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1. Mumbai (Bombay), India


2. Dalhousie, India


3. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia


4. Amritsar, India

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Why ants migrate?

Old Version:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter,the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

Modern Version:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter,the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for no upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance). Opposition MP's stage a walkout. Leftparties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'. Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Discrimination Against Grasshoppers Act [PODAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.

Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt. Services.The ant is fined for failing to comply with PODAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV. Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden'. Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later:

The ant has since migrated to the US as it discovered thereis no POTGA there and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley. Hundreds of ants followed. Thousands of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation. As hard working ants continue to migrate, and having to feed millions of lazy grasshoppers, India continues to be a developing country and will continue to be so for at least another century.

Technology for the young generation

While young people embrace the Web with real or virtual friends and their mobile phone is never far away, relatively few like technology and those that do tend to be in Brazil, India and China, according to a survey.

Only a handful think of technology as a concept, and just 16 percent use terms like ‘social networking’, said two combined surveys covering 8- to 24-year-olds. “Young people don’t see ‘tech’ as a separate entity - it’s an organic part of their lives,” said Andrew Davidson, vice president of MTV’s VBS International Insight unit. “Talking to them about the role of technology in their lifestyle would be like talking to kids in the 1980s about the role the park swing or the telephone played in their social lives — it’s invisible.”

The surveys involved 18,000 young people in 16 countries including the UK, US, China, Japan, Canada and Mexico. Terms most frequently used by the young when talking about technology related to accessing content for free, notably “download and ‘burn’. The surveyors found the average Chinese computer user has 37 online friends they have never met, Indian youth are most likely to see mobile phones as a status symbol, while one-in-three UK and US teenagers say they cannot live without games consoles.

For example, the key digital device for Japan’s young is the mobile phone because of the privacy and portability it offers those who live in small homes with limited privacy. They found Japanese children aged eight to 14 have only one online friend they have not met, compared to a global average of five. Some 93 percent of Chinese computer users aged 8-14 have more than one friend online they have never met. Davidson said this was encouraging those aged 8-14 in China to select online over television — a trend not seen in any other market in that age group. The changes in how the youth market engages with technology is keenly followed by advertisers and content firms. “Traditional youth marketing considered opinion formers and influencers to be a small elite, but these days the elite has become much larger,” said Davidson.

For parents worried about what their children are getting up to amid the wave of gadgets, little has changed in a generation. The surveyors found the most popular activities the under-14s enjoy were watching TV, listening to music and being with friends. The rankings for those older was similar although listening to music was top.

Silence speaks

Have you ever experienced a moment in your life when you just ran out of words and you go silent?

Let me assist you in recalling -

• The moment when you left your home for the first time and you look back at your parents who are worried that their son/daughter are leaving them yet happy that their child took the first step towards independence.
• The moment when the girl/boy you like most smiled back at you! You don't say anything.. you just smile back.
• The moment when you get better marks than you expected. Those "numb" moments of ecstasy n surprise "is that true?"
• The moment when you are parting with your old friend(s) and the train has just started and you are standing on the door of the wagon waving "bye-bye" with your heart beating fast.
• The moment after the HR manager has just called you and told you,"You are through! Congrats!"
• The moment when you sit alone in your room after having told everyone that you cleared that exam you prepared for 6 months!!

You can go on remembering your "special" moments!

I had always wondered why I never said anything to myself at those moments - as if it was "understood". Happiness, joy, pain - all feelings just flowed ceaselessly in the 'years' that passed in those flash moments.They say the best way to communicate is through "silence". Love, joy, grief, surprise, anger, hope, expectations, support, non co-operation.

Can you imagine the importance of a silent moment in a song?

Ever had those moments when you thought you were tired enough that you reach for your bed after dinner but find yourself wide awake looking at the roof of your room silently? But you sure are 'thinking'.

Those moments of self-talk are most important in our lives. Those moments when we listen to our own hearts! Those promises, those decisions, those are the moments when we make our destinies! Next time you go silent, listen carefully to what your heart is saying. Listen to its joy, listen to its pain, listen to its fears, listen to its desires.

LISTEN TO THAT VOICE and ACCEPT EVERYTHING IT SAYS!

That voice alone can lead you to the abode of peace that your sleep lacks, peace that awaits you! Be in touch with your true self. Be silent once a day, every day! Silence speaks more than your words.

Sing your song

When a woman in a certain African tribe knows she is pregnant, she goes out into the wilderness with a few friends and together they pray and medidate until they hear the song of the child. They recognise that every soul has its own vibration that expresses its unique flavour and purpose. When the women attune to the song, they sing it loud. Then they return to the tribe and teach it to everyone else. When the child is born, the community gathers and sings the child's song to him or her. Later, when the child enters education, the village gathers and chants the song. When the child passes through initiation to adulthood, the people again come together and sing. At the time of marriage, the person hears his or her song. Finally, when the soul is about to pass from this world, the family and friends gather at the person's bed, just as they did at their birth and they sing the person to the next life.

There is something inside each of us that knows we have a song, and we wish those we love would recognise it and support us to sing it. In the African tribe, there is one other occasion upon which the villagers sing to the child. If at any time during his or her life, the person commits a crime or aberrant social act, the individual is called to the centre of the village and the people in the community form a circle around them. Then they sing their song to them. The tribe recognises that the correction for antisocial behaviour is not punishment ; it is love and the remembrance of identity.

When you recognise your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another. A friend is someone who knows your song and sings it to you when you have forgotten it. Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.

If you do not give your song a voice, you will feel lost, alone and confused. If you express it, you will come to life. We attract people on similar wavelength so we can support each other to sing aloud. Sometimes we attract people who challenge us by telling us that we cannot or should not sing our song in public. Yet, these people help us too, for they stimulate us to find greater courage to sing it.

You may not have grown up in an African tribe that sings your song to you at crucial life transitions, but life is always reminding you when you are in tune with yourself and when you are not. When you feel good, what you do matches your song, and when you feel awful, it doesn't. In the end, we shall all recognise our song and sing it well. You may feel a little wary at the moment, but so have all the great singers. Just keep singing and you shall find your way home.