Happy 2018

It is the weekend, month end and most importantly the year-end. in a few hours 2018 will ushered in with great pomp and show. Another 365 days of opportunities and options await us.We leave behind, regrets, losses, disappointments and mistakes and step into another 365 days with great optimism.So what if you don't get it right?

Says Neil Gamin, "I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.because if you are making mistakes , then you are making new things, trying new things,learning, living...

   
2017 was marked by the usual highs and lows. Life looked up for some and for others -well things may not have worked out quite as they may have wished for. Hope is the eternal spring...Let us hope for the best and may God help us accept what 2018 has in store for us.   

All That Glitters is not Gold.

 The corporate world today offers its employees the option of  'working from home ' It is convenient and timings are flexible. Quite a few avail of this opportunity and are happy because household errands and chores can be accommodated together with office work.
There is another side to 'working from home' or 'work from home' which is ugly and unfair. Every day newspapers carry hundreds of advertisements luring unsuspecting victims with bountiful rewards. These jobs may include data entry jobs or telemarketing jobs. The victims often include bored housewives or housewives looking to earn a few extras bucks or college students wanting some pocket money. The perpetrators are looking for quick money by way of a  fee. Sometimes there is no investment but the returns are pathetic.

Two members of my family were taken for a jolly good ride. One recounts his horrific experience while calling it an outright scam.
"The policy was: Data had to be sent within a time limit and had to have 80% accuracy. A few test pages were sent.the pages were typed within the specified time and returned. No analysis of the test was given. The entire assignment was mailed in the PDF format and the same had to be typed in notepad
The assignment did not make sense as there was no link between the pages.  However, due to the speed requirements, errors were bound to occur. Errors were calculated not at the rate of 80% per page but 80% of the entire assignment. this gave them a greater opportunity to prevent clearance. 
My opinion is that this is simply an operation to generate money. The user is made to invest a steep sum, looking forward to generous returns but he is told that the number of errors is high and he will not be paid anything. 
Food for thought is that the document is 2 to 3 years old. Why would such an old document kept pending for so long? Secondly, the space between lines is too little and some of the characters are smudged. Under these circumstances, errors are bound to happen and payment is thereby forfeited. 

The job is a scam when:

 The rewards are too good to be true
There is a high investment or no investment.
The websites do not open up or they are fake websites. 
The so-called employer calls you repeatedly. 

The allure of the big bucks has caused the deepest disappointment to many.The blatant dishonesty speaks poorly of humankind. So guys do your homework well before you find yourself in the depths of despair. 

Weathering the storms of life.

I woke up from my afternoon siesta to gloomy skies, a gentle breeze and loud claps of thunder, interspersed by streaks of lightning. I was surprised at this change in weather. The intense heat of the last few days had abated and the rain fell from a gentle drizzle to a short sharp heavy downpour. The thunder continued  - loud and scary. I was not happy. My plans for the evening had gone awry.
 The weather has been so unpredictable - one day you are roasting in an oven and the next your are humming 'singing in the rain'. 
 So is life, I say - A perfect 10 today and nothing but nought tomorrow. Man proposes and God disposes. 
 Stay strong, stay brave, stay calm, pray and save!!

Pieces not peace

So it was another night of terror, where the innocent and unarmed were targeted by a seemingly innocent but mentally deranged man. Terror is not just the sound of gunshots.....

 Terror is rape

Terror is incest

Terror is domestic violence

Terror is molestation

Terror is child abuse 

 Terror is burglary

Dear God save us from terror!!!

Happenings

Three birthdays and too much cake in one week.The significant other turned 61(age is just a number, you say), there was a milestone birthday with the firstborn turning 21and it was the lucky and last teenage birthday of the junior sweet tooth.
 The milestone birthday made me realise that there is now technically one more adult at home. What's in store for me? I wonder.Three males - A twenty-one-year-old, a 19-year-old and a 61-year-old(read 16)I find myself pitted against 3 males!! One day at a time sweet Jesus!
 Death and destruction have marked the recent past. Innocent lives claimed by cowards. Will justice prevail? Will the criminals be brought to book?
 An outspoken journalist and activist is gunned down because she spoke her mind, a seven-year-old is brutally murdered because he fought his perverted assailant and a talented pianist allegedly jumps to his death. How more gruesome does it get? How many more precious lives will end before we are freed from the shackles of hate, jealousy, ego and pride? When will John Lennon's'Imagine'  become 'real'?    
As we lament this unnecessary loss of life, we rejoice at the release of an Indian  Catholic priest held captive by terrorists for more than a year. Praise God! 

From Children to Men - happy birthday

Son,
This is a milestone birthday and you are twenty-one.
from a baby with colic to a man of music,
The journey has sure been an exciting one.
Your childish chatter on tape is but a precious keepsake,
The years have flown; you, child have grown,
A man soon to come into his own. 

It was touch and go, but today you have so much to show.
 Life is sometimes an  uphill climb, just continue to smile, be gentle and kind
May happiness and good luck come knocking at your door.
May the good lord be with you wherever you go!

You came to us a good 40 days early. It seemed that you were not going to be with us for long - Nana said that you looked like a tiny black rat, with zero chances of survival but it has been 21 years and you are alive and kicking!
There were many, many moments of anxiety and fear but you little man, put up a brave fight and today we raise a toast to 21 years of 'awesome'. 
A powerhouse of talent you have excelled in almost every field, music being your alpha and omega. You were a tot of 8 when you sat crosslegged for your first music lesson. which left your music teacher in wonder. From the school stage to the choir to the Hard Rock  Cafe's, you have seen it all and done it all as your fingers fly over the keys of the piano or the keyboard. 
We praise the Lord for the talent that he has bestowed on you. Rock on son!!


WE  were blessed a second time - with a 2.75 kg bundle of joy.   

You have your own brand of humour dearest son,
Sometimes tearful and sometimes bubbling with fun
You have won over the hearts of everyone. 

You are nineteen and unique.
Enjoy the last of your teen year, soon it will be  through

Have fun in all that you do,

 May the good Lord rain  blessings down on you. 

A Deluge Revisited

The city is back on its feet after the deluge last week. Water logging, flooding and a few untimely deaths because of negligence marked August 29th2017.  Mumbaikars relived July 2005 on August 29th 2017. The richest municipal corporation in India received the thrashing of its life from all quarters for its apathy towards the citizens and shoddy maintenance of infrastructure.Every time a deluge happens Mumbaikars experience a sense of Deja vu. Will the corporation ever learn or ever care? 

 As always, in these difficult times, the 'good -samaritan' spirit of the Mumbaikars comes to the fore. The numerous shelters that mushroomed were amazing and there have been testimonies to the same. 

 On one hand, we hail the famed Mumbaikar spirit which the municipal corporation seems to have taken for granted and on the other hand if  Mumbaikars practised a little more civic sense the city may not find itself in these hopeless situations. 

Civic sense and a greater responsibility on the part of the municipal corporation would make the city a better place altogether.