Upsetting the Apple Cart

A resounding yay! and a deep baritone shout out going to

* all sensitive blokes out there who aren't afraid to cry or shed tears in public.

* stay at home dads and house husbands who are comfortable in their skin doing what they do.

*  chaps who take home less dough than what their women are making and do not begrudge them that or are happy for them.

* dudes who by choice prefer being the pillion rider, encouraging their significant other to  remain in the driver's seat.

* Pauls who are a few inches vertically challenged than their Paulas.

and finally to,

* the Sallys out there for whom some or all of this can sit well for the Harrys in their life.

It can take a huge leap of faith for both men and especially, women everywhere to stomach this. So read the sport print carefully before you freeze some or all of the above as  life-style choices for you. Remember, this is not Hobson' choice and certainly not for the faint at heart.

It may be winter outside but in my heart it's spring

In my chum ' s telling; today is meant to be the second day of Spring in India (do not know if he follows the Zorastrian almanac or some such)  but for sure, it doesn't feel like spring ' s sprung. For one thing I did not feel that spring step in my feet; reporting for duty this sultry Monday morning.

Turkish Connection

You make my world go round. Seasons may come and seasons may go but I can't stop being attracted to you.




Unmistakably, what I seek in a lover boy! He's the stuff  of what dreams are made of. Vintage platinum HANDSOMEST.

Who Killed Je Suis Humain?

My pendulum swings from Je suis Charlie to Je ne suis pas Charlie, and back again.

Not knowing fully or understanding what Je suis charlie really stood for, from the get-go I proudly embraced  its lapel pin on my collar, regardless. But now I am less sure, as the distinction between freedom of expression and freedom to be fully expresed is brought home to me. Whereas the freedom of expression on the one hand is every human's fundamental right, the right to offend and freedom to incite resentment or hatred on the other hand is quite another and cannot be seen being part and parcel of it. Put another way, at least, I refuse to be party to it.  Whenever and wherever I am fully expressed, in the process, I have had also to exercise my freedom of expression albeit, without recourse to offence to any group of individuals or religion. Per se, Je suis Charlie is fine in a broader context of 'Nous sommes humain' but I am beginning to have my doubts, whether Je suis Jamal, Je suis Ari and Je suis Hari as concepts would  sit equally well with proponents of  Je suis Charlie. For many of them, the Je Suis Jamals, Aris or Haris likely are  inconvenient half truths which at best, are worthy of lip service only.  But when it goes down to the wire, 'Je suis Charlie' trumps 'Je Suis all the rest of us,' and sometimes even 'Nous sommes Humain, I dread to think. What makes the conception of Je Suis Charlie so special is that it is a White construct borne out of a Western tragedy which somehow makes it more special or vastly unique than similar manner of  crazy goings on happening elsewhere be it Niger, Nigeria, Mali,  Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Palestine or Pakistan.

They say too much of a good thing can be bad for you and freedom is no exception. In its absolutist version, such a freedom has all the trappings of wide spread anarchy in society, like we never knew existed. Freedom comes with responsibility and right now, Charlie Hebdo is being irresponsible period by bringing to Life - Arabic and Turkish editions knowing full well how offensive it is to people of the Islamic faith and that these governments will not tolerate their circulation in the Mideast and Turkey. In many ways, the Je Suis Charlies and Je ne suis pas Charlies ought to stop  behaving like a child with a broken toy that cannot be mended. There are no victors here. Au contraire, meaningful engagement between the opposing camps can be the only victor.

Elasticity of thoughts, thinking and permissiveness is a good thing to have in public discourse but elasticity too comes with limits. Whatever for did physicists come up with Y: Young's modulus of elasticity?! Imagine chatting up a Charlie, thus: Did you hear the one about French law enforcement and why they took the time they did to nab the terrorists near CDG? Because they did the French thing of taking a 2 hr lunch break with appertifs and all. Now, it's all very well to bring this up under freedom of expression cover but you know it as well as I do it is just too terribly insensitive and cruel to the families of those killed and snubs them and the French republic in the face, to the extent that their wounds will start to smart. And where does this "je suis charlie" action lead up to? Insensitivity, grief and hurt. Certainly, nobody  but nobody's life is the better for it, I can assure you.

Expecting the 'Je Suis Humains' from among us to rally round  to the rescue of the Je Suis Charlies as like it or not,  we often find in life; taking the middle ground is the humaner thing to do. 

 

Ramadan Knights

 

We don't attract what we want.

Rather,

We only attract what we are

And it hurts me so- admitting it.

Ouch! this slinking feeling under my diaphragm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       What a handsome Persian catch; Zbeidi this?!

   

 

   What can I say? Guys; you simply knock my 
   socks and boxers off.

   Saving the best for last

  

I don't give a fig if you're somebody else's guy.

        
 

       Wisdom is learning what to overlook.
   But I choose to pass being wise.

Getting into soup over the alphabet soup

Wowie! and Whoopsie! New words I picked up on social media. Like the sounds of it alot. Expect this lingo from 20 somethings working in beauty and cosmetics at Macy's or Bloomingdale's. Sounds strange in a funny sort of way coming from a professor of orthopaedic surgery,though. They say no one has a monopoly on words and ideas: it's a free market society we operate in, which makes it well; whatever!

Grrrrrrh. A word I see a friend using alot of, lately to express mostly angst and frustration. For the record my friend, she does not own a Rottweiler. It's not for me to use I know but am prepared to make an exception for what I went through yesterday hoping to be on a heritage walking tour that was not to be. Grrrrrh! to that.

Ya! and na are two non sequiturs that keep bulging out almost like abdominal fat on social media. Na to such non sense, ya ?! :) Computer softwares undergo periodic updates but the lingo and expression on social media alters so dramatically so dramatically that English could someday, I dread to think be supplanted by Hibberish- short hand for Hinglish Gibberish and quicker than any of us are prepared to accept. Much before Microsoft can come up with their newer operating system, for sure.

TTYL, ohkk?!

Don't want any of my mates to feel NIFOC. Got to go, PAW!


　

　

　

　

　

Whatsapp with WA?

Up until recently, I was dead set against signing up on social media. Now I can't live without it. In fact I eat live and breathe with my android by my side ALWAYS. Facebook, Linkedn, Whatsapp was just not for me or so I thought. I had serious concerns (still do actually) about data mining and identity thefts and decided to steer clear off it. That apart it didn't help I also had rather a dim view of the whole online social engagement process back then, partially fueled by a quick reading of Sheryl Turckle's book on the exact same thing called: 'Alone Together'. March 14 was to change all of that and how when I received from out of the blue an invite into my corporate inbox from a most unlikely quarter I had been to school with asking if I would like to join. Whether or not this had anything to do at the time with my present day credentialing or the power and clout that the outside world thought I had wielded in March 14 is something only time can tell. All through school and college I have been a loner so imagine my shock and surprise in being asked to join: it was akin to being asked to join a secret fraternity; only one I had long since written off as ever being made to feel a part of- my Med School Graduating Class of 95.

It felt almost not real to pick up where we had left off or much worse, in my case not even having started some 23 odd years ago. I took to WA like fish to water and the rest as they say was history. After having lived well, a not so short life of 40 yrs already as an almost hermit, for now I don't really mind whether my life's turning into a Selfie thanks to whatsapp. 

Thank you Whatsapp and Thank You Facebook but most of all, thank you N for making such a difference to my Life at a time when all about me are literally knives, swords and daggers with me.

 

But that's the way I like it coz I am loving, living it this way.

 

 

 

Inform, be informed and stay informed- the Power of the Messenger is as strong as the message itself, if not stronger.