Funny how we take certain things for granted.
Some time ago my eldest bua told me , that when my grandfather went to meet the boy she was to marry , he saw an electric bulb hanging over the desk. He saw here and there but couls not find a wire leading to it. He asked him whether they had electricity in village, the reply was no, but he liked the look . So grand father came back and said , that the boy is shaukeen.
It made me wonder whether my parents had access to electricity all their lives. No , was papa's reply, only few people had the connection. Infact he and his friend, grewal rented a room with a bulb together to prepare for matric exams. No, mum said. There wasn't any when she lived in the village as child. That's why she said people in the evening used to eat dinner early and then light a lamp and sit and do embroidery or spin or knit and sing songs. The other day the scene was enacted in a punjabi show. it was known as tiranjan, which was where women got together in the evenings and did all that.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
1943 Guide to Hiring Women
It’s a 1943 guide to hiring women!!! It was written by L.H. Saunders and appeared in the July 1943 edition of Mass Transportation.It’s funny and shocking at the same time but we have to remember that this was back in the day when men went to work and women stayed behind at home to raise children. World War II changed this balance. This was written for male supervisors of women in the work force during World War II.
Eleven Tips on Getting More Efficiency Out of Women Employees.”
There’s no longer any question whether transit companies should hire women for jobs formerly held by men. The draft and manpower shortage has settled that point. The important things now are to select the most efficient women available and how to use them to the best advantage.
Here are eleven helpful tips on the subject from Western Properties:
1.Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they’re less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn’t be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently. 2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It’s always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.
3. General experience indicates that “husky” girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.
4. Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination - one covering female conditions. This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.
5. Stress at the outset the importance of time. The fact that a minute or two lost here and there makes serious inroads on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up.
6. Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they’ll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.
7. Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another at some time during the day. Women are inclined to be less nervous and happier with change.
8. Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. You have to make some allowances for feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.
9 Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can’t shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.
10. Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl’s husband or father may swear vociferously, she’ll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.
11. Get enough size variety in operator’s uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can’t be stressed too much in keeping women happy .
Eleven Tips on Getting More Efficiency Out of Women Employees.”
There’s no longer any question whether transit companies should hire women for jobs formerly held by men. The draft and manpower shortage has settled that point. The important things now are to select the most efficient women available and how to use them to the best advantage.
Here are eleven helpful tips on the subject from Western Properties:
1.Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they’re less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn’t be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently. 2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It’s always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.
3. General experience indicates that “husky” girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.
4. Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination - one covering female conditions. This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.
5. Stress at the outset the importance of time. The fact that a minute or two lost here and there makes serious inroads on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up.
6. Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they’ll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.
7. Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another at some time during the day. Women are inclined to be less nervous and happier with change.
8. Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. You have to make some allowances for feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.
9 Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can’t shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.
10. Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl’s husband or father may swear vociferously, she’ll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.
11. Get enough size variety in operator’s uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can’t be stressed too much in keeping women happy .
More Memories
Well to continue with my great grandfather,
He was a droughtsman with Malaysian Railways from where he took early retirement to return to his native village Sangatpur, near Phillaur, in Punjab. The village was originally named as Khusrapur, which obviously was not a very nice name, so he campaigned with the govt. and managed to change it to Sangatpur.He used to come once month to Ludhaina and buy general medicines for cough cold,fever etc. and everyone in the village used to come to him for general illnesses. His father-in-law was a hakim, which explains all those formulas for home remedies written his dairies. Well now that I have started writing about him , I'll do proper research and write more later.
He was a droughtsman with Malaysian Railways from where he took early retirement to return to his native village Sangatpur, near Phillaur, in Punjab. The village was originally named as Khusrapur, which obviously was not a very nice name, so he campaigned with the govt. and managed to change it to Sangatpur.He used to come once month to Ludhaina and buy general medicines for cough cold,fever etc. and everyone in the village used to come to him for general illnesses. His father-in-law was a hakim, which explains all those formulas for home remedies written his dairies. Well now that I have started writing about him , I'll do proper research and write more later.
Monday, June 9, 2008
My sister Says
Well I finally told my sister about the blog.
Her Comments on my blog title
Throw in a little vinegar, pepper, jalopeno's etc.
Her Comments on my blog title
Throw in a little vinegar, pepper, jalopeno's etc.
Memories
My memories of my maternal greatgrandfather named Hardit Uday Singh Sohanpal
The one Which comes first is his carrying me and twirling me around sand saying oopey, so lot children used call him oopey baba ji. He used to come and visit my mother often from the village often. She was his first grandchild and first girl in three generations of family. So he really used to care for her. I remember going to village and sitting on his desk. As we were from town a folding table and chairs used to be laid out for us to dine. It was the tallest house in the village and one could see the whole village from the roof top. They lived on the first floor of the house with rooms around a courtyard.The downstairs area was various store rooms etc. There was an iron grill gate in the middle of courtyard which could be opened, but i had never seen it that way.On one side of the wall was a big iron pulley.I used to love walking over it and looking down a bit scary too. But the story is that when my geart grand mother became very ill and could not climb the stairs she used to be sent up and down in a basket through that gate with a rope which that pulley supported. I always imagined it. I don't remember my great grand mother . I was one when she died. Though I have a picture with her. They say i have inherited my flat nose from hers. More about all this another day......
The one Which comes first is his carrying me and twirling me around sand saying oopey, so lot children used call him oopey baba ji. He used to come and visit my mother often from the village often. She was his first grandchild and first girl in three generations of family. So he really used to care for her. I remember going to village and sitting on his desk. As we were from town a folding table and chairs used to be laid out for us to dine. It was the tallest house in the village and one could see the whole village from the roof top. They lived on the first floor of the house with rooms around a courtyard.The downstairs area was various store rooms etc. There was an iron grill gate in the middle of courtyard which could be opened, but i had never seen it that way.On one side of the wall was a big iron pulley.I used to love walking over it and looking down a bit scary too. But the story is that when my geart grand mother became very ill and could not climb the stairs she used to be sent up and down in a basket through that gate with a rope which that pulley supported. I always imagined it. I don't remember my great grand mother . I was one when she died. Though I have a picture with her. They say i have inherited my flat nose from hers. More about all this another day......
Sunday, June 1, 2008
GIRLS ?????????????
At an age when most women are settling down on their nest egg and knitting themselves a second house in Bournemouth, one woman and her partner headed to India to start a family.
A 59-year-old woman and her 72-year-old partner travelled to India for fertility treatment, being too old to qualify in the UK, the Times has reported. The two were born in India but are British citizens and live in Birmingham. (Initial reports in the Sun said the two had abandoned their newborn twin daughters because they weren't boys, which has been vigorously denied by the NHS.)
This story really highlights is the vast difference in fertility services people can get in different countries. Prospective patients can shop for services on websites such as this one, in countries across Europe, yet shouldn't finding an IVF provider be different from tracking down an affordable facelift surgeon?
What investment does a doctor or fertility team in the ultimately well-being of the client and offspring when they fly in and fly out from distant lands? Are doctors really so in love with scientific advances that they believe providing IVF to a 58-year-old and her 72-year-old partner is in the best interests of the couple and the children produced alike
A 59-year-old woman and her 72-year-old partner travelled to India for fertility treatment, being too old to qualify in the UK, the Times has reported. The two were born in India but are British citizens and live in Birmingham. (Initial reports in the Sun said the two had abandoned their newborn twin daughters because they weren't boys, which has been vigorously denied by the NHS.)
This story really highlights is the vast difference in fertility services people can get in different countries. Prospective patients can shop for services on websites such as this one, in countries across Europe, yet shouldn't finding an IVF provider be different from tracking down an affordable facelift surgeon?
What investment does a doctor or fertility team in the ultimately well-being of the client and offspring when they fly in and fly out from distant lands? Are doctors really so in love with scientific advances that they believe providing IVF to a 58-year-old and her 72-year-old partner is in the best interests of the couple and the children produced alike
Endangered Gender
STOP KILLING UNBORN DAUGHTERS
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made an emotional plea to save the girl child. The "proud' father of three daughters has urged every citizen to come forward and empower the girl child in all possible ways. As he has rightly pointed out, the empowerment of girl child should begin at home. It is amtter of national shame that the number of girls born in India has been declining. The number of girls for every 1,000 boys slipped nationally to 927 in 2001, from 962 in 1981. Punjab has one of the worst records of only 798 girls. Hryana is marginally better at 819.Even the national Capital registers only 868 girls for every 1000 boys.
The Prime Minister has focused on the mindset issue, which is fundamental cause of this gender problem. There is no doubt that oppressive patruarchy and bias against girls account for the declining sex ratio, making women more vulnerable.Attitudenal change takes time and until that happens, the one tangib;e method of combating this 'inhuman, uncivilised and reprehensible act' is to enforce thr Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act rigorously. We have the law but there has been few convictions under it. With technology becoming cheaper, ultrasound machines, used by unscrupulous doctors and technicians to tell parents the gender of unborn child, are spreading wider. The machines themseleves are not to be blame. When used properly, they help save lives. Hoewever, the misuse of this technology must not be allowed and those responsible for misusing it must know that they can face the full might of the law.
The birth of a daughter is both a victory against prejudice and the beginning of a life-long struggle against negative mindsets. When girls are born, tehy face discrimination - in matters of education, food, security and mucch more. Socities and civilisations are judged by the way they treat their women.We in India must jointly fight to remove the blot of killing our unborn daughters lest we should stand condemned -- in our eyes, and those of the world.
Editorial by H.K.Dua ' The Tribune'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made an emotional plea to save the girl child. The "proud' father of three daughters has urged every citizen to come forward and empower the girl child in all possible ways. As he has rightly pointed out, the empowerment of girl child should begin at home. It is amtter of national shame that the number of girls born in India has been declining. The number of girls for every 1,000 boys slipped nationally to 927 in 2001, from 962 in 1981. Punjab has one of the worst records of only 798 girls. Hryana is marginally better at 819.Even the national Capital registers only 868 girls for every 1000 boys.
The Prime Minister has focused on the mindset issue, which is fundamental cause of this gender problem. There is no doubt that oppressive patruarchy and bias against girls account for the declining sex ratio, making women more vulnerable.Attitudenal change takes time and until that happens, the one tangib;e method of combating this 'inhuman, uncivilised and reprehensible act' is to enforce thr Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act rigorously. We have the law but there has been few convictions under it. With technology becoming cheaper, ultrasound machines, used by unscrupulous doctors and technicians to tell parents the gender of unborn child, are spreading wider. The machines themseleves are not to be blame. When used properly, they help save lives. Hoewever, the misuse of this technology must not be allowed and those responsible for misusing it must know that they can face the full might of the law.
The birth of a daughter is both a victory against prejudice and the beginning of a life-long struggle against negative mindsets. When girls are born, tehy face discrimination - in matters of education, food, security and mucch more. Socities and civilisations are judged by the way they treat their women.We in India must jointly fight to remove the blot of killing our unborn daughters lest we should stand condemned -- in our eyes, and those of the world.
Editorial by H.K.Dua ' The Tribune'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
