If the supermarket is on 4th floor and there is a cross fire with the management, who suffers?

I like shopping-under-one-roof and therefore prefer to go to malls and super stores for shopping. In Bandra we have only one supermarket called Magnet, which is on linking road. There are many mini supermarkets spread all over Bandra, but this particular one has everything under one roof and is bigger one, spread over third and fourth floor, and it is my weekly spot for shopping for grocery and sundry articles. Making a mental note of what I proposed to buy, I waited in line to take a lift to third floor. But the management of the Crystal Mall had banned the market over some grumpy issues and had prohibited the use of lift and escalator leading to the store. The lift and the escalators were available only up till 2nd floor. That would mean using the stairs, the only way to enter the market and then buying only the minimum since lift is not available for carrying the heavy trolleys. This kind of punishment is quite severe. I wanted to retrace my steps and go on to another market but that would be too much hassle. The superstore was losing sales. Their loss will reflect on the employees and on consumers. Magnet is a popular superstore and on weekends, the cash box is continuously ringing. But hitting below the belt is the common punishment in India. We see people going on strike regularly. Doctors, bus employees, banks, everybody takes their turn to hijack the city. It is normally done during the peak season when the consumers are likely to suffer. Instead of punishing the consumers and employees, it is better that the indifference can be settled in a different way in which only the disputed party suffer. One way around this is to provide better or cheaper service - at the management's expense, to the consumers. Like for example in the year 1968, Lisbon bus and train workers gave free rides to all passengers to protest a denial of wage increases. Conductors and drivers arrived for work as usual, but the conductors did not pick up their money satchels. Needless to say, public support was solidly behind these take-no-fare strikers. However, there were many like me, who had climbed up to 4th floor and shopped, but shopped carefully to buy only as much as it was possible to carry it downstairs without a lift. In India, consumers always come last. Bosses rule the land and consumers, the losers; bear the heavy cross on their shoulders, silently

My new painting in acrylic

This is my new painting in acrylic paints which I completed in October 2007. Normally I do painting in oils but I wanted to try in acrylic paints which have more bright colors. A thing I liked about this painting was that I completed in just two weeks. Normally, oil painting would take me more than two months to complete this kind of painting. I am invited for a house warming party and this painting will make an ideal gift to decorate their house and I will be able to admire it only when I visit them. I would love to keep it in my house but have no room to store too many paintings.

I am on face book and am loving it....

Lately I have got addicted to facebook. I was so reluctant to come on line on this kind of social network, when I was invited for the first time......I had refused many invitations that said you have been tagged, and there are so many invitations all the time to join different groups, but I landed on this world of social network when the curiosity got the better of me....and now am addicted...n am loving it... I love it for its applications. I love to play scrabble, 'just three words' stories, and exchanging those smilies with my friends on the facebook. Then it is nice to meet so many people online, talk to them, through our compu-screen. It is amazing that computer sits there in my bedroom all the time and minute I put it on, I am kind of looking out of the window, and staring at the world. And imagine, I sold the painting on line. I put it up in the marketplace on facebook and it was appreciated. I created a group for my school of mentally challenged and am so glad that that I have formed my own group of people who really care. Actually there are so many groups and more groups keep adding each day. There is group on Bandra and they have announced the car-free day every two months, then one family member is getting married in Jan and they have formed a group, inviting and putting all the information and pictures in their group, there are groups for social cause, groups for poetry lovers, group for food lovers, for magazine subscribers, almost everyday, a new group is being formed and invitations keep flooding your page. Without leaving the comfort of your home, and getting stuck in the constipated traffic, you are there, amidst your friends, enjoying and savoring the friendship of fun loving people. Yep, I am glad I am having a great time……see you there…..

“The Truth..” Gujarat 2002

Three of the TV channels in Gujarat are having black out. The sting operation by Tehelka, aptly christened Operation Kalank (disgrace), had exposed Modi's deep involvement in the post-Godhra riots. Will the justice be done? This is about Tehelka's expose on the perpetrators of the violence in Gujarat in 2002, which you can see here: The Shocking Truth The expose showing perpetrators of the 2002 carnage in Gujarat boasting about their crimes is an open challenge to all citizens of India. It is an urgent reminder that we must renew efforts to prosecute those who commit such crimes against humanity. We, Citizens for Peace, in particular appeal to the people of Gujarat to break silence and oppose the politics of hatred and terror. It is possible that many residents of Gujarat may have been unaware of the enormity of crimes committed in their state with open state support in 2002. Others may have hesitated to confront a truth so bizarre. Now, after the confessions, silence is equal to endorsement of the chilling crimes. Justice delayed is better than justice denied altogether. It will make a difference if citizens from all walks of life, across India, stand emphatically opposed to the continuing miscarriage of justice in Gujarat. Mr Justice, Will you just watch while my country burns? Justice should be of iron hand To drag those culprits who dared to sin. What proof do you seek When it is openly announced Those shameless, egoist, bloody crimes? Give us country that is safe to live, We need no politics of joining hands Playing partisan to those blood-thirsty mob Distributing weapons in rioters’ hands. Wake up please and hear me plead I can see no more my country bleed Please rule my land with iron hand and Punish those veterans of villains’ land.

Lipstick is no innocent stick....

Something to consider next time you go shopping for lipstick.... .. This comes from Dr. Nahid Neman, who works in the breast cancer unit at Mt. Sinai Hospital , in Toronto . Recently a lipstick brand called "Red Earth" Decreased their prices from $67 to $9.90. Do you know why? Because it contained lead. Lead is a chemical which causes cancer. The lipstick brands that contain lead are: CHRISTIAN DIOR LANCOME CLINIQUE Y.S.L ESTEE LAUDER SHISEIDO RED EARTH (Lip Gloss) CHANEL (Lip Conditioner) MARKET AMERICA-MOTNES LIPSTICK. The higher the lead content, the greater the chance of causing cancer. After doing a test on lipsticks, it was found that the Y.S.L. Lipstick contained the most amount of lead. Watch out for those lipsticks which are supposed to stay longer. If your lipstick stays longer, it is because of the higher content of lead. Here is the test you can do yourself: 1. Put some lipstick on your hand. 2. Use a Gold ring to scratch on the lipstick. 3. If the lipstick color changes to black, Then you know the lipstick contains lead. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Dioxin Carcinogens cause cancer, especially breast cancer