Wombs..... outsourced.....

It was my friend Maddy who first mentioned it while he wrote on outsourcing.. and yes we are seeing one more outsourcing industry in action.. the wombs...

I am not sure about the moral implications on this one. But it is bringing happiness to the surrogate mothers and the future parents of the surrogate baby. To be childless is not easy in our society. It is every woman’s dream to hold her child in her hands if God deems. So now we have a whole queue of willing women signing up to keep the baby in her womb for 9 months and then give it up to a happy couple.

As the article states, it will have its ups and downs. When this industry catches up with all and sundry, then it has a chance to become dirty. And there is also this chance of couples who cannot be bothered with pregnancy to opt for surrogate mothers. It may be similar to some mothers opting for the caesarean although a normal delivery is possible so that she can escape from the great pain, the tales of which has been passed on from generation to generation.

But even before all this happened, the Malayalam movie industry had a film on this same topic. Dasharatham (1989) directed by the great Sibi Malayil himself. Mohanlal plays the role of a wealthy but lonely guy who feels the need to love someone, yet is not ready to marry. He chances upon Rekha who agrees to be the surrogate mother so that she can pay for her husband Murali’s treatment. Rekha is looked after well but when the time comes to give up the child she goes back on her word. It was a very touching movie.

These are a few of my favourite things....

Rain drops and roses and whiskers and kittens.. thus she sang in the famous “Sound of Music”. A movie which millions repeatedly watch, yet wouldn’t mind watching it again. Well, we all have something which we like to see..so here I go...

1- On the top of my list is a smiling baby. All babies in the word are beautiful and innocent and when they smile.. they bring the heaven down to our earth! Look into their eyes and one cannot deny that they comprehend us. It is we who twist the heavenly wisdom that they are born with.

2- To hear a person laugh. Those guffaws of laughter that starts from the stomach. For that moment that person is the happiest on earth and it makes me happy too, to see someone laugh. I guess that is why I like all those comedians and humorists on earth. They make us laugh and maybe for silly stuffs but it make us happy.

3- An early morning drive anywhere on Earth. Everything is so fresh, even the faces. The roads are less crowded and you are on your own. Those moments can be very special and I don’t know why! The air itself is full of promises and assurances. Maybe it reminds me of the long trips made as a family when I was a child. Those carefree days with no care in the world except for teachers and examinations.

4- Opening an email from someone we care for. Those moments of expectations to read what he or she has written. To know that you were thought of and hence those few words maybe even across the globe.

5- Opening a gift. I guess this feeling is universal and I don’t need to elaborate, except for those who are gifted often and hence are bored with the whole process. Well.. they are unlucky I should say!

6- Shopping. This I am sure is only for the fairer sex and not for the rest. Don’t know why even why a window shopping can make one happy. I am sure I don’t have to go into details and scare my male readers.

7- Those quiet moments in a religious place. The peace that descends upon you is precious. I still remember the moments that I spent on Vivekananda Rocks at Kanyakumari inside the meditation hall (Dhyana Mandapam). There was absolute tranquillity and you could feel the presence of the Almighty. (This rock was built in 1970 by the Vivekananda Rock Memorial Committee in honour of the visit of the great spiritual teacher Swami Vivekananda to Shripada Parai during the month of December 1892 for deep meditation and enlightenment)

8- The smell of new clothes. Hey.. who doesn’t like that? Talking of smells: baby smell, the smell of earth after the first rain, the smell of fresh cement, some even like the smell of petrol like my Father.

9- To drink a glass of water when one is very thirsty. Haven’t you thought that was the tastiest item in world?

10- To see those faces from our childhood days other than our relatives. It is not easy to experience this since many could have moved around. But to see someone who has seen you growing up gives one a very happy feeling.

11- To see newly married couples. I love to see their hopeful faces. Their hands would normaly be linked and you can see the Husband caringly hold those hands. One can see the lingering smiles and remnants of laughter after having shared secret jokes. Now before I hear from hardcore bachelors/spinsters and frustrated couples, let me also add that I love to see even older couples who still enjoy each other.

12- To have a good book fall into your hands and settling down with it for a long read......nd now I am reading... I never thought Sawamiji could be so interesting.. I really hope my friend Maddy has more treasure to share on this one too...

Well.. this is all I could think of right now.. but I am sure there are many more and I would love to tag a few of my friends to see what they come up with. I know I still have some tags left which I myself have not completed.

An update

My FIL is getting better and may be shifted to the ward in a day or two. It was some sort of Syndrome affecting the veins. Since the doctors started the treatment early it did not spread. It started with his legs when he was diagnosed by another doctor (different hospital) as lack of calcium. He was using a “Walker” to walk around. But then his legs started giving away and he fell down. This made them admit him in the ICU. By God’s grace they started the treatment immediately, on advice from Dr. Madhusudan with some Chinese medicine which is very expensive.

When we enquired with a Nuerosurgeon here in Kuwait he was of the opinion that this is a good medicine and that most such medicines come from either China or Korea. The company name is Hualan Biological Engineering Inc.

If they hadn’t started the treatment in time, he would have been paralysed completely. They say the infection could have started after a normal fever.

Thanks for all the wishes and prayers.

Holidays.....

For the first time I had 6 days holidays... and felt very good.

We had planned for an outing with friends which did not work out instead made a few visits.

The only sad part is that Hubby's Father is admitted in Hospital hence he had to cut short the holidays and travel to Kerala. Pray that he gets well soon.

But Xmas and New Year will be a lonely affair with just the kids and me.

Had a Japanese dinner at Sakura Restaurant with chop sticks, of course the modified one.

We liked the taste, though we tried only the cooked ones and not the raw ones.


And YES... MODI is returning to Power again! A hat trick. A great New Year for the BJP Party and their Man of the Match.

Modi and Afzal

Will Modi come to power again? Yes.. this is what I think. Now shouldn’t each of us ask the question why? I am sure the election is fair and that he is the choice of the people although the number of votes may come down this time. But why is the question.

He cites many reasons for which he should be elected. One being the development that Gujarat is facing and another his fight against terrorism. Now BJP is not a secular party and hence Modi is not secular. Hence when Afzal Guru is not hanged, it goes in favour of Modi. Now I don’t know why Afzal Guru is not hanged. I searched the net and came up with this

Can the protectors of law tell us if Afzal guru is guilty or innocent? If he is guilty he should be punished since his crime cannot be forgiven. He killed those who were trying to protect our Parliament. Although those who were protected deserved this or not is another question in itself! But it was the Indian Parliament and every Indian would want to avenge this.As for Modi, he thinks only Hinduvata is the answer for terrorism. Can religion alone decide your patriotism? Every individual who believes in God thinks better of his own religion. This is natural since he is born into it. But this does not mean that it kills your patriotism. I believe religion is something personal and we should leave it there. Let us not try to measure our patriotism in terms of religion since this will create more Modi’s and Afzals.

Where else but in India..

The monkeys will decide the man! In Himachal Pradesh nothing else will work if you need to win. Shoo the monkeys off or lose your money and stay at home.

Bushism

No other Head of State is entertaining the world the way Bush is doing! The world is really going to miss him!

He has given wars for the actions lovers and for the rest of us he has provided with endless jokes and quips. Every sentence he utters is hilarious hence a new word has evolved “Bushism”

I am sure the joke creators will have a hard time from next year onwards since humor creation is not going to be that easy. I do really hope the Americans are also enjoying these Bush jokes keeping their patriotic sentiments aside. And most of the jokes are made by Bush’s own citizens.

I recently discovered that about.com has a site fully dedicated to Bush inspired jokes!


George W. Bush's Resume
George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Past Work Experience
• Ran for congress and lost.
• Produced a Hollywood slasher B movie.
• Bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas; company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.
• Bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. Biggest move: Traded Sammy Sosa to the Chicago White Sox.
• With father's help (and his name) was elected Governor of Texas.
Accomplishments in Previous Positions
• Changed pollution laws for power and oil companies and made Texas the most polluted state in the Union.
• Replaced Los Angeles with Houston as the most smog-ridden city in America. Cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas government to the tune of billions in borrowed money.
• Set record for most executions by any governor in American history.


continued.....

"President Bush went to Iraq to boost the new government. That shows you how rough the situation is in Iraq when a guy with 30% approval rating stops by to give you a boost." --Jay Leno
"President Bush said catching a 7.5 pound fish was his best moment since becoming president. You know the sad thing, a lot of historians would agree with that." --Jay Leno
"It's tax time and President Bush is saving a lot on taxes this year. He's writing off his entire second term." --David Letterman
"I heard somebody say, 'Where's (Nelson) Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead. Because Saddam killed all the Mandelas." --George W. Bush, on the former South African president, who is still very much alive, Washington, D.C., Sept. 20, 2007

One of my concerns is that the health care not be as good as it can possibly be." --George W. Bush, on military benefits, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007



........

and now......
"Are you telling me a president that's briefed every single morning, who's fixated on Iran, is not told back in August that the tentative conclusion of 16 intelligence agencies in the U.S. government said they had abandoned their effort for a nuclear weapon in '03?" Biden asked in a conference call with reporters.

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Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," Bush said, pointing out that Tehran continues to try to enrich uranium for civilian purposes and therefore develop technology that could be used for a weapon.
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I wish someone would tell Bush that every country would like to have nuclear weapons and every country has the knowledge necessary to develop a nuclear weapon..you just have to give them some time. But does this mean that he is going to bomb all of them?
I wish he would target Iran for other reasons... their primitive ways of punishments, fanatic religious views etc. And for this reason there are many other countries begging to be changed.... I mean if he just cannot resist meddling.

Kids!

The other day I heard our daughter answering the phone and then saying some secret codes. On enquiring she asked me not to tell her brother about the secret code that she shared with her girl friends. And then I remebered how our son fooled two of them the other day!

Daughter was having her bath and the call came from the 1st friend. I heard our son discussing notes, sharing answers etc. And then slyly he came and told me that she never knew it was him! And then he was lucky to receive one more call and he kept her also entertained. He was happily chatting with her and enjoying it fully.

We cannot blame these girls since me and Hubby still cannot distinguish them over the phone! I guess we have to wait for our son to break his voice and since the girls cannot wait that long they devised the secret code! How else can they share girlish secrets!

Angels..

Let me thank the Almighty for keeping us in His care. Yesterday after the kids reached home, I received a distress call from our daughter saying that the exhaust fan in the bathroom was burning! She dint have the guts to go into the bathroom but saw the fire from the balcony. Well.. i dint know what to say but then suddenly one Arab saw the fire from down and came running up.. first he asked my daughter to douse the fire but knowing well she couldn’t do it, he came running up to the third floor. I immediately called Hubby who called the nearby Indian Shop to send someone. Anyway thanks to the stranger, the fire was doused well in time even before the guy from the shop could come. When Hubby came, the kids had locked the house and the flat was still full of smoke.. this could have been another disaster.. but God is great..
They say this is the first time they hear that an exhaust can catch fire.. but a major disaster was averted. I could only thank the considerate stranger over the phone for being there and acting in haste.

The Mess

I guess I need to explain why I settled for the “Mess”!
When one joins a new company, all one strives for in the first few years is to keep the job in midst of the usual office politics etc. I did just this and besides there were financial constraints too which did not give me the flexibility to take risks. Then you settle down and find the place comfortable. It is only much later that you start thinking about the job itself!