A little help goes a long way..

What if life's basic amenities elude you? the things you supposedly seem to take for granted.. your medicines.. or even your spects , for example. and what happens if the 'you' mentioned happens to be an octogenarian who has no alternatives to replace what he/she just lost or something which they wish they had in the first place.. something which may seem inconsequential to us but of immense value to them.. something which might make their day-to-day living somewhat easier.. little things, like umbrellas and sneakers in monsoons to things more important.. like heating systems during winters.. to water purifiers and medicines which are not accessible to them.. or health check-ups at regular intervals ..for which tie-ups with health care centres is important.. from prosthetics to operations and surgeries..and so forth. We have blood banks in each state..all over the country..with registered voluntary donors, who may not know how it all works but know its needed and most importantly ..they know where to go to help and vice-versa with those needing urgent blood supply. similarly, there are donor-watch organizations in other countries where if you need something.. you know where to go to in your town or city or state.. whichever is nearer, and these orgs. run mainly on volunteers or Samaritans..

The problem in our country with over a billion people is connectivity.. what is really irritating..exasperating and even infuriating ..is that there are people and organizations-small and big ..medicos and even entrepreneurs who've been there and done that , and people who just basically want to help .. but have the perennial problem..having absolutely no idea how to. Putting an amount on a cheque and sending it to your nearest old-age home helps but what about the places which are not connected and not within your reach..? what about centres which need actual supplies rather than cash..?..or something particular and urgent..? what about centres and people who're looking for help nearer to home..but do not know how/whom to get in touch with..? and eventually.. what about those who WANT to help these centres which are closer to them but have no idea how to..?

What we need is a data base (online and in traditional forms..) , big and spread wide enough .. covering even the remotest regions in this country or the nearest possible accessible place ..from where one can get all the info. needed about any and everything required available at the NEAREST possible place to where one is.. where one can go for help ,or get in touch with those who've endorsed themselves to the cause , inc. NGO's and health centres and such orgs. and even Samaritans who wish to be involved and get in touch with them.. people who're the answer to the specific problems. it'll help in taking distance out of the equation.. in getting required supplies and help to places where you know there's a need ..more so by the people IN the region.. which works two ways in that people looking for help of any kind can also search what they're looking for .. starting nearest to home and get help OR they can advertise for help and people know what is required and where .. which helps in equi-distribution of amenities. and even voluntary donors know where their help is required.. or where they might contribute. this works in an inside-out way.. where the people in your region, town, city get localized help first before the search is moved outside.. its been proven feasible AND vastly helpful to the people and the regions around the world where its been tried.. and hope the basic picture about this is clear.

In a country of more than a billion people.. there are lots and lots who need help and equally as many who ARE willing to help. The trick is to get the people who need help, in touch with the right people who are the answer to the problems. The mobile companies have realized this connectivity jig-saw puzzle and are making inroads into getting the pieces together. its time we put other, more important issues on the front page as well.

The parrot that loved rasogullas...

Animal love stays. There are no fears.. no proposals to make and silly insecurities that goes with them, no shattered lives, no divorces and though they too leave a hole in your heart when they go, esp. when you really get attached, you know that the memories left behind would be the fonder ones (except maybe when you think about that one shoe of your favourite pair that went missing or the suspicious bite mark of a squirrel teeth on your toast each day..). My house has been a walking zoo for as long as i can remember.. not for the people who live there (clearing this before i get a kick up my backside..) but for the number of birds and animals that have came and found a place in our hearts. in no particular order, there has been one dog , one kitten who became family and raised 3 generations , 3 squirrels, 4 parrots, 2 mynehs, 2 lizards, 1 rabbit, 1 frog, 4 generations of mongoose , 2 chicks , one snail, and 3 generations of sparrows, that i can remember , who've been there and done that at my place. there are amazing stories to tell about each and every one of them.. and i'll be more than happy to tell them to anybody who's interested but the story i'm writing about right now is about the 'Parrot who ate rasogullas' .. coz she was the first creature i really got attached to..

she came to our house when i must have been 7-8 years old. she was bought from a bird seller coz she was thin and weak and the glummest looking bird you could ever imagine. it took the biggest cage with the largest space you could find, lots and lots of typical parrot food and a tiny water cup to get her moving and speaking. her health improved and so did her voice and she became family. then, one day, came the test.. we opened her cage door inside our house , moved back and waited. Nothing. we decided to wait some more. still nothing. after an hour or so , we gave up. maybe she couldnt fly.. but that was hard to imagine. maybe, she was afraid..

We tried again the next day and this time we moved out of her sight. Then it happened. She slowly came out of the cage door.. had no idea what to do next.. paused for a moment and then, flew on top of the curtains. SHE COULD FLY. we were ecstatic. she was a very beautiful bird.. very shy but had exotic tastes for a parrot. with her very tiny tongue.. the cutest you could ever wish to see, she licked cream found between biscuits, ate pineapple jam.. she liked pineapples, but her all time favourite were rasogullas. she could eat one entire small dripping rasogulla at one go and then go to sleep.. maybe it was heaven for her. we joked she'd get diabetes one day coz of her sweet tooth but of course, she didnt care. she never did. she would sit on your shoulders when you had biscuits in your hand or would sit atop one of the open cupboard doors in anticipation of her favourite cream biscuits.. AND she had to get her share, else your earlobe took a bloody beating.

She was with us for four years and then one day she flew away.. she had to go.. start her own family. i cried that day , maybe coz i thought she'd never go and was also fearful of her safety coz we all knew she had never been in the open on her own before. but she came back .. about 3 months after she left , we heard her voice one day .. and there she was .. sitting on our verandah chair's hand rest. 5 minutes later.. she flew away again. we all saw her.. she was fine.. she was a tough cookie, that girl.. maybe i underestimated her.

we still have two parrots coming to our guava tree at the back of our house each month. the voice is still the same.. she was a chatterbox.. no other parrot could maintain the intensity of the noisiest parrot talk which she could , and with ease. she's way more healthier now.. maybe she's become a mother..

Maybe the love's still there...

With great libido comes great responsibility...

.. or simply put, the ribbed and scented condom sales go up.. helping the company/s meet and better their expected quarterly earnings and resulting in them announcing two more flavours in the scented segment and launching an extra ribbed version of the former - for the fairer sex who turn to their vibrators after a session with their mate who , presumably, seems to have a little problem of his own.. (only he'd never confirm it) ..and on the contrary.. grows rather wild just at the mention of the question.. the sort of aggression the female with the thing in her grasp with the 'in-use' button on, wishes her guy had shown a little while earlier. (the female.. OR the male in the female's body i.e. .. you never know these days..). the man, of course, oblivious to all the ambivalent thoughts in his girl's mind .. being quite pleased at his efforts.

getting back to the topic of the post.. so what happens if two people with diabolically opposite feeling on the most primitive and natural urge known to mankind ..(dont say you dont know what i'm talking about) ..come together? hmm..
its still not so bad if its the guy with the mega libido.. his parter can always rein him in i presume (and we're talking about committed couples in this post guys..) and ANYWAYS .. if the guy cant help it.. the jerk can always..uhh.. jerk off ..right? ("i was so poor when i was growing up.. if i wasnt a boy, i wouldnt have had anything to play with..") , but what happens if some poor guy, looking for a comfy settled relationship.. (with the activity between the sheets thrown in but in a normalesque amount .. yeah right! however much does THAT amount to?..) gets stuck up with a .. shall we say , a nymphomaniac..huh? 'stuck up' in the REALLY LONG TERM view , of course, coz initially the absolute radiant glow on his face would be more than sufficient to put the kohinoor to shame (..the diamond i.e. ..not the condom..).

lets skip the passionate initial phase ..when everyone's happy (inc. the corner shop selling the u-know-whats.) and move on to the couple after say, many years later (put a number yourself) .. when the 'she' has one of her urges kicking in but the 'he' is feeling like a spent force.. (honestly.. its a little difficult imagining this would ever happen to a guy.. but we ARE talking about two ppl who are on the extreme ends of a spectrum ..right?) .. so what does he do? (american pie ..anybody?) .. but running away doesnt seem like the answer , does it..? .. not when you're a couple and its the gal on a high n unlike monica bing's line .. "just get in , do your job ..and get out.." .. you, being a guy very well know you cannot fake it coz it just shows when you're not up for it (get my point?..) and it'll do the poor guy's self esteem no good if he sees/hears that mechanical vibrating device in use one more time..

having to climax this post abruptly guys , for want of free time.

and thus people .. the newly coined adage.. 'with great libido comes great responsibility' takes centrestage.. (..the superman guys wouldnt be too pleased with this but who-the-heck cares anyway.. he's superman ..right? .. HE shouldnt have any problem! .. more so with the content of this post ..ha!) .. maybe it IS time the 'she' with the high testosterone levels understands the fundamental differences between the two anatomically different species and finds a mate more in sync with her own feelings.. or actions.. and let the spent guy have a deserved rest.. may the force be with him again!.. so as to speak. and maybe ..just maybe.. getting those extra set of batteries for her toy wasnt such a bad idea after all.. hmm..

( the content of this post bears no similarities with the author of this blog in ANY form and with any of his mates.. any resemblances is purely co-incidental and rather unfortunate.. for the girl i.e. )