THE STRAYS-PARIAH DOGS THAT NOBODY WANTS.

Just  outside my apartment, on the street below live four pups and their mother.I have been watching the dogs from my balcony for a few weeks now.At first the pups were holed up in a dry gutter along the side of the road,now they’re are little older and running all over the place.They were six initially,now it’s down to four.A happy,friendly bunch!Children from the near by slums would come and roughly handle them,kick them about and pelt stones on them.Even street hawkers would be rude to them.Why? they do not know how to be kind.Their parents are too busy erking out a living and have no time to see what they are up to or if they do…..they look the other way.They all seem to think animals are hardy enough to endure such treatment.I’ve seen toddlers about two or three years old pelting stones at these pups as they were under their mother suckling.

It broke my heart to see such tiny,helpless pups being treated like this-so off I went and got hubby involved as well to tell these people not to treat them so.We took milk from home daily and stood there till they’d finish slurpping.Today,these pups live in front of our apartment gate on the roadside-they’ve made another dry gutter their home and We continue to feed them.
Now,you must be thinking why can’t I adopt them? For two reasons -one we travel quite a bit and two, we live in an expensive  apartment complex and my neighbours may not like me bringing in these “Pariah dogs” as the local dogs are called. I really want to!!! My parents,who live out of town, take in many strays ,but they live in a house with a garden.People here,in our flat ,have expensive dogs and claim to be animal lovers-yet only a few came out to give food to the pups,that too after we started giving them their daily feed.Animal lovers they surely are!…..their love being limited to expensive pure-breeds.

In India there are many dogs of all sizes roaming the streets,eat
ing out of dustbins and braving sticks and stones daily.There are some organizations that neuter the dogs and put them back on the street.There are animal shelters too and a few good souls who adopt these Pariah dogs.The vast majority live on  the roadsides.Pariah dogs are of the lowest breed and hence not welcome in many homes.BUT….from what I read up on them,they are about the oldest breed of dogs and were brought in by the many invaders who came in hundreds of years ago.Brought in from foreign shores,some pure-breeds and some dogs from those lands just followed these people,even Alexander the great came here with his dogs-so when they left,many dogs were left back.Back in the day it was only the elite that kept dogs,so there were few takers for these animals here!

Whats to be done for these strays???…nobody seems to have a  proper solution and they continue to languish on the streets of India.

Personally,I think people here shouldn’t be spending such insane amounts of money to purchase cute,pure-bred dogs-instead they should adopt  at least one of these strays,they are such loyal,friendly and watchful dogs…..and they look good too.No animal lover in the true sense of the word can turn their backs on them.I think some buy expensive dogs to keep up with the Jones,for others it’s a status symbol.On a recent TV show here,there was this story of a dog whose master feeds him with dry fruits,houses him in an AC room,gives him nothing but the best and the total bill ,they say is about the cost of a Mercedes.Ha! at a loss for words!The least people can do is give a little corner in their garden for these strays…….my parents still do. 

KEEP HACKERS,VIRUSES,WORMS & MALWARE OUT.

Recently my computer was hacked  and the lessons I learnt that day I share here. I learnt how to go online and still be safe.First ,the background,Most families share computers and it’s risky when you have kids getting online. A smart kid is no match for these tech savy crooks.  Last weeek, I had a visitor on my site on blogspot ,who managed to get to my local  C drive and cause damage.I was checking the stats on sitemeter ,when I noticed this visitor left via my documents and files.How odd! I checked with site meter as soon as I could.Most of us have stat counters and don’t realise what a wealth of information those counters hold. The folks at site meter were superb! Very prompt in helping and They felt my files maybe open for others to read.Open files?I had fire wall turned on…how could this be? A quick check and I could see that the fire wall wasn’t set up well,leaving my files vulnerable to attack.So I reset it & did a virus scan.It’s safe now but some problems linger on. So here’s what you need to do to stay safe…
1.Before going online make sure your files are safe,you can do that by installing firewall. This prevents others from laying their hands on your hard drive.By default it is turned on but you need to go set it up as per your requirement.
2.Use the exceptions tab wisely,the more you tick off the more open your system is for others to access-as I realised..Always tick the “do not allow exceptions” box in fire wall settings when your on the bus/train or any public place,to avoid folks near by accessing your data.
3.Oh! yes.Install anti-virus scan and do a scan,yes! even for a new computer.If your using genuine Microsoft software then you’ll get  some freebies  and  their support page is very informative. 
4.Encrypt your data so only you can access it.You can always decrypt if you want later, only note the key.
5.Set security log,this way you’ll get a report of who is trying to access your computer should some one try.

6.You may not think much of your data but remember stuff like passwords,credit card details are stored automatically there, even family photos live there and you don’t want  crooks getting to it.Always back up your data with an external hard drive.
7.If   you have a blog back it up and be safe,you can’t afford to lose that.
8.If your kids use social networking sites and play games beware,some gaming programs need you to allow some exceptions in firewall  settings thus leaving you open to virus/malware.And kids that won’t listen ?how about informing the social network site? and  closing  their accounts.
My computer was infected with some virus and icons I never saw before appeared on the bar below,programs would open when I turned the computer on….still happening.I had done a post awhile ago on bangles and customs on my blogspot blog and this  visitor  spoted it on Google search  and arrived on my site- seemed very interested in it and now that file is missing from my computer.

my favorites By Referrals > Visit Detail Visit 1,067
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Location		Continent  :    Country  :    State/Region  :    City  :    Lat/Long  :
Language		English (U.S.) en-us
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Time of Visit		Nov 3 2009 9:13:56 pm
Last Page View		Nov 3 2009 9:24:40 pm
Visit Length		10 minutes 44 seconds
Page Views		3
Referring URL
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Because of site meter I have a record of this visitor,,I’ve only put a few details here to show you how much detail stats can give.So ,the next time you check your stats,keep your eyes peeled.
PS.I ‘ve done a bit of edit to the original post …Any tech guys out there with something to add?I’d like to have your take on this.Just leave me a comment.Thanks.

2 DAY OLD BABY GIRL THROWN IN A BUSH.

 

 

The Times of India (delhi edition) news this morning SHOCKED me.The baby it said was thrown out by her MOM.Why??…Who would do such a wicked deed?The article went on to say,the child was wailing loudly and passers -by called in the cops. It’s really hard to understand why humans act like this.What cruelty!  How can a mother Discard her kid like trash! For the full story log on to their online edition.

The child is 11days old now , If her parents can’t be traced or refuse to care for her she may be  given up for adoption.For now,the authorities are taking care of her.In India these stories pop up from time to time and it never fails to shock us each time.But why??Surely there are adoption centers/orphanages? The problem is a complex one,and I’d rather not get into that now.It’s a well known fact that here folks prefer boys to girls.Sons have always been given importance in eastern societies.Much is expected from sons,they carry on the family name and  are expected to shoulder the family’s responsibility.Sons are a prized possession and with the dowry system still thriving here-A son’s marriage will flood the family with new money.
The girl’s family has to give a  dowry,whatever the groom’s side demands they try to give or there’ll be no marriage.Though illegal,it’s still thriving.So, you see girls are considered a liability-money flows out of the family,whereas boys bring wealth.That’s the general belief.  

 

LIVING IN A CONCRETE JUNGLE!

Today I woke up to a new day and my very first post here.What should I write about? I have too many thoughts waiting to get out of my head.The first thing I see when I look out of my window is highrise  apartments lining the street,infact everywhere I look I see CONCRETE structures.Yes,there’s a little grassy patch here and there  and a few trees along the roads,but where have most of the trees gone?There are laws here regarding tree felling,people are supposed to plant saplings…..but it will be a long time before they grow into huge trees. Such fine buildings all over and more being constructed.This is a residential area and having trees around would add to the charm of this place.I mean big huge trees.Why! they may even cause neighbours to live in harmony,trees are known to reduce aggression.  

All I see is huge homes and sometimes no space to even park a car-the car is parked outside in the sun,as there are more cars than trees.The home owners have fenced off areas around their home and planted ornamental plants on public land.Sure these gardens look lovely!But…..
Trees have been cut to make way for buildings of every kind,shops,homes…how very sad!  I’m no expert ,but why can’t we have more trees and fewer buildings?

Trees add value to our lives-they help in times of flood,prevent harmful uv rays from reaching us and cool the environment around us.Trees also help reduce our electricity bills for power companies use less water in their cooling towers.Air quality too is improved considerably as trees filter out pollution.The benefits are numerous and the sooner we realise this the better.I’ll leave you with a quote .

“I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine 
and fir and cedar and poplar trees.  The trail has strung upon it, as upon 
a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets.  It has given me 
blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our 
modern day.  It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful.  
Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and 
benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the 
coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall 
from me – I am happy. ” 
-   Hamlin Garland, McClure’s, February 1899

 

 

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