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Is flash mob new rage in India? Is it getting more followers in a society where more youngsters prefer to remain apolitical, but looking for ways to express themselves against injustices prevailing in the society? The ongoing protests against the Delhi gang rape incident underlines a fact-people though are fed-up with shutdowns and strikes announced by political parties, they are not against genuine protests for genuine reason. Delhi rape case is not just one happened in the country,but the reaction to it was tremendous that even the police lost its sense of direction. In fact, they failed to realise it as flash mob. That's why they met young protesters with batons and tear gas, instead of quelling their anger through immediate action. Now,Finance Minister P.Chidambaram has come with a statement that India is not fully prepared to meet flash mobs. But I don't know why Chidambaram addressed the media, instead of Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. Whatever, the youth suc

News is not news when it's not new. In that sense Delhi rape cases are neither new nor news. Rapes and sexual abuses have become so common in Delhi that women are advised not to travel alone in the national capital. At the same time you can see free love birds in the city engaged in cajoling and all sorts of amorous dalliance in broad daylight not afraid of curious onlookers. Such scenes give a wrong impression about the city which provides absolute freedom to individuals. But reports coming from the national capital always said the opposite and good enough to disbelief them. The latest incident of gangrape of a medical student in a moving bus is so shocking that demands stringent action in dealing crime against women not in Delhi alone,but across the nation. Let us not forget that Delhi is being ruled by a woman chief minister who should and could understand the difficulties and needs of women. What a fool am I to forget that people born with silver spoons realise common

Human mind is intricate and hence the risks involved in the treatment of deranged minds. But with just a dozen medicines and help from a systematic cure method, a psychiatrist is making a stride in the field of community psychiatry in the tiny southern state of India. Dr T Manoj Kumar, who has worked in Britain for 20 years, returned to his homeland with a mission of extending his expertise in community psychiatry to the marginalised section of the society free of cost. Speaking to The Gulf Today, the Indian-educated doctor, who has visited Dubai in his attempt to widen a network of service-minded people in his voluntary work, said he is dealing with people in the working age adult group who have lost their mental abilities to perform productively and carry on with their lives without others’ help. Three years ago, he joined the Institute of Palliative Medicine, a registered charitable organisation functioning in Kozhikode, a town known for its humanitarian activities in Kerala.

Firmly denying she belonged to the activist-writers’ category, the author of The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy, on Saturday said it was wrong to label her an activist just because her writings take up the cause of marginalised sections of society. Replying to a question, Roy, the first Indian to win a Booker prize for literature, said activism was a subject that needed elaborate discussion, stressing that her non-fictional writing was her way of expressing “myriad forms of resistance” to “wrong” policies. The writer, known for her straight talk and anti-establishment views, had reservations about the application of the term “activist” in her case by whom she referred to as “market-driven” media, who by and large considered this breed as “boring” people who just repeated ad nauseam whatever they had to say. There wasn’t a slightest hint of arrogance or harshness in her words or demeanour as was widely attributed to the writer, whose second fictional work the literary world wa

Just a few weeks back everything was picture-perfect for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Though India’s main opposition party has been a pariah among the secular parties because of their communal ideology, it got wider acceptance as a reliable opposition that could fight the ruling front mired in neck-deep corruption allegations. With general election fast approaching, the party was getting ready with their knights and rooks in the corners. It even tried to woo and take sides with anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal and his India against Corruption (IAC) movement. But dashing all the hopes of BJP, Kejriwal who has targeted the ruling front at Centre, exposed party chief Nitin Gadkari’s bogus companies and how he amassed wealth of inappropriate proportion. While the party was struggling to get over from corruption charges, Gadkari was caught in a bigger controversy for drawing an unholy comparison between Swami Vivekananda and don Dawood Ibrahim. Later he disowned his statement

Just a few weeks back everything was picture-perfect for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Though India’s main opposition party has been a pariah among the secular parties because of its communal ideology, it got wider acceptance as a reliable opposition that could fight the ruling front mired in neck-deep corruption allegations. With the general election fast approaching, the party was getting ready with its knights and rooks in the corners. It even tried to woo and take sides with anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal and his India against Corruption (IAC) movement. But the party’s chief Nitin Gadkari has damaged that built-up image with his unholy don-seer comparison remarks, disowning it and finally offering a regret to save his as well as the party’s image. Even before that Kejriwal has dashed the BJP’s hopes of coming back to power at the Centre and proved how equally corrupt the country’s leading opposition too is. His bait was none other than Nitin Gadkari, who they al

If politics is a lucrative business, corruption is its net profit! Never before Indian politicians were seen neck in deep with nepotism and corruption. The money, the muscle power, they amass in short span of time is humiliating to smugglers and looters and they started joining the bandwagon of MLAs and MPs. Sorry for not substantiating with the exact figure of criminals in our parliamentary democratic system. The latest of the series of shocking graft allegation is BJP chief Nitin Gadkari,which was exposed at a crucial time with Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat going to polls and he due to be reinstated as party president for second term. A big blow to the party who tried to batter Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son-in-law Robert Vadra. This is what we common people believe in-poetic justice. Give a blow to your opponent, and receive it back with big bang! As Congress party and BJP are fighting each other to get into top slot of corruption and nepotism, where is a way out fo

No doubt miscreants are out there to divide humanity on religious lines. The latest of this attempt is the release of Innocence of Muslims video which is indirectly meant to provoke Muslims on Sept.11 anniversary. Once again, cliched questions arise-why Muslims are easily being provoked and why they are targeted? Is Islam a taboo subject? Is Prophet Mohammed beyond discussion? A true believer is supposed to have faith in him/herself and the religion he or she believes in. The violence unleashed across many parts of the Muslim world is quite contrary to this. If someone tries to tarnish the image of prophet Mohammed and his religion, will it vanish into thin air? So long as people believe in Mohammed and Islam,so long as the universe exists, both will withstand test of time and space. Not just Mohammed,if someone does the same with Christ or Krishna or Buddha or whoever belongs to that category of men and women, the believers should stop for a while and use their reason to rea

We have seen how far rumour mills created chaos in a country where millions migrate to different states just for work to have a decent life. Most of the northeast people who have fled metros in southern states were either doing menial jobs or studying aimed at having quality life back home. According to reports mass exodus and fear over attack continued on the eve of Eid though it has subsided. The rumours of attack after Eid has just proved how insecure the minds of common people who just struggle to make both ends meet. This is far from the 'prosperity of nation'projected in figures and boasting of a nation secular and democratic. But who are the real culprits? Is it the six arrested by the Karnataka Police or some sly powers trying to destabilise India's emergence as a powerful nation? When the entire Middle East is before us burning with the issue of regime changes in the pretext of bringing democracy to the region;naturally India could be a possible target for

Meeting a living poster icon of democratic India's notorious episode in the pages of its history, that too on its anniversary, was awesome. It was purely a coincidence that I met K. Ajitha, a firebrand socio-political activist, on July 26! To my surprise she has forgotten that it was the 36th anniversary of Declaration of Emergency in India. An embarrassed look and silence, upon my reminder, spoke volumes of harsh experiences she had met as a young radical leader in late 1960’s and 1970’s. The only daughter of hardcore Naxal leaders Kunnikkal Narayanan and Mandakini, the 19-year-old revolutionary took part in Pulpally Station attack on Nov.22, 1968 along with a group of armed activists. Ajitha was arrested, sent to solitary confinement, and she left the movement after spending more than seven years in jail. But in her inimitable stoic manner, she did not allow that ‘closed’ chapters of history to invade her thoughts while talking about her present activities rang

http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/7c74a3fa-e9e7-4dfd-9c61-720029a502fc.aspx Do not ask from where fighters in conflict zones are getting howitzer guns and missiles to fight. Do not sympathise with their hungry-looking disposition, and wonder from where they get strength to trigger heavy guns and artilleries. The thirst for power and urge to change the course of history written in decades-long humiliation and oppression at the hands of the ruling class justify their action – at least for them, but not for millions of mute spectators and innocent victims of conflict zones. There was a time when wars were attributed to barbarians of the Dark Ages in the history of mankind. There is no difficulty in finding more civilised barbarians these days, who talk of ending hostilities and embrace peace dialogues to solve issues. Diplomacy has gone so far that it will end in decapitating someone who is found to be a threat to global security and society. Amid these hypocritical dimensions, figh

When did you last meet your mother? Are you able to give her back all the affection she has showered upon you? Are you meeting all her requirements? Are you living up to her expectations? These are some kind of thoughts that may come to all of us on a Mother's Day.I don't know when did we, the Indians, start observing a special day for mothers.But, mothers indeed need a special occasion. We may blame it on marketing strategy for all sorts of days, from Valentine's Day to Father's Day. But they serve a big purpose to the society making all of us to take a break and think about all dear ones at least for a day. My mother is no more. The years I have spend with her are still fresh and sure it will keep me moving on. Now, with a prick of conscience, I regret for not taking her warnings about her imminent death. Why did I so vainly believe that she will be with me till I grow old. Whenever she used to say about death, I used to tell her she will die only after my

Today's women are labelled emanicipated and free birds compared to past generation. And the contemporary generation is enjoying the fruits of what they have fought and won for the posterity. But does plight of women has changed? NO. It is more or less the same. It is not just because as some who blame it on women, who are averse to change, but men, who scares entry of women into his territory. Even the most powerful lady in US, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has to say, "it is her wish to see a female US president in her lifetime." What stops men from accepting and sharing his privileges with women, his other half. Whenever I come across MCPs in job place, the first feeling will be that of frustration and despair for being born as a woman. There were so many occasions, I just wished to be a man. During my childhood, it was the wish to sit on roadside shops and chat like boys, who simply while away their time passing comments at girls. When I grew up a lit

When it comes to strategy adopted to encourage regime change uprisings in the Arab world, from Tunis to Syria, the Western diplomatic measures wear an exhausted look. “Pledging aid to meet humanitarian crisis,” issuing “deadlines” and “warnings” are high on its agenda to bring down the regime in Syria. Contrary to its tit-for-tat strategy in Libya and Egypt, the West and other nations engaged in bringing peace are moving on a slow track in Syria. Compared to the eliminated despots like Saddam Hussein and Muammar Qadhafi or ousted autocrats like Hosni Mubarak and Ali Abdullah Saleh, Bashar Al Assad was lucky to get a time-taking approach. He was moulded in liberal qualities and values of life than others. And naturally, the expectation on Assad was more on embracing reforms within a very limited timeframe. What do these tyrants smell like? Their wives are better to say that. Haven't they experienced nauseating smell of innocent bloods when they mate? Assad continues crushin

"Pareshan karte he ye bachen-" A Punjabi lady on salwar kameez complained to me, a total stranger, about her grandchildren. I smiled at her. It was obvious she was looking for someone to share her momentary frustration.But she was all in smile and overjoyed with affection towards the kids. I think like me,they too were returning after a brisk shopping.I looked at the kids. One was drinking a juice and one playing with some toy and running around the pavement, the other one examining the waste bin and looked trying to learn its mechanism.While trying to empty the can,the juice spilled to the boy's face.Without wiping it off he rushed to dispose it in the waste bin. May be their parents were at work. And the grandmother took them out. When parents themselves could not manage one kid these days, how could an elderly take care of three naughty kids. They were doing all mischiefs just near the road. And I realised her next Herculean task will be to cross the road wi

Humanity is yet to unveil two big mysteries-life and death. Why are we born? Why do we die? Is it to die that we are born? Or is it written even before our birth. As fatalists say,is mankind destined? When someone dies, what do we have to do then? Whether to mourn or accept the eternal truth? Puzzling!Puzzling! Loss of a dear one is always painful. And it is a very personal affair too. We, the ordinary ones are lucky to mourn in our private thoughts and private circles. But when a public figure die, they pay the price for being a celebrity. Hype over the death of celebrities is intolerable. The common man has the right to know about the death of their icons, but over-indulgence is unreasonable. What is the need for day-long live telecast of celebrity mourning as if death is a unique event? Death is as inevitable as any other cosmic affair. Everyone has to die one day, just to keep the cosmic balance, fulfilling our written role. Let’s make it more a private affair.

When it comes to free movement in Kerala, a woman thinks twice.Should I go alone or take the company of someone? When media is flooded with all sorts of physical and emotional abuse towards women,cutting across all ages, majority feels scared of not just travelling alone, but even to go for shopping or to a cinema hall. The other place you could see the entire family presence is interviews. It is an usual, but hilarious scene in Kerala, during PSC interviews, where women candidates are seen accompanied either by husbands carrying kids or mothers and fathers. I have written only one PSC test and that day I got a doubt-whom will they take to as body guards when they go for work? Lucky, those who have someone to guide and accompany you everywhere. But that alone kills the self confidence of a person, be it woman or man. Self-sufficiency and independence are qualities that have to be nurtured, it doesn't come along with your genes.Sadly, parents in the name of 'caring' ar

One fine morning, my sister got a surprising email offering an excellent job package from Parenco based in the UK.To check its authenticity, I contacted my friend Susheelan Damodaran and he gave me a clear picture of what is happening behind such enticing offers. Beware friends, when you get email placement offering jobs. Look before you leap. Hope Susheelan's reply will help all job seekers and those wish to migrate to European countries. "I think this is the 6th or 7th similar enquiry that I am getting from people in middle-east and India. Without making any enquiries about it I can tell you that this is a scam and a boobie-trap. Please ask your sister not to fall for it. If they are offering an extortionate salary which is surprising your sister, then it is a lie. Remember, if it looks too good to be true, it never is true! I know they haven't asked you for any money yet, but if you make contact with the 'London Solicitor' he/she will tell you that to proce

Sometimes we don’t realise the gravity of our actions. May be immaturity, lack of respect for fellow-beings or not realising that it is hurting to others. Sometimes it may be deliberate too. And that innocent action may become a haunting one when the folly was realised at a later stage in life. One such incident always makes me remorseful. Those who have younger siblings at times become bossy. Though I am friendly with my younger siblings, I used to be harsh with them in two things. Nobody was allowed to take books and magazines from my room without my permission. And nobody was allowed to undo the fold of newspaper. One day I lashed out at my younger sister for reading the newspaper before I woke up and damaging its folds. But what happened a few months later shocked all of us in the family. May be it’s written; she died so young. And whenever she comes in my thoughts, I always feel I was not fair with her for a silly thing like newspaper. And also I see her smiling from heav

Michael Schumacher is the most celebrated name in the Formula One championship. But for employees of a Dubai-based company, it became an alternative for traffic offence as well as nickname for people who were fined for traffic offense. One of the drivers of the company was notorious for his rash driving. One day his delivery van collided with a four wheeler driven by a lady. The lady who was rushing to the office in the morning got angry and got out of the car abusing the offender. Trembling with anger and shock, the lady shouted at him,“Who do you think, you smarty, a Schumacher?” Poor guy, shocked by the unexpected remark in an accent he is not familiar with, told her innocently, “No madam, I am not a shoemaker, but working in a oilcompany.” It took a few minutes to spread the fun among all the employees in the company. And the birth of a new word in their official dictionary.

To the police and media it is just a suicide case. For me it will be sleepless nights, at least for a couple of days. Yet another family suicide happened in Dubai while wife of the man who had initiated the suicide is undergoing treatment in a hospital only to be grilled later by the police. In the coming days, if she co-operates with the authorities and come back to senses, the reason behind this family suicide-murder will come out. I don’t know how the media in Kerala has reported this unfortunate incident. Rijesh and his wife Sreesha, both in their late 30′s, killed their six-year old daughter before their suicide bid. Rijesh hanged to death. But Sreesha’s attempt to kill self by slashing wrist veins failed. If the authorities take the case on humanitarian grounds, Sreesha will be spared from punishment. But the chances are slim as suicide is an offense according to the law in the UAE. If to believe unofficial reports from sources, Rijesh had found some financial fraud in