Jayanagar needs parks for elderly, disabled

Parks in Bangalore are like fast food for nature lovers. A quick run or a brisk walk in the park is all one needs to recharge their batteries. Of course there are those who come here just to spend time with nature, away from the concrete walls of their homes. When a park is such an integral part of some of our lives can you imagine a day when you can no longer visit one?

‘Who is going to stop me?’ is what you might be thinking but for some a visit to a park is just a narrated experience or a mere illustration in a book and for a select few, a rare luxury.

Jayanagar is a place where one finds numerous such parks that are frequented by people of all walks of life. Unfortunately ‘people of all walks of life’ excludes the orthopedically challenged, wheel-chair bound kids and adults not to mention senior citizens with walkers. The only and nearest park close to Jayanagar that is disable friendly is the Krishna Rao park in Basavanagudi.

Existing parks don’t have ramps and railings to assist the disabled. Many have revolving gates and small entrances. The roads leading up to the park are uneven.

Mahantesh G, Founder of Samarthanam trust, J P Nagar 2nd phase says that having disable-friendly parks will throw light on problems faced by the disabled along with helping children and senior citizens. The parks will be welcomed with open arms by everyone he opines. Children and adults with disabilities can be motivated if more such parks come up. It can make a positive difference to their lives. He agrees that at first they may be hesitant but will slowly build interest. Stressing on the need for such parks, Priya S, Programme Manager, Techvision, that trains the visually and physically challenged to gain employment, says that people with disabilities lack confidence to venture into the existing parks. Being 70 per cent blind herself, she fears of getting knocked down by joggers. The roads leading up to such parks are uneven. A change in the thinking process is needed she says pointing out that even major government buildings don’t have ramps or broader doors for wheel chairs to move around.

Let’s do it for senior citizens on wheel chairs and walkers at least she says, they have a lot of free time and would like to spend it in parks. Also, one can never predict the future, accidents and old age may make a person wheel-chair bound hence there is a need for disable-friendly parks.

On a positive note Mahantesh says, “We have to sensitize the government on the needs of such parks. If we are supportive and make it into a movement I have confidence that the government will take it up”. The government can modify the existing parks and charge a nominal fee for maintenance. “If such an initiative is taken up by the government we are open to work with them” he adds. He hopes that the new mayor to be elected shortly will make it a priority.

Suryanarayana S, a retired 60 year old residing in Jayanagar 9^th block who frequents the mini forest park near his house says, “I have been going for my morning walks for the last 10 years, few years down the line I may be wheel chair bound but I would still like to visit my favourite park. It makes me sad to think I will have to stop coming here just because wheels will replace my legs”.

There must be a positive approach to bring about such parks in Jayanagar not a sympathetic one says Priya and the residents of Jayanagar agree. They hope in future parks will be designed keeping everyone in mind.

What we usually subscribe to and follow is a protest-driven movement in order to make a difference. We fail to understand that we can contribute in other positive ways which are just as meaningful if not more. A good example of such a positive movement is that of Mrs Suman Balaji (my dear friend Rohini’s mom), a resident of Padmanabhanagar. The word that best describes this mother of two daughters is ‘plant-lover’. Apart from having planted saplings in front of her house she is also responsible for the unique act of planting trees all along her lane! Yes, two years back, upon shifting residence to Padmanabhanagar this awe-inspiring lady planted all the trees in her street in order to have a greener environment. Among the trees she has mothered are the well-known Sampige, Ashoka, Badami, Night Queen and the Neem. Mrs Suman went to each of the houses in her neighbourhood and took permission to plant the trees. It has been two years and she still takes care of them like her own. Initially some neighbours opposed her tree-planting spree citing reasons like lack of parking space and narrow roads but that did not deter her. Her devotion is something to admire, she buys manure from a cowherd close by for the trees, shoos off cows who try to feed on its leaves and picks up saplings from nurseries whenever she finds time. An addition to the tree-diet along with water and manure is the vegetable waste from her kitchen that goes straight to these trees.

Another heart-warming incident involves kids in her neighbourhood. Once she caught a couple of kids plucking leaves of one of her trees, instead of scolding and shoo-ing them away as any other person would, she bought small-sized buckets for each one of them and made them water the plants while teaching them the importance of trees, thus combining entertainment and education. A civic body however was not impressed with her; it wanted to uproot some of the trees for desilting activities but thankfully they saw another way out.

On one hand we all know loss of old trees cannot be immediately balanced out by planting new ones but on the other hand we can’t deny the fact that planting trees is the only option we are left with! This lady has made her neighbourhood a greener place to live; When requested to share her story she initially shied away, thinking it was not important. She wouldn’t even allow me to take her picture! She believes that we must do whatever little possible to give back to nature. Little does she know that her small deed is in fact going to go a long way in helping the future inhabitants of her neighbourhood.  People like her are the true role models of this city; we must take a leaf out of her tree-themed book. She is one unsung heroine we all must look up to and hey! It does involve some dancing around trees!

P.S – That’s her lane and her trees

This article appeared in The New Indian Express dated August 3, 2011

The New Indian Express August 3, 2011

A Glimpse into the Dying Art of Harikathe On the 25^th Death Anniversary of Jayasimha Das

The word Harikatheinvokes laughter in many. It is a term locals use to describe a boring sermon by an elderly person or teacher.  The word is casually thrown about with little knowledge about its value.

The forgotten art of Harikathe is in its last stage of existence and all we know about it is-well-nothing!

One of Karnataka’s oldest traditions, Harikathe simply put is Lord Vishnu’s story. ‘Hari’ means Lord Vishnu and ‘Kathe’ means story in the Kannada language. It is an art form that incorporates music, dance, drama and theatre seamlessly, wrapping a philosophy in the process so as to entertain the audience and educate them about life at the same time. The most important element of the Harikathe is the philosophical and spiritual aspect that is interwoven with the other elements. Harikathe is incomplete without an ideology or philosophy attached to it.

In the olden days Harikathe was all about singing Lord Vishnu’s praises. Vaishnavites (worshippers of Vishnu) gave life to the art form. In fact the first Harikathe exponent is said to be sage Narada who travelled around spreading wisdom. His name in Sanskrit means giver of wisdom! He just gave wisdom in a unique way – the Harikathe.

However, for humans on earth, Harikathe was strictly for enlightened souls- the Rishis. Mostly poems from the Bhagavatam (a religious text of Hindus that glorifies incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna) were reflected in the Harikathes. The truth, which ordinary souls could not find or even understand, was made available by Rishis through this art form. High-level philosophies were packaged in simple language and presented as entertainment. All this so that people could lead a better life! Indeed a novel way of servicing mankind!

Hard-core Harikathe exponents commanded the greatest respect in society, kings bowed down to their knowledge and they were next only to god!

Over the passage of time and keeping with the ideology of taking Harikathe to the masses, Harikathe was tweaked according to the community it was catering to. This meant involving folk stories and day-to-day life’s philosophies in the same dance-drama-theatre format.

Harikathe is a one-man show and a Harikathe expert must have undergone years of training before he/she is ready to go on stage and perform for an audience. In the olden days it was a prerequisite to have a spiritual bent of mind in order to learn the art. Having one’s own philosophy was a must. Apart from being well-versed in the Puranas (religious texts) one must be an excellent orator and have the charisma to attract an audience. One must be an ace storyteller, a musicologist, a dancer and have the ability to bring an element of drama into their storytelling. A taxing task which is why there are very few takers for the art form today.

The once popular art of Harikathe has lost its attraction. Performers of the art are very few and far between and connoisseurs, even less. A Harikathe exponent and the director of well-known dance-drama and theatre group Prabhath Kalavidaru, Raghavendra Prabhath, comes from one the very few families that boasts of having Harikathe as a family tradition. Their family follows Madhvacharya’s style of telling Harikathes. Madhvacharya’s philosophy was carried forward by eight saints who set up universities all over Asia to teach Harikathe and other art forms and philosophies. The Prabhath family tree originates from Sri Vyasa Raja who was taught in one of the universities.

The other family in Karnataka famous for their contribution belongs to that of Badragiri Achyutha Das and Keshav Das who exposed Harikathe to an international audience in America and the UK. Keshav Das performed Harikathes in English! In the same league is Gururajulu Naidu whose daughters perform Harikathes even to this day

Harikathe is not for everyone, it is god’s gift, says Raghavendra Prabhath. To be true to the art form one must study society and be aware of contemporary issues. One needs to grow spiritually every day and should carry forward the heritage, he adds.

“Harikathe was a movement and our forefathers have contributed to its current existence”, he says talking about his father Jayasimha Das, who along with four his brothers started Prabhath.

Prabhath Kalavidaru celebrated the 25^th death anniversary of Jayasimha Das, a Harihathe exponent who was a multifarious personality with his fingers in many pies. He was an accomplished actor, lyricist, director, educationist apart from being the rock star of Harikathe! He was acknowledged by the government of Karnataka who honoured him with the Rajyotsava Award in 1985 and the Karnataka Sangeetha Nruthya Academy Award in 1986.

The commemoration saw family, friends, fans and well-wishers flock to Ravindra Kalakshethra to pay tribute to his contribution to the art form of Harikatha. It was the acknowledgment of the effect he must have had on their lives.  The event began with Pejavar Mutt seer Vishvesha Teertha talking about the immense contribution of Jayasimha Das to Karnataka’s culture. This was followed by performances from the Prabhath troupe that included ‘Lava-Kusha’, a drama, ‘Rukmini Kalyana’, a dance drama and ‘Krishna Vyjayanthi’, a dance, all composed by Jayasimha Das. The highlight of the show was the enthralling Harikathe on ‘Bharatha Bandhu Prema’, on the brotherhood between King Bharatha and Rama, performed by Jayasimha Das’s grandson Sharath Prabhath (Das Acharya Sharath) who is just 20 years old!

The finale was the energetic yet graceful ‘Mahadeva’ dance, a Shiv Thandava by Jayasimha Das’ grandsons Sharath and Bharath Prabhath. The event ended with the book launch of ‘Simhavalokana,’ on the life of Jaysimha Das and the audio release of some if his famous works. The event was graced by veteran freedom fighter HS Doreswamy, cine artistes Srinath and CR Simha and religious philosopher Dr Aralu Mallige Parthasarathy.

“There are very few people in the state that perform Harikathes. In order to promote the art people especially parents should not be against their culture. Our ignorance has done us harm. We must be proud of our culture not ashamed of it. Our culture is scientific, people need to re-discover it,” says Raghavendra Prabhath.

The government should provide financial support since the field is not lucrative. People in power are not concentrating on development of art and culture. They support only their communities. No on sees merit. Earlier, art forms survived because of the patronage of kings, he says matter-of-factly. He is currently in the process of setting up a school that teaches Harikathe named ‘Samudyatha’.

There is no formal education to teach Harikathes. The tradition is carried forward by families. Some parts of Karnataka have few performers but have no recognition. With number of Harikathe performers so few, the threat to its existence is evident. The dying art of Harikathe may soon become the lost jewel in Karnataka’s cultural crown.

The forest has been the source of many good things in man’s life that he takes for granted. He is connected to the forest the way a child is connected to its mother, he takes and it gives without complaint – unconditionally, without expecting anything in return, at the cost of its existence. Our greed turns to grief as we see our consumerism going out of hand. The once exuberant forests have shrunk and its non-human subjects have given up on survival since they can’t fight us any longer.

At the Denkanikottai lodge

In the midst of the harsh reality of being the perpetrators of this crime there is a minority that is truly concerned. Silence is no longer golden to them, the need to protect nature and wildlife has become their common goal. One such group of devout nature lovers, the Kenneth Anderson Nature Society (KANS), has been consciously trying to contribute towards conservation of forests. It all started with Kenneth Anderson, a wildlife enthusiast who wrote many books about his adventures in

Pug mark of a wild cat

the jungles of Southern India. Readers of his books inspired by his stories and dedicated to nature formed KANS. The society has undertaken many projects in a span of three years – road kill awareness campaigns in Bandipur, biodiversity surveys, tiger census with Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Dabeguli fair pollution control and the recently conducted mammal survey in the Melagiri hills.

The Melagiris are a range of hills on the Eastern Ghats lying between the Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri Districts of Tamil Nadu on one side and bordered by river Cauvery in Karnataka on the other. The forests have mixed vegetation and are home to wild animals such as the Elephants, Dhole, Sloth bear, cheetal, gaur and elephant among others. The past few years have seen the numbers of these animals go down. Poaching, human settlements encroaching on forests, elephant areas exploited for bamboo and merciless forest fires have made the wildlife here endangered.

In a bid to protect these reserve forests, the Tamil Nadu Forest Department (TNFD) has set out to convert them into wildlife sanctuaries. They believe this status is vital to save the dwindling wildlife. The first step towards conversion was to conduct a survey to determine the number of mammals in the area. A shortage of manpower made the TNFD seek the help of KANS for the survey. The society was more than willing to do the job and quickly put together 100 volunteers within ten days. The whole lot set out to Mathigiri, near Hosur for briefings on how to conduct the survey.

The survey included collecting direct and indirect evidence of the presence of elephant, deer, bear and carnivores such as tiger, leopard, fox and panther. Direct evidence was sighting animals whereas indirect evidence was spotting elephant dung and footprints, other animal scat and pugmarks.

Arun Menon, one of the co-ordinators for the survey, says that the areas demarcated for the survey called beats were selected on the basis of mammal density; the areas with highest density were chosen. The volunteers were divided into groups of two and assigned to different beats. People from all walks of life had come to participate; from homemakers to CEOs.

Environment science student Chaitra jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the survey, “It’s a rare opportunity where the local people are invited for conservation work by the forest department, I didn’t want to miss it at any cost,” she says. Sriram, a techie with Tektronix talks about his motivation to be a part of the survey, “I am passionate about wildlife and understand how important it is to conserve forests for the future.” The best part of the whole experience was getting the opportunity to meet people whom you have never met before, who share a common goal – conserving mother earth says Bharath one of the volunteers who works for Subex.

The terrain was tough and those with prior trekking experience didn’t feel the hardship faced by the first-timers. Some felt that the major obstacle was language; the watchers and guards accompanying them spoke Tamil which many of volunteers didn’t.

After two days of spotting elephant, deer, giant squirrel, and rare birds such as the changeable hawk eagle, flower peckers in the forest, some of them were reluctant to go back home. Geetanjali Dhar, who is into wildlife tourism and was also part of the tiger census, last year, echoed everybody’s sentiment when she said “for a wildlife lover like me the best part is being in the jungle”. One volunteer called the whole experience poetically satisfying.

In the end it was a small effort in the big scheme of things which helped in getting one step closer to safeguard nature against its worst enemy – Man.

For most people, success is measured in money and fame, but it takes a special kind of person to derive satisfaction from just being a part of innumerable lives. One such person who has touched the lives of the readers living in Jayanagar is Mr. Chandrashekhar. Chandrashekar who is also fondly called as Uncle has been running a circulation library in Jayanagar 9^th Block for the past 35 years. Three generations of people have been religiously visiting this library, sharing books, exchanging thoughts and I bet that some of the most interesting conversations take place here!

How it all started

An avid reader of books who is also passionate of meeting fellow readers and making new friends, Uncle who was working in BEL borrowed Rs 1,700 from his father in law and cousins to start Gurudutt Circulating library on June 12, 1976. Uncle had been toying with the idea of opening a library just for the benefit of the residents of Jayanagar. He was fascinated by human behaviour and saw this as the perfect opportunity to study it.

The Library

The library is located near the Raagigudda Temple in Jayanagar 9^th Block. This humble library has been a treasure trove of literary riches collected over the years and enjoyed and exchanged among strangers thanks to a common source – Uncle. The library boasts of a vast collection of books, more than 10,000 in number, including fictional novels, comics and magazines in English, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. The best part of the library is the nominal fee for borrowing books so that readers are not burdened.

One man support system

Ask any child devouring his/her comics, any housewife who loves her magazines, all love and adore “Uncle”. Not only is he a provider of their daily dose of books but also an “Agony Aunt” when it comes to their problems. Not one to sugar-coat words, uncle believes in being simple and honest. He is the one-man support system for many. People come in just to say “Hi” and are greeted with an ever-ready smile on uncle’s face.

Most joyful experience

The popularity of his library reached so far that people from Malleswaram and Peenya used to travel to Jayanagar to borrow books. The affinity he has towards people is such that once a member landed at his library as soon as getting off a flight from the US. The best part of the job, according to Uncle is meeting people from the age of 8 to 80. He loves interacting with members and does so with ease irrespective of their age and title. “The joy I get when members come to me and narrate their success stories is unbelievable. When people come to me to tell that they got into IIT and IIM or received their PhD, I feel like a proud father. In that way, I have 5,700 family members!” he says. “Whatever I am today it is because of my members. Their contribution to my growth is amazing” he adds modestly.

Advice for youngsters

“Enjoy life. Have perseverance in whatever you do, one can’t become successful overnight” he says.

Success Mantra

Uncle attributes his success to enthusiasm, consistency, keeping things simple and looking at the beauty in things. One thing he keeps in mind before buying books is the members’ interests. He couldn’t have done any of it if it weren’t for the love and support of his wife Susheela he says, who runs the library with him. “Come rain or shine she has consistently been there for the library and its members”. Nurturing relationships is of most importance to him. “You are what your relationship is”, he says wisely. People’s love for him is what keeps him going. “It had never been about the money for me” he says. A man of simple living and high thinking, he is one “Uncle” the residents of Jayanagar have come to share and love.

No internet and a perfectly sane person (some might say not you!) starts showing signs of a ‘I-have-newly-joined-rehab’ drug addict. With no TV shows to download the withdrawal symptoms are there to see – watching reruns of older episodes, disinterest in routine activities like eating, sleeping and taking bath regularly. The once charming friend shows no interest in picking up your calls. She entertains no connections with the outside world until she gets her next fix, her next episode. A student addict would see a fall in grades and a professional will see her work taking a beating. Extreme cases lead to break ups with partners who don’t understand this addiction and the final blow is when they laugh/make a joke of it. In some cases the addicts become disillusioned and start talking like the characters in the TV show would, repeating dialogues and mannerisms never seen before. They visit friends/family only to use their internet and once the episode has downloaded they lose interest in them and become incommunicable. Look out for these symptoms – dilated pupils (crazy eye), fidgeting in seats, and spilling drinks over themselves, talking to the host with one eye to the door – all signs showing they would rather be elsewhere – in front of their PC watching their favourite TV show.

Hope there will soon be a support system for TV show addicts on the lines of AA – Alcoholics Anonymous, like ATSAA – American TV Show Addicts Anonymous. If such a thing ever happens I would be one of it’s first members! Hi, I’am Priyanka and I’m an Addict.

The whole show seemed ridiculous at first and I couldn’t fathom why this girl and all these men would want to go through with all of this that too on television. It wouldn’t be for the publicity, most of them had successful careers according to their bio and they didn’t seem in need of a change of career to acting! While some may be here for publicity it is easy to figure out who those are! This was not a “Fun-Flirt-Win a date at the end” game there was a marriage proposal at the end of the show. It’s hard enough to marry a guy whom you already know and have dated, imagine marrying a guy whom you’ve met few times that too with a TV crew, knowing that millions of viewers at home will be judging your every action. Is it a conducive environment to really get to know someone let alone nurture a relationship to the point of marriage?? Well these guys’ n girls obviously think so! They have been convinced to jump into this with a leap of faith- “Who knows maybe this person is meant for you”…”You were destined to meet this way”…”Give it a shot”. The producer seems to have dangled the love carrot, but is the love carrot actually real? After watching a couple of seasons I was convinced it is.

Consider that you were of a marriageable age and were in fact looking for a life partner. You haven’t found the one yourself and you have left it to fate to meet the right man/woman through whichever channel God chooses, it could be a nosey relative or your parents themselves. We will assume that they have chosen the best of the lot amongst the offers since they only want the best for you. The best would entail – Decent looking with no major crooked features, good qualification and job, financial viability (especially in guys) and a pleasant nature basically one with whom you can imagine starting a family with. The first phase of rejection takes place based on the looks, a visual of the person helps us to imagine life with him or her, once the looks are approved qualification and job comes into place at the end of which another few bite the dust, let’s put financial viability under job. We all would love to marry a Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie Next but is it practical to marry someone whose qualifications don’t match your expectations? Last in the list is nature, now how soon can you judge a person’s nature? Common sense and intuition are the only tools at our disposal. Unfortunately sometimes those just aren’t enough. Bad behavior, annoying hidden quirks come out often at the wrong times and there is no going back after you have made a commitment, no way out without causing a huge embarrassment to your family and theirs. There is no way to tell the grapes are sour without tasting them right? What if you had a chance to taste those grapes before taking them home? That’s right shows such as the Bachelorette/Bachelor provide people with an opportunity to taste the grapes. In a period of one month the Group dates, one-on-ones’, demanding emotional situations make for a perfect setting for an in depth scrutiny of a possible mate.

Some of these tasks are for fun like playing a game to see who takes out the Bachelorette/Bachelor on a date; this is just a random way to choose people for a one-on-one date, in a fair way. This could be a way to get the aggressive, competitive spirit out of the contestants and also for the sake of entertainment, no doubt it’s fun to watch if the people involved are sportive enough to play along. What more could a person ask for right? You have the prospective mates, you have the interesting dates Ok you may have to follow the rules laid out by the producers but so what? You are getting a chance to connect with someone! The people on the show are chosen carefully and maybe right for you! When you spend so much time with a person you end up leaving with more information than you came with and it’s easy to make out whether the person is into you or not and that helps you take a decision easily. The cameras and the TV viewers of the show are like the family and relatives in real life mate hunting, the presence of whom makes us want to put on our best behaviour. When chatting with prospective partners aren’t people on their best behavior? Wanting always to give a good impression? Does the presence of a TV and camera like the family and relatives really hide the true nature of the people on the show? I think not. The pressure of having people watching you makes you want to cut the crap and be honest (unless you are a terrific actor/actress and are indeed on the show for publicity which is ironic since if you hurt the guy/girl by being dishonest nobody will want you!) since all you have is one month to decide whom you want.

A month is enough to know whether you want to get to know someone and have a relationship with them in the future. The tasks/situations on the show somehow bring out the best and worst in them and it is good to know who is capable of what. The first season of the Bachelorette ended with the Bachelorette actually marrying the finalist. Chances are the girl may not end up with the marrying the guy or vice versa but don’t you think they are definitely one step closer to finding the right partner for themselves? This experience makes them realize with even more clarity what they want and don’t want in their spouse. I think the one month spent together with sets the precedent for the relationship. It gives them a brief look into what the future relationship will be like. We can then decide for ourselves whether we want to pursue it or nip it in the bud. All the contenders know that this may or may not work out but in the grand scheme of things what’s one month of dating right? Of course in our society this applies to only those who have made western culture a part of their lives and are broad minded when it comes to dating.

The period during which girls and guys meet at each other’s places with their parents, meet for coffee alone and then decide to spend their life together doesn’t sound that great when compared with the emotional/mental tests the people are put through on the show that tells shows them clearly who is right for them and who isn’t. Pretending can get you only so far and the real people behind the face start showing themselves what with so many demanding situations forcing them to do so. This would be an ideal way to choose a partner! As far as Indian society is concerned, it has a long way to go before it embraces the concept of dating before marriage. Love marriages are common these days but what about the concept of spending time with a stranger with the intention of marrying him/her one day?? We expect people to get engaged before spending time with each other. The period between engagement and marriage is to get to know each other they say! What if they don’t like each other? Or what if they like more than person? What are they supposed to do? In the case of girls, we end up settling for guys with superficial qualities like – his job profile, earning, qualification or sweet nature. Let me tell you marrying a sweet guy has its advantages but is being sweet enough to marry someone? Marrying someone for being sweet is like marrying someone for their money. No difference, it just appeals to your insecurity whether one of money or of emotions. If you think a sweet guy cannot hurt you think again. Disappointments come in every size, shape and angle, they needn’t be perfect and their source often takes you by surprise. As to guys I don’t know on what basis they choose women, I personally believe the “homely” factor applies here as in a girl whom you can take home to your parents “un-Bipasha” like, unthreatening and of course pretty. Don’t you think you deserve better than that? I as much don’t want to choose a guy for his superficial qualities as he does me! The best thing one can do before choosing a partner is to spend time with them, date them, get to know what exactly you are getting into and choose the best possible person, he/she may not be perfect for you but if you fit that’s enough for an Indian marriage (whose success anyway is guaranteed by compromise…depending on your definition of success ).

It helps to have a sound judgment, a certain degree of level- headedness and realistic expectations. But keep in mind that both of you are on the same page. Don’t get way lead by how good the person looks on paper (superficial qualities). Have you ever been at a store/gym or any place for that matter and made a connection with a total stranger and later you went your way and they went theirs and you end up wondering what it would have been if you guys could get to know each other better! Now imagine 25 such “could-be-suitable” guys/girls have been rounded up (after they have looked through your profile first, you want them to also want to get to know you right?) by a bunch of people who know you well enough and know what they are doing and you have been given a chance to make a connection with them, isn’t that a great way to meet people? Isn’t in-house match making done on the same lines? Here the advantage is that you have the best bunch out of a very large no. of guys and you get to spend quality time with each of them and in the end you get the satisfaction of making the right choice, isn’t that we want in the first place?

People out there wanting to get married – Start Arranged Dating!

]]> http://sraopriyanka.wordpress.com/2011/02/05/arranged-dating/feed/ 3 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 sraopriyanka http://sraopriyanka.wordpress.com/2011/02/05/dedicated-to-those-in-love/ http://sraopriyanka.wordpress.com/2011/02/05/dedicated-to-those-in-love/#comments Sat, 05 Feb 2011 06:42:36 +0000 Priyanka http://sraopriyanka.wordpress.com/?p=37 ]]>

" It's that season of life where everything has turned the colour of love...
  The soul is singing a happy melody reverberating from the root of your hair to the tips of your toes...
  It's the beginning of an era where sadness diminishes and happiness grows...
  Your beautiful eyes with joy are lit..
  Your entire being is shaken and stirred And you quite enjoy it..
  There is happiness in your voice and gait,
  There is a new purpose to life...you just cannot wait
  We are happy you are here
  We celebrate it with you...
  Life begins when love does, isn't it true? "

1. Why do people behave as if they don’t care but secretly do?

2.Why do people want love but never give it?

3.Why are people rude to loved ones and sweet to strangers?

4.Why do people judge others based on their looks even after knowing that whats on the inside is what counts?

5.Why do people judge others but don’t want others to judge them?

6.Why do parents forget that they were kids once?

7.Why do children forget that their parents are people too?

8.Why are people hypocritical?

9.Why do people pretend to be something they are not instead of being who they really are?

10.Why is it that people prefer pity over truth?

11.Why do people seek approval from others to measure their self- worth?

12.Why do poeple who advocate equality don’t treat their servants as equal?

13.Why do fathers encourage their daughters but not their wives?

14.Why is it that if women show too much love they are needy but if men do it they are romantic? 

15.Are we doing anything to make this world a better place to live or leading a self-satisfied life is all that matters ?

You are welcome to ask your own questions.