The Sonance Behind My Silence

     When my friends asked me to download WhatsApp some years ago, I had never thought that the green icon would soon be part and parcel of the smartphones of almost 450 million people. The app is quick, easy to use, and attractive and is downloadable free for everyone except iOS users. All-in-all, it is a really convenient to use fun app which does away with the woes and fluctuating rates of SMS, pervading the barriers of distance. As long as you have access to internet and a smartphone, no one can stop you from staying in touch with everyone.      But have you ever wondered how this company makes money? One way that is the most obvious, of course, is the subscription fee that it charges its users. WhatsApp allows its users to enjoy the services for free for the first year after installation. However, after that it charges $0.99 for continued service. But till date, I have not heard of a single person who has paid for this extension of servi...

     “In religion, India is the only millionaire……the One land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for all the shows of all the rest of the globe combined.” - Mark Twain      For a country where over a hundred crore people following 7 major religions speak almost 2000 different languages, rich in cultural and natural resources, India sure is unified in terms of the mentality of its inhabitants. The question that arises is, then why the conflicts? Every day we see news of protests and communal violence where national property is set ablaze and we citizens end up paying for it through increased taxes. It is on this that political and regional parties thrive. The corruption and chaos that arise from this, is not what we would like to see in the India we want.      In India the focus has always been on education and making a good career, especially since a maj...

     It is said that we live in an era of smart phones and dumb people. Is it true? The better and more sophisticated our mobile phones get, the more we tend to depend on them. Mobile phones have made the ability to remember phone numbers extinct. Who would go through the ordeal of remembering 10 digits per person when they are just a few ‘touches’ away? The routine of calling people to wish them on their birthdays has also been replaced by an SMS or a WhatsApp text. But getting to a serious alteration to the human ‘smartness’ because of a smartphone, we see a considerable reduction in memory and retention capacity of people who use smartphones extensively. Forgetfulness is the order of the day, and we often miss out on important events and things because of forgetting them.      How often do we wish that everything we lose had a ringtone attached to it? How convenient will it be to find something just by means of that very smartphone that is re...

     Infidelity as an act is condemned, more than understood. It is often derided as an outcome of an insatiable lust or a polygamist psyche. As I started working on a research project to find out why people engage in infidelity, I had it very clear that I would look at the infidel as a person with unfulfilled needs, a misunderstood individual who was led by certain circumstances to get involved with someone other than the one he/she was committed to. What was even more shocking was the fact that ‘Infidelity is universal’; it starts at a mental level, develops at an emotional level and may or may not manifest itself in the physical sense.       Infidelity as an occurrence has been prevalent in our society for ages. Quite often, the doings of the infidel were a secret locked up within the household. It is only in recent times that acts of infidelity are coming out in the open. Infidelity on the mental and emotional levels is more ub...

     How often do we see small brands, firms and businesses topple some of the oldest, mightiest and seemingly invincible corporations? That is where we often find the phrase ‘David versus Goliath’ used, quite liberally I daresay. David is the underdog taking on the might of Goliath, the giant and finally defeats him, and this is considered as an incredible feat.      For those of you who do not know the famous story of David and Goliath, which dates back to the time when Israel was, a united kingdom in the mountains, and the Philistines (now Palestinians) would try to invade it multiple times. One day, the Philistine army gathered for war against Israel. The two armies faced each other on opposite sides of the steep valley of Elah. A mighty Philistine giant – Goliath, over nine feet tall came out each day for forty days, challenging the Israelis to fight, thereby terrifying Saul, the King of Israel, and the whole army.    ...