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- posted by PM @ 6:49 PM 0 comments

 
Does Julia Roberts have constipation too ?
We are great at dehumanizing the very rich and the very poor.

Julia Roberts just became a Mom for the first time. She must be in her late 30's, perhaps early 40's. She must have struggled with her pregnancy - constipation, back aches, morning sickness - the whole nine yards. However, since she is Julia Roberts, we cannot imagine her like that. She is perfect - how can she experience pain - like you and me?

Similarly, some one I know lost a child in India. He was born in a poor man's house in a village. The child died due to complications after the delivery and lack of medical facilities. We do not feel his pain. A friend casually remarked - "Well, this kinda stuff happens all the time in Indian villages". I am sure it does, but that does not reduce the family's pain. We some how assume that pain and suffering is our right only and the right of those who are like us.

My neighbor had the flu, I offered to run some errands for him. My wife was ill, I cooked, cleaned and let her get some rest. But I could never imagine Tom Cruise sneezing with the allergies or my Mexican grass mower getting sick with pollen.

They are both too distant, too far removed from my comfortable middle class suburban lifestyle. Try to remember, they are all human. A pretzel stuck in Dubya's throat will choke him just the same as the one stuck in Saddam's. Everyone is human and subject to the same pains and joys. The media should stop portraying them as demi-gods and above the rest of us. Similarly, they should stop classifying the poor as sub-human statistics only. "50 killed in suicide bomb attack" - Tell us about each of these persons - fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters. What were they like? What kind of clothes did they wear? Where did they go to school? I want to know so that we can identify with them and feel for them. Once we feel for them, we can do something and not distance ourselves from their troubles. We cannot insulate ourselves from the world.

Wake up, come out from the coccoon - start seeing everyone around you as an equal human being - from Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise to the Abu Ghraib prisoner standing on the box with the electrical wires attached to him. They're all the same people - all equal and all human,
- posted by PM @ 10:54 AM 0 comments

 
Hiring a maid or marrying
The problem is that we approach marriage like a job and a job like a marriage. Bring home the bread, take the kids to soccer, get the job done a couple of times a week, pay the mortgage - that's marriage. Unfortunately, people live in quiet desperation all the time - choked and claustrophobic. Unable to say what they really want, for fear of upsetting their partner. If there is one place where free speech does not work, it is in your own house.

At the job, we need to get the job done, bring in the revenue, deliver the code or whatever. We approach that with such ferocity that it we get married to our jobs. All employers want spouses not maids. It is up to us to keep things in perspective. We work FOR someone else. Even my own company is a virtual person - I work for that person.

We can change jobs far more easily than we can change spouses - keep that in mind. So let us work harder than ever like maids at our jobs - not like wives. And let us work harder at home at being the husbands and wives that we set out to be, not the worker ants that we have become.

On this insecticular note, endeth today's post.

-PM
- posted by PM @ 10:04 AM 0 comments

 
Why Press 2 for Salvation
And why not press 3 or better still, press 0 to speak with an operator, probably in Bangalore...
Who knows, and perhaps who even cares.

I have these sudden bursts of inspiration, as do you where I can see through the toughest of problems and come up with a simple solution. I see wisdom and philosophy in the unlikeliest of places and decided to chronicle it in this blog. Wisdom, mixed with humor - that's the vision

Here is the first one...

Is the cup half full or half empty - a question of optimism over pessimism. I don't know but the sound of cups being half full or empty kind of distracts me. So here is my analogy - is breaking wind (farting) good or bad. Some say its bad - it is embarrasing and smells bad, others say it is good since it eliminates gases from the body and makes you feel better.

Look at the positive side, farts are good for you, especially the long, juicy and fruity ones.

On this fragrant note, endeth my first post, a tribute to optimism.

-PM
- posted by PM @ 1:50 PM 0 comments