Respect, sadly, a term that is myopically understood and applied especially in our culture; I am sure all of us have at some point in our lives heard the instructions ‘respect your elders’ which is often demonstrated by folding of hands or touching of feet; often, this show of respect comes with a life-long unwritten rule that respect means never arguing or having disagreements with the person you ‘show’ respect to.
The truth however, is far away from the reality; respect, if correctly understood and applied can be a key to a treasure trove of meaningful and long-lasting relationships.   » Continue reading “8 Feb 10, Monday: Respect !!”

A really distressing and dichotomous situation where you have a mentally deranged man in desperate need of treatment and rehabilitation on one side and families in that person’s neighbourhood who are naturally worried about their safety and that of their loved ones.

A classic case which highlights the sorry state of affairs in our country for the mentally unstable and their families; lack of awareness and apathy being the prime suspects.   » Continue reading “6 Feb 10, Wednesday: Mumbai Mirror, Wednesday, 3 Feb 10: page 7 – “won’t die alone, will blow up the entire building””

An alarming number of cases of educated, working men and women causing life-taking accidents due to drunk and rash driving.

Is this an aberration or a pre-cursor to a trend where dangerous and reckless lifestyles and complete lack of regard for law and order will be the gen-next trend? » Continue reading “5 Feb 10, Friday: Times of India, Mumbai, page 14, Tuesday, 2 Feb 10 – ‘young, drunk and reckless at the wheel’”

Dressed in my finery, en route to one of our of big fat Indian wedding functions, I was struck by a thought! Why on earth is a simple and beautiful union of two people celebrated in this loud, insane and over-the-top manner? There was only one logical answer ‘it’s a conspiracy!’
Think about it, all the paraphernalia associated with weddings (such as the shopping, pre-wedding preparations and revelry) is a ploy to take the attention away from the actual purpose – that of two people of different backgrounds coming together to (hopefully) spend the rest of their lives together.   » Continue reading “4 Feb 10, Thursday: the big fat Indian wedding.”

Parents of the 15-year old boy, who faked his own kidnapping to escape an education where he lacked interest, should be thankful that their child did not resort to suicide as most others in the past have.
Having said that, what this teen did was irresponsible and equally and reckless; however, I’d like to focus here on the dire desperation that would lead a 15-year old to take such a crazy measure.    » Continue reading “3 Feb 10, Wednesday: Mumbai Mirror, Wednesday, 3 Feb 10: page 6 – “Forced into subject he disliked, Thane teen stages own ‘kidnap’””

An interesting and insightful article that holistically tackles marital issues.

Counselling or psychotherapy is most effective when the mind is calm; in either extreme states of mind (hyper or placid) our capacity to make rational decisions is low, hence the first step in the counselling process is to help the counsellee come out of this extreme emotional state; Yoga certainly is one such means to this end!
Tried and tested, the asanas and pranayam techniques not just help in relaxation but also aid in deep inner reflection. » Continue reading “Mumbai Mirror, page 25, Tuesday, 2 Feb 10 – ‘Fit two-gether’”

While it is easy to understand what Nooria’s father is going through given the seriousness of her actions, denial and ‘covering-up’ is certainly not going to help his errant ‘child’ in the long-term; the money and contacts may get her out of a legal tangle but will it help her get over what she has done?

The blame however, is not his alone; if law takes its course, Nooria will spend a considerable time in jail which alone won’t help in this rehabilitation process.  The reason we punish is to allow reflection and give the culprit a fair chance at reform.  Detention alone will not help achieve this goal. » Continue reading “Mumbai Mirror, page 2, Monday, 1 Feb 10 – ‘Nooria’s father comes to her ‘spirited’ defence’”

This news piece where a group of college students beat up two fellow-students who were strong contenders in a fashion show had all the alarm bells ringing.

The future of our country stands in jeopardy as the reason for crimes by youngsters are getting dangerously trivial.
In this case, what caused these 20 year olds to resort to such mindless violence is perhaps this current mantra: “success no matter what”.

While the world is getting increasingly competitive, the competitors themselves are displaying absolute disregard for fair play and tolerance.  It seems that all that matters is success; how one achieves it is irrelevant.   » Continue reading “Mumbai Mirror, page 8, Saturday, 30 Jan 10 – ‘Desperate to win fashion show, students assault two classmates’”

‘Getting married’ certainly holds its charm; why else would celebrities who live in their own little world where values have different meanings choose to marry instead of just living-in.
Yet, despite tightly crafted pre-nuptial agreements, we see several celebrity marriages publicly fall apart?

What then makes celebrity marriages different from ‘regular’ ones?    » Continue reading “29 Jan 10, Friday: various newspapers: celebrity marriages breaking up.”

A 14-year old, teenager kills his parents in a pre-planned, cold-blooded manner; stays overnight with the bodies playing video games and expresses no apparent remorse the next day.

Setting aside, just for a moment, the reasons why such a young child would commit such a heinous crime, I ask myself whether there are any early warning signs that could help us identify and help someone with such extreme aggression or should I just assume that the child had psychopathic tendencies and hence would have eventually done something like this?

Aggression amongst children is on a rise; blame it on over-exposure to media or lack of quality time with parents and loved ones; the truth is that children today are showing strong aggressive tendencies. » Continue reading “Mumbai Mirror, page 14, Thursday, 28 Jan 10 – ‘Boy, 14, kills parents over chores row’”