DemocraZy

I think passerby is just trying to involve youngsters like us to think beyond just writing about issues. Personally that is what I believe in as well. We write about our gripes with government and society and get applauses and kudos from fellow bloggers and we respond to it in a funny way to keep the traffic going. I appreciate his/her efforts to invoke a sort of responsibility in each and every one of us, much like a grassroots effort. We often point out the shortfalls and never seem to go forward to find a solution.

Democracy is often quoted as "Of the people, By the people & For the people". We, the people, often think that as a responsible citizen we vote for a responsible candidate (of the people) and our job is done. We then expect the government to fix all our gripes (for the people). It is a mis-interpretation of democracy. We often forget the "by the people" part. We carry as much responsibility as the government we put in power.

We say the government doesn't provide us good roads and as we say that we throw our garbage on the street. We complain that the government is increasing the mass transit frequency while we wait for a bus or a train while at the same time we disregard the law and travel ticketless to prove a point (I dont know to whom). We complain that there is no water and no sanitation in the cities and at the same time we allow multiplexes to come up in our neighbourhood. Now you may argue that the govt officials sanctions to build those by taking bribes. But in fact it is us who buy those flats and create a demand that forces the builders to supply and creates corruption in the system. Why can't we move outside a city and build a home?

We keep living in $h!t and keep complaining but we never even try to use phenyl and clean it up ourselves. We depend on the government to do the same. We are capable of doing smaller things in our control and we should let the government handle the things beyond our abilities (like defense, international relations, trade and health to name a few). How many of us stop at the red signal and wait till it turns green without pushing the signal. How many of us yield to emergency vehicles? How many of us are ready to appear in a court or pay a fine when violating traffic instead of bribing the officer? How many of us are ready to assist accident victims to hospitals? How many of us are willing to take a detour near a school campus? How many of us obey "no horns" signs near hospitals and schools? These things don't need the government to intervene. These things need self-discipline. If only we can be a little more responsible for our own actions, we won't have to spend more time complaining and living in $h!t. Let us make an effort.

Blogger Etiquettes

Lately the trend in the "blogger world" has been changing - at least that is what I perceive in the small microsphere I live in.

People write and write and write for weeks and months and no one really reads them. Then one fine period, the traffic to your site grows tremendously through friends and recommendations and of course some of those posts are just irresistable :P. Then comments flow like ink from a new ballpoint pen. Responses from the Post-er(!) come faster than one can imagine.

But the green days are short-lived. Though comments continue to pour in from the ever supportive commenters, the Post-er stops responding to the comments. Is it a sense of self-accomplishment that goes over the head of the Post-er that makes commenters wait for responses or is it just that they are too busy with their "real life" (which I honestly hope it is)?

As a blogger I decided to create a list of Blogger Etiquettes. If you fit a profile that follows, you are expected to do the corresponding action item:
Do you:
1. write blogs? - Read other blogs.
2. read blogs? - Comment on blogs.
3. write blogs for others to read and comment? - Read and respond to comments.
4. read and comment on blogs for blogger responses? - Wait at least twenty four hours to see response (owing to time difference around the world). Please don't F5 the server to death.
5. read blogs but have no interest in commenting? - Please don't waste your time - do something useful like uh..., like uh.... like not reading blogs.

If you read this and don't perform the action item and don't refer this blog to 100 of your friends within the next 20 micro-seconds, nothing will happen to you.