, just because Aarushi studied there.

Is attention all that you want? Do something that gets you on the TV ( read : something awesome which makes you standout ... i don't mean to tell you to go ahead n commit such heinous crimes) and then brag about it and try grabbing all the attention you want!

So guys , Give it a break!

ROSES ARE NOT ALONE!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens......

Hey.............hang on!
The rose hurts.

Yes coz the rose is not alone . It is forever accompanied by its companion ............... THORNS.

Just expecting a bed of roses is not a wise thing to do . Cause ultimately you have to walk through the bed of thorns. Happiness is always followed by a low time. And just when u start losing all hope , a ray of light emerges out of the blue and your day is brightened up.

Being steady is the key.

We all blame it on others . But why are we so disappointed in the first place?

Great Expectations !

We all just sit and expect . Actually it isn't really necessary to go through the thorns. There is another way out. Just don't expect anything. You are the only being on earth you can rely on. The world would conspire to help u only if you try helping your own self. If you are the one handling everything in life you have no one to blame it on and trying things your own way would give you the kind of satisfaction which would be inaccessible if you would have got it done by someone else . Hence , by decreasing our dependency we can even decrease the disappointment.

So lets face the thorns with courage and keep our spirits high coz :
"AFTER EVERY SAD DAY
COMES A GLAD DAY "