Needy- Are they?

And he throws away the piece of Paneer I offered him to eat!!!!!

I thought he was begging because he was hungry ( as that's what he was claiming! ) . So I offer him a piece of what I was eating, he makes faces, then takes it, goes to a corner and throws it away!

And all this while he was knocking at the window pane of the car, saying he had not eaten for so many days, and was starving to death and wanted Rs. 5 to eat something. ( I now want to ask him, do you think the paneer which you threw, would have come in that meager an amount considering the sky-rocketing prices... You actually had the audacity of throwing it away!) .

Not too sure of the authenticity of the statement, but have heard about begging mafias being operational in most of the metros in India. And the fool that I am, used to think it can't be totally true. Why would someone beg, if the only aim is to quench his desire to have some booze or to take a drag of some local marijuana. But there is another side to this as well, where these people are forced to beg and fill the coffers of the so-called bosses.

So should we/shouldn't we give any money to these beggars? I remember, a friend used to often give such people food and I thought she would be getting blessings in return. But this incident set me thinking, if we are offering them food and not money, do we really get any blessings?
There might be the needy ones as well, who are not forced, don't want anything to do with drugs or alcohol and actually only want food. But who is to know which one's are genuine?

The question has been looming on my mind for quite some time now, are we doing them a favor by handing over some money to them? Perhaps the one's they are answerable to , would be happy on getting the money and would spare them of the atrocities that they might be thinking of inflicting on them. Or maybe not, and make their life even tougher. Or maybe it's just their addiction to drugs and nothing more for which they beg.. Who is to know??

The Incorrigible Male driver!!

The usual rant goes something like this,
"Driving at such a speed in the fast lane!! Must be a female driver! ( And wham a tight one on the face, it's a male! )
Overtaking from the wrong direction, must be a female.. ( and there we have a male again!! ;) )!!
Taking forever to start the ignition on a traffic signal,,has to be a female...
Not signalling before taking a turn...
Oh driving with an  L sign on , why don't you learn first and then come on the road ( where would someone learn if not on the roads!!!!!) "

and the list is endless...

If you find someone on the road in the car ahead of you, doing even one of the enlisted things above...it definitely has got to be a woman on the wheels ( or so the men think! ) . However if statistics are anything to go by, more males are involved in reckless driving, fatal crashes, speed violations, stop sign signal violations etc..etc.. as compared to women..
But I am sure, the other sex would here beg to differ with me, because it takes too much of male ego to accept that women can drive well.

In fact, the extent to which they go to defend their own kind is amazing..Even if they see someone of their kind driving incorrectly, they would defend that person, instead of accepting that what he did was wrong.
It's easy to overlook their own faults, but very difficult to overlook even the slightest of mistakes that a woman might make while driving!

Some even have the audacity of putting the blame of their mis-driving ( I know there's no such word ) , on women.. Because the woman driving in front of me, took a sudden turn, I lost control and banged the car. Isn't it your responsibility to take care of how you drive, irrespective of how many fools might be out there on the streets. My father told me, when he started giving me driving lessons," Drive as if the entire world driving around you is mad, and you are the last one left with some sanity. "

I am not denying the fact that some people do end up driving very funnily, but that's not gender specific, it could be anyone. Stop generalizing and stop being judgmental!!

“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.” 
― Dave Barry

And oh by-the-way, it just doesn't stop at women...
If someone overtakes you, how dare they!! I need to teach this son-of-a-bitch a lesson of his lifetime, by doing everything possible in my control to overtake him again and then not giving him way to move ahead of me..

If someone honks at you more than once, what is this guys problem in life. He is in too much of a hurry! Now I will make sure that I don't give him any passage!

If someone races ahead of you on a traffic signal, oh alright! You want a race! Bring it on dude! And then there's no holding back the hard press on the accelerator!

Holier than thou..-- Pretenses!

How do you define your connection with God? Is it necessary to chant 10,000 shlokas early in the morning to be one with him? Or is it just a perception?

I believe my relationship with him is more internal than external. I do worship in my heart and I am spiritual, but not a fanatic.

" Oh that boy/girl, is too good. He/She gets up early in the morning and goes to the temple. Great principles have been imbibed in him/her by his/her parents." One of the parameters through which a person is judged by the people. But who knows the same person might be stepping outside the house and behaving in a not so conservative fashion.

The point being, if someone chooses to not put on a miss-goody-two-shoes attitude and presents oneself the way that person is inside out , does it make them a bad person. If someone chooses to not go to the temple regularly, but feel connected to god in the confinement of their own room in some solitary time, does it make them any less spiritual? If you follow all the dogmatic rituals, you are a god fearing human being, but what if you choose to ignore them? How about those god-fearing aunty-ji's who make it a point to attend each and every kirtan gathering in the temple and in their locality, but often end up with bitching sessions about the who's who of the locality in the end of what should have been a spiritually awakening session...

Many a times, people follow a religious or spiritual leader, for the sheer joy of being looked upon as spiritual human beings. Some people worship, because they want to save themselves from the wrath of gods.( Or so they think!!)

Some people I have met, are hypocrites of the first degree in these cases. They would go on and on and on about how they follow certain rituals and how they are so religious and how they find solace in god and only god and how they have nothing to do with the so called "Moh-Maaya". And you turn your back, and they would start ranting about , " oh which brand was she wearing" and " what car do you drive" and " who was so and so going out with" . I thought, you were away from all this, because you are a worshiper and are so wholly solely dedicated to the almighty!!!!!

This entire drama irks me to the extent that I feel like asking such people, why? Why live in pretense? If you have a connection with him, good for you. Stop demeaning those , who choose not to make their personal relationship with him not so public..