Dear Readers

The following is a news article that focuses on the poor treatment of our freedom fighters, published by the Press Trust of India:

Freedom fighter lives life of neglect and penury

Ruby Nanda
New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI)

She is a freedom fighter who is fighting another battle — the battle for survival.

Laxmi Panda of Orissa’s Koraput district, who joined the Indian National Army in Burma and fought against the British, is caught in abject poverty and had to work as a maid servant, a shop attendant and a daily labourer.

Panda (84) was here last week to air her grievances before President Pratibha Patil who assured her all possible support from the government.

The freedom fighter has been abandoned by her son and also by the government. She has been running from pillar to post for her freedom fighter pension.

The state government recognises Laxmi as a freedom fighter and gives a paltry pension of Rs 1,000. But the Centre has denied Panda, who fought alongside stalwarts like Captain Laxmi Sehgal, the status of freedom fighter just because she was not arrested by the British.

“Had she been arrested by the British and got a police record, she could have got a pension of Rs 15,000 per month, enough to sustain herself,” says Anil Dhir, a researcher on INA.

Till recently, the octogenarian was sharing a hut with her “drunkard” son who threw her out, leaving her homeless. Once Panda had decided to end her life by immolating herself wrapped in the national flag.

But a positive response by the President, Prime Minister’s Office and Congress president Sonia Gandhi has enthused the frail lady to live on, said Dhir, who is instrumental in tracking her down.

(Click here to view original page)

Disgusting, shameful, disgraceful and shocking. It is often said that India’s youth is not as patriotic as a few generations ago. But who is to blame: the youth itself, or the government that neglects those who put their lives on the line for the country?

Yours Ludicrously

Hey folks! Have you heard about what happened to that poor kid? No dude, it was rajkumar who raped her and then killed her… “Like what the hell, they were drunk?!”

Aarushi Talwar

These maybe the reactions from your friends and relatives when you jobless TV addicts were sitting in front of the screens thinking you knew the Aarushi murder case better than the CBI and were the next recruitment of Scotland Yard because your version of the story was the most convincing.

What is disappointing, is not the fact that you, a common man, were making your assumptions. But what is frustrating is the very fact that you became a part of it. Continue Reading ->

It’s almost clichéd the pictures we see everyday on news channels and newspapers. Pictures of bomb sites,pictures of dying men in  hospitals…pictures of failed efforts by the law enforcement agencies in finding those responsible for these terrible acts of  cowardice. We are accustomed to seeing people dying.It happens everywhere…New York,London,Tel-Aviv,Madrid,Mumbai..Every major city in the world has been bombed by terrorists.We seem to think that we are immune to these attacks…we seem to think that there’s some protective blanket around us that will keep us safe.I dont think so…every person is threatened.We need to wake up and fight about this global threat,leaving this in the hands of politicians is not a wise decision.

The pictures I saw on  a news channel of the recent bomb blasts in  Bangalore and Ahmedabad terrified me.Law enforcement agencies in India are incompetent and corrupt to the lowest level.Terrorists escape scott free,plan another attack and the whole blame game starts again.

It saddens me that such lackadaisical,incompetent and corrupt people have been entrusted with the job of securing the country and making it a safe place for the citizens to live in.A radical and quick change is needed.The people responsible for these cowardly acts need to be treated with nary a mercy.An eye for an eye will get the criminals blind….

Most creative professions have their little challenges, the dark horses, the Everests……the little hates…like Ami on Miami ink hates having to do fairies, I think advertisers must detest doing ads for sanitary pads.
Periods are a pain, period….okay, full-stop. You’d think it’s easy to get used to, seeing that it’s inevitable and happens every month….but it’s not. Fact remains that we hate it and everything about it. Hate PMS, Detest the cramps, and loathe the ickiness…
Therefore, when we’re in a state where violence seems rational, we really don’t want to see the happy-happy pad ads, all SO untrue.
Most ads seem to say, use our product and you’ll be comfy doing anything, playing soccer to climbing gates to running through sprinklers.
Not true. comfort lies not in the brand used, It lies in yourself….
So..”Have a happy period”…??
Not possible. Not even probable. Tolerable, maybe. Happy, no. Not unless your product can stop cramps and PMS and everything else we hate about this monthly show of blood. So keep dreaming.
I wonder if the girls in the ads have their period when the ad’s being filmed……