A dose on ethical behavior!

Ever received those calls from bank sales rep, trying to sell you some policy or the other? You might say, what’s new in that, they are all over the place. Yeah, they keep calling and persuading you about their latest policy which is supposed to give best returns. As long as they don’t get annoying, I maintain a standard answer of not interested currently, however if I do need anything will contact them.
One of these busy mornings I got a call from a similar sales rep from ICICI. She seemed polite and was trying to sell her unit- linked policy. She started off with, the usual niceties and before I could blurt out my standard answer, she went on to say ‘we can promise you double the returns’. Now that got me interested! I asked her a few questions and the plan name so I could check it online, but the lady insisted that I should meet her, coz then she could answer my questions in detail.
Well, that is their usual routine, so I just agreed. What harm could one meeting do? Of course if I don’t find the plan interesting I can always reject it, is what I thought to myself. The day was fixed and I got busy with my daily routine. On the scheduled day, the lady came in promptly, accompanying her, a senior manager. They quickly got down to business. At the start of the discussion the manager asked what was I looking for and I informed him that I was looking for a child plan , however the marketing rep’s talk got me interested in the current plan. He just mentioned they don’t have anything in terms of child plan and got about explaining me in detail their said plan. It was a unit linked plan and the minimum period was 5 years. After listening to their market talk, I just decided I needed more time to understand this plan and also had to do some market research about this. I conveyed the same to them and informed them, in case I need anything I will call the lady as I had her number. The manager asked for tentative time when I would be ready with my decision and I said in a week. He asked the lady to give me a reminder call then and that was the end of it. Two days later I got a call from another sales representative from ICICI asking if I was looking for a child plan. I just assumed the earlier guys had communicated my need to their concerned department and hence was getting this call. Even this sales rep wanted to meet in person and we agreed on a date.
Eventually I did my research and found the double return plan not so attractive, as compared to some other plans. Also the ‘double’ was just a statement based on past record. With market at a high there were no hopes of having double. So all said and done, I just dropped the plan. The earlier marketing rep called me after the said time was over and I informed my decision to her. When I informed her that I had got a call from their other team about child plan and might just go for that, I was in for a rude shock. The lady was suddenly aggressive. Said I should have followed some ethics and called her to confirm if she had asked anyone to contact me. She even made it a point to tell me, that she was in the kitchen cooking and because she remembered about me, she gave a call, how could I not call her, when I had said I would! It was my duty, was her contention. It reminded me of a school teacher scolding her pupil . I reasoned, that I never knew ICICI thought it best to have its own sales rep compete with each other, but in vain. I let the matter be as I thought maybe she was looking forward to this bonus amount and was upset that it was not working out. However I was in for another rude shock when after the call, in about half an hour I got a stinker message from the same person, who gave me more gyan on my behavior. “ You should not waste others time, money and energy. It is painful for some. Please act better next time and it just went on…”
So much for thinking before investing my hard earned money! I never knew I had no right to decide what is best for me! One thing is for sure, the next time I get a call I am not entertaining any of them. If I do need to invest I will just go to my investment portfolio manager. Lot less morally questioning and no hassles of unethical behavior, or worry of hurting someone’s sentiments :P and most importantly he does not expect me to invest in every plan he explains to me!

After a long time... and yes relations still are complicated!

I know, this title does'nt make sense! Well can't think of any right now, to be frank, this is the first time that I have written a title first and then the post, so if there seems a disconnect between the title and the post, you know from where that's coming.
Enough of the disclaimers... I have been away from the blog for so long, I was scared I might end up forgetting how to find it! Well, with a kid around, things are not easy, and whenever you do find some tiny bit of free time, you tend to sleep...this is the story of most new parents nowadays... sleep deprived parent... I must add ... It just makes me wonder how my mom took care of us when we were babies or toddlers for that matter... whew!
That brings me to another topic, Why are we so judgemental about everything, more so if there is a girl/woman involved. First of all, till things are not outright heroic, we tend to assume, that's simple .... everyone does it. I mean I never fully understood the complexities of being a mom and raising a kid, till I had one. I regret many of my outbursts targeted at my mom now... I mean most of the mom's are our punching bags... stressbusters. Dad's furious, boss is irritating, work pressure... study tension... you could take it all out on mom... But did we ever stop and think, how does she release her stress... and yes when she does try by getting irritating or edgy... we blame it on the age gap and tend to say ' Oh mom's are so nagging!'
If a wedding is called off, people so easily and quickly judge that it must be the girl's fault. I mean if the girl calls it off , then it is ; 'she must adjust' If the boy calls it off, then there must be some problem with the girl.
It could have been a mutual decision... or even if it was not, who are we to expect them to follow our belief's and thoughts. Are'nt they told enough to know what's good for them! Why this sudden outburst of soceital commitment and lessons in rightous behaviour?
The society was formed so that humans could live safely and lead a life free of chaos. Sadly, today society itself is one of the dangers. Be it honour killings, dowry deaths or plain mental torture of the 'log kya kahenge' phenomenon. If only we could ponder more before we talk and behave, things could be so different.

Something borrowed.... but amazingly true

This came as a forward to me. It is so hilarious and true that I wanted to share it with all. I guess this should prove as a wake up call for us to improve our driving and general civic sense :). However currently just enjoy the piece.

Driving in Bangalore / India
This hilarious article was written by a Dutchman who spent two years in Bangalore, India, as a visiting expert. A little long article but worth reading it!!!
Driving in Bangalore / India
For the benefit of every Tom, Dick and Harry visiting India and daring to drive on Indian roads, I am offering a few hints for survival. They are applicable to every place in India except Bihar, where life outside a vehicle is only marginally safer.
Indian road rules broadly operate within the domain of karma where you do your best, and leave the results to your insurance company. The hints are as follows: Do we drive on the left or right of the road?
The answer is "both". Basically you start on the left of the road, unless it is occupied. In that case, go to the right, unless that is also occupied. Then proceed by occupying the next available gap, as in chess. Just trust your instincts, ascertain the direction, and proceed. Adherence to road rules leads to much misery and occasional fatality. Most drivers don't drive, but just aim their vehicles in the generally intended direction.
Don't you get discouraged or underestimate yourself except for a belief in reincarnation; the other drivers are not in any better position. Don't stop at pedestrian crossings just because some fool wants to cross the road. You may do so only if you enjoy being bumped in the back.
Pedestrians have been strictly instructed to cross only when traffic is moving slowly or has come to a dead stop because some minister is in town. Still some idiot may try to wade across, but then, let us not talk ill of the dead.
Blowing your horn is not a sign of protest as in some countries. We horn to express joy, resentment, frustration, romance and bare lust (two brisk blasts),or just mobilize a dozing cow in the middle of the bazaar. Keep informative books in the glove compartment. You may read them during traffic jams, while awaiting the chief minister's motorcade, or waiting for the rainwater to recede when over ground traffic meets underground drainage.

Occasionally you might see what looks like a UFO with blinking colored lights and weird sounds emanating from within. This is an illuminated bus, full of happy pilgrims singing bhajans. These pilgrims go at breakneck speed, seeking contact with the Almighty, often meeting with success.
Auto Rickshaw (Baby Taxi): The result of a collision between a rickshaw and an automobile, this three-wheeled vehicle works on an external combustion engine that runs on a mixture of kerosene oil and creosote. This triangular vehicle carries iron rods, gas cylinders or passengers three times its weight and dimension, at an unspecified fare. After careful geometric calculations, children are folded and packed into these auto rickshaws until some children in the periphery are not in contact with the vehicle at all. Then their school bags are pushed into the microscopic gaps all round so those minor collisions with other vehicles on the road cause no permanent damage. Of course, the peripheral children are charged half the fare and also learn Newton's laws of motion en route to school. Auto-rickshaw drivers follow the road rules depicted in the film Ben Hur, and are licensed to irritate.
Mopeds: The moped looks like an oil tin on wheels and makes noise like an electric shaver. It runs 30 miles on a teaspoon of petrol and travels at break-bottom speed. As the sides of the road are too rough for a ride, the moped drivers tend to drive in the middle of the road; they would rather drive under heavier vehicles instead of around them and are often "mopped" off the tarmac.
Leaning Tower of Passes: Most bus passengers are given free passes and during rush hours, there is absolute mayhem. There are passengers hanging off other passengers, who in turn hang off the railings and the overloaded bus leans dangerously, defying laws of gravity but obeying laws of surface tension. As drivers get paid for overload (so many Rupees per kg of passenger), no questions are ever asked. Steer clear of these buses by a width of three passengers.
One-way Street: These boards are put up by traffic people to add jest in their otherwise drab lives. Don't stick to the literal meaning and proceed in one direction. In metaphysical terms, it means that you cannot proceed in two directions at once. So drive as you like, in reverse throughout, if you are the fussy type. Least I sound hypercritical, I must add a positive point also. Rash and fast driving in residential areas has been prevented by providing a "speed breaker"; two for each house. This mound, incidentally, covers the water and drainage pipes for that residence and is left untarred for easy identification by the corporation authorities, should they want to recover the pipe for year-end accounting.
Night driving on Indian roads can be an exhilarating experience for those with the mental make up of Genghis Khan. In a way, it is like playing Russian roulette, because you do not know who amongst the drivers is loaded. What looks like premature dawn on the horizon turns out to be a truck attempting a speed record. On encountering it, just pull partly into the field adjoining the road until the phenomenon passes.
Our roads do not have shoulders, but occasional boulders. Do not blink your lights expecting reciprocation. The only dim thing in the truck is the driver, and with the peg of illicit arrack (alcohol) he has had at the last stop, his total cerebral functions add up to little more than a naught. Truck drivers are the James Bonds of India, and are licensed to kill. Often you may encounter a single powerful beam of light about six feet above the ground. This is not a super motorbike, but a truck approaching you with a single light on, usually the left one. It could be the right one, but never get too close to investigate. You may prove your point posthumously.

What did you see in Avatar?

Did you watch Avatar? You would say, Is that a question! Who hasn’t? Well true, one of the biggest box office hits and Golden globe award winner, you have to be blind to miss it! Well that truly is worth a thought, can’t it be somehow made available to the blind! I mean those who are literally blind not those who choose to turn a blind eye. Oh! Well, but this is stirring away from the plot of this post, so we can give it a thought later.

Did you know that it has come under fire from various interest groups and nations! There is a whole bunch of them starting with the Church, who is against the movie because it is supposed to propagate ideas of worshipping nature. Now, since when do we have the liberty to decide what should aliens worship? It’s their choice, their land, they can pray anything they want. For that matter even on Earth we have various faiths that believe in worshipping some form of nature or the other. If the church is worried that suddenly people might start praying trees in their backyard. They can chill, for that’s not going to happen. Had we earthlings been that sensitive, the issue of global warming wouldn’t have aroused!

That brings me to the second group. A certain section believes that the film overdramatized the possibility of environmental catastrophe on earth. Well this statement itself is so guilt ridden. If environmental catastrophe hadn’t been real would we have been equally scared to see its visualization? We can easily digest a movie that is based on assumptions of doomsday theory but are reluctant to see that probably the doomsday (environmental catastrophe) is man- made.
Then there are loads of others like feminists, anti-smoking groups etc. Now even China has a problem with this movie. Chinese believe the imperialist themes of the movie that shows the natives, being forcefully evicted from their homes by industrialists, is a parable for Chinese people whose dwellings have been forcefully razed to make way for new constructions. I don’t get this one. Shouldn’t they be happy that even if that is the case their plight is being projected in front of the world. Well, who am I to say anything in this.

However, I left the theater on a sad note, because it made me realize how much forest cover we might have lost for want of industrialization. And was it warranted ? How many animals did we render homeless, how many plants have gone extinct. For once it was a movie that projected man as the evil and probably that is what has made many uncomfortable. We are ‘ok’ with movies that depict aliens as the evil who come in spaceships to take over our planet. We are the heroes, why should we have a problem. But the moment we see on screen what we have been doing to our planet. A dying planet, the only place where we can survive, we are all jittery. I hope for once we open our eyes and make a conscious effort to recycle, reuse, plant more trees and use resources judiciously. Stop pushing the issue under the carpet and raise to the occasion.