Tinder Swindler

 Netflix is streaming a film Tinder Swindler which is based on a true story about a conman who duped several women on the dating app Tinder. I watched this one out of curiosity as I had not read about this happening.

The movie tells the story of how a man started duping people of their money in different ways right from his teens. His father was a Rabi and although he was caught and was served a prison sentence , he continued with his underhand ways immediately after his release. 

He was a real charmer and many women who right-swiped  were ensnared with his charming personality. He seemed totally genuine to them and they were bowled over by the rich lifestyle he projected. Fast cars, swanky hotels, good food, great night life, branded clothing and accessories and a pleasing personality was what made the ladies swoon. He was able to project that he was an heir to a diamond family and was stinking rich. To top it , he portrayed himself to a romantic who messaged and called often and kept his lady love aware of his whereabouts. He was always on the move, travelling to different countries and cities on business trips. Soon he was under a cash crunch as he had enemies who were going to harm him.

He convinced the ladies that he could not use his credit card and asked them to lend him the cash he needed. He continued taking large amounts of money from all the different ladies and at the same time he was splurging around all that he had. The ladies trusted him completely and some even took loans to pay him under the impression that he was really in a cash crunch and he would repay them eventually.

It was only after a dedicated journalist came into the picture after joining the dots together and identified the Tinder Swindler. With the help of the women he duped , the conman was caught and charges were pressed. It was a tedious procedure to get him caught but he was .Surprisingly, most of the cases were withdrawn due to lack of evidence and he was let loose after just after 5 months in prison! There were a couple of people working with him in this and none of them were caught. 

He is a free man now and he is still on Tinder and living a rich life even now. A well known model is his girlfriend and he is still on social media splurging money on cars, tours, restaurants and branded clothes. Life goes on as usual for him but for the women he cheated it is a terrible realization. They are still struggling to pay the debts they had taken for their con man lover.

When this case caught the headlines many blamed the women for being gullible fools and too trusting. They were blamed for being lured due to his riches. In their interviews it is clear that everyone is looking for love. A romantic man who was well off and also who had a charming personality and who cared for them were a real catch and too good to be true. They thought they had hit the jackpot with him as such men were hard to find. It is a shame that such conmen roam around freely after causing so much despair to so many women for all these years and the worst part is that there are still women who are crazy about him! After just a brief stint in jail, the 31 year old bogus billionaire Simon Leviev is back living the high life and even runs seminars for wannabe entrepreneurs costing £250 a head. Unbelievable isn't it! He still denies being a fraudster and tries to convince one and all that the women who are fighting the case against him are all just trying to make life hell for him for no reason. 

Janata Curfew

 My experience during the Janata Curfew on  Sunday 22nd March .2020

The whole world was grappling with the Corona Virus. From all around there were reports of deaths and newly affected cases.To tackle this our Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation and declared a day of Janata Curfew to be observed on Sunday 22 nd March from 7 am to 9 pm. In his speech he requested every Indian to observe this by staying indoors, in the safety of their homes and work together to break the chain. Another thing he asked for was for everyone to show their gratitude for all those working tirelessly to fight against the virus by doing their duties assigned like the doctors, nurses, psychiatrists , cleanliness workers, banking staff and all the others. To show  our gratitude he mentioned staying indoors in the balconies or at the windows and clapping or ringing bells or banging a spoon against plates for five minutes at 5 pm. 'Thaali aur taali' was the mantra for showing gratitude.

In my family we were already working from home . On Sunday too we observed the Janata Curfew and did not venture out.There was hardly any sound around that whole day. All we heard was the distinct chirping of the birds outside and nothing more. I was keen to know how the appreciation part of the days event would work out. We had watched videos posted on social media that showed people in Italy and Spain clapping and playing musical instruments in appreciation for all the doctors, nurses and other personnel working  tirelessly during these trying times. At sharp 5 pm we stood at our windows and started clapping. I played my tambourine while my daughter hit a steel plate with a spoon. 

This was an experience I will not forget easily. I didn't realize that the five minutes would leave me so emotional. When we began we stood at the window and saw the neighbouring high rise. This was the first time I saw so many people at one time at their balconies or windows. At almost every balcony the families were standing together and clapping or beating their plates. A few houses had people blowing the conches and ringing bells. They were smiling and waving at those in the other buildings and like us, they too were enjoying the feat. We moved from one window to the other and watched people at the windows of other adjacent buildings too. Somewhere we also heard a speaker playing some shlokas. Some people took this a little further and chanted OM at 6 pm that evening. Hopefully all this collective clapping, ringing of bells and chanting will spread positive vibes all around and bring back normalcy all around.

It was really beautiful to hear all the different sounds merging together! It seemed like we were all in it together in the fight against Corona and it looked like all our gratitude was pouring out genuinely. As I stood there playing my tambourine with great vigour I actually said a prayer for all the people who were working for us. I remembered the posts and videos that told about the deaths and cases of affected people all around the world and I fervently prayed for this calamity to end. I felt tears streaming down and felt goosebumps. The atmosphere was charged and it did not seem like a simple inconsequential activity anymore, to me at least. It felt like a strong collective prayer reaching out for the calamity to end. It made me realize that we take our life and its other offerings for granted. we fail to recognize how blessed we really are. The importance of freedom can be well gauged when we are bound inside our homes. That small show of appreciation suggested by the PM made me understand so much and see my life in a new perspective.

After five minutes of this we stopped and played an indoor game.We saw many of our friends post videos  and posts telling how they showed their gratitude for our real heroes.
This beautiful day was not without its share of blots.  Later that day we found out through social media posts that many people came out of their houses on the roads in processions to celebrate and show their appreciation. Some actually came out with dhol taasha and even playing garba on the streets and on their terraces! The worst part was that it looked as if India won a match against Pakistan when they came out waving the Indian tricolour and bursting crackers on the roads.  This was unbelievable. I really wondered why they didny realize that the need of the situation was social distancing and not socialising as if to celebrate some victory. Our fight against the deadly virus had just begun and we had to work towards breaking the chain, yet here people were coming out in huge numbers all over the country to show their gratitude. It made me realize that there will always be morons who cannot do what is told. It was clearly mentioned that appreciation had to be shown staying indoors, within the safety of their own homes. This also made the naysayers, those against the PM and his government to come out and ridicule the Janata Curfew and this method of showing gratitude. The less said about them, the better it is. I am glad that these were a minority and most of us followed instructions and stayed indoors. I saw many videos posted that showed the beautiful sounds of bells, claps and conches  reverberating around housing colonies in different cities. What an amazing way to show appreciation!

Just yesterday, our Honourable Prime Minister made another announcement of a lockdown for 21 days beginning from 25th March.  This was naother attempt to break the chain and practice social distancing. Hopefully this time around, people will act sensibly and stay indoors. It was important for each one of us to do our bit to fight this calamity together.

India is Going Digital!

Digital India!
It has such a good sound to it!
It is heartening to see that there has been tremendous effort put in by the new government to make our country more capable,versatile and a force to reckon with.Digital India is one such step towards making Indians more tech savvy and taking the internet into the interiors of India where they can be used in different ways for the up-liftment of the villages.It is a step to make the internet and all its benefits available easily to the common man so that one and all can move towards progress.I applaud this change and hopefully it will be for the better.The vision is great ,the only (and important and challenging) thing left is the implementation and follow up.

Many political parties too wanted a share of the pie of the digital initiative.They did not want to be left behind so they came up with some ideas for the digital revolution.A certain political party came up with the idea to start an E-class and decided to distribute Tablets in the BMC schools  through a project costing 15.5 crore .Each tablet came at the cost of Rs 6850.According to this venture, 22,799 tablets were to be distributed to the standard eighth,ninth and tenth students from BMC schools.It was proclaimed to be the first digital education programme initiated by that or any other political party.

As a start tablets were distributed to the STD eight students of a BMC school at Vile Parle and Dadar. Many a times such initiatives are taken up without the thorough study of facts and roadblocks that one may come across and this was one such initiative.The matter available in the tablets was a huge let down as it contained a few scanned notes of the current curriculum and some out-dated information.There were no new or interesting apps available on it.There was no camera facility on it for obvious reasons but most importantly there was no internet facility as the schools did not have the net availability in their school.With much fanfare the project was implemented and it was the talk of all the tabloids.The tablets were handed over to the students and they posed with them and it was perfect photo op for the political party.That was not the end of the story unfortunately, as when it was found that there was a lot yet to be added to these tablets in order to make it more useful, the tablets were unceremoniously taken back and kept in the custody of the school again. It dawned upon the school that since the tablets were not to be taken by the students and were to be used in the school only, they required a safe place for keeping the tablets. They also had to make internet facility available for the maximum use of the tablets.So all the brouhaha around the digital education programme came to naught and it was back to the chalk and talk technique once again for all the students of the school.

I am not against the use of tablets and computers in schools.What is my concern is that it should come only when the schools are ready for it.A project need not be initiated just for the sake of it,its worthiness should be taken into account.According to the study of the BMC schools in Maharashtra, there is very poor reading,writing and mathematical ability seen in the students. many of the students in STD five cannot read or calculate according to the desired level.The teaching skills of the teachers in the schools are not upto the mark and they are often tied up with paper work,census duty and are on duty during the elections too.There is high demand for teaching jobs in the BMC as the teachers take home a hefty pay packet and have a secure job once they are permanent.Getting a job in the government aided schools is difficult and I have heard of people who have sold their land to pay hefty amounts to get it.What I believe is that the focus should be on getting the basics of the students to be strong.They should have fluency in reading,writing and computing for their level of study.In the earlier stages, i.e pre-primary levels of teaching, the focus should be on laying a strong foundation for learning.The first skill required is listening,followed by reading,writing and computing.Without having the basic knowledge of the three R's (Reading,Writing,Arithmetic) one cannot expect the students to do well with the introduction f tablets and computers.All this should be taken into account before initiating a digital education programme.

Brings me to the fact that change is a necessity. Change is the only thing that is constant.
For progress,change is a must. It is important that the change should be planned and implemented keeping all the pros and cons of the situation in mind.The hurdles, the basic infrastructure and other criteria should be kept in mind while initiating any new project.The present trends, future problems and challenges, follow up procedures after implementation , all should be take into account in order for any initiative to be successful.

How are these useful to us without net facility?

Distribution of tablets at a Vile Parle school

The students flaunt their tablets which are taken back the same day.

The students of a school at Dadar get their tablets.

Boys Will Be Boys?

Some times there are people who shock you with their words and /or actions.There are many a foot in the mouth moments where people just say something that is so absurd that it makes us think,did they actually say that!I read one such news feed in the Mumbai Mirror today(Friday ,April 11,2014.)

There has been a lot of news posted regarding the Shakti Mills rape case where a young journalist was gang-raped and later on it was found that the same accused had committed a similar offence earlier.Keeping all these facts in mind the court had granted three accused death penalty,to be hanged until death and one was sentenced to life imprisonment.All around there were remarks as to why this was the right way to punish the perpetrators in order to safeguard women and keep others from repeating the same crime fearing the harsh punishment meted out to the rapists.

This is what the SP(Samajwadi Party) chief ,Mulayam Singh Yadav had to say at an election rally where he questioned the death penalty for the rapists.He said,"Ladke ladke hain.Galti to hoti hai"(Boys are boys.Mistakes happen sometimes)The SP chief further stated that he will support provision for legal action action against those who misuse the rape act.He said that there was a need to change the new anti-rape law as it was too harsh and also so that those misusing it are punished.He specified that when his party comes into power they would see to it that rape penalty is not so harsh.

This is how the chief of a political party reacts when three rape accused who have committed the heinous act on two occasions are served the death penalty.I shudder to think what will happen to our country if people such as these are voted into power.The problem lies with the citizens of India who refuse to vote when it matters and later when things get out of hand they curse the government and talk about their right to a good government.Where were they when they had a duty to perform...when they had to vote?

Shame on such politicians.Are we going to see these people back into power?If we are not going to vote then be certain that it is these very politicians who will come into power.Now is the time to act.Vote today for a better tomorrow.

Why Women Talk Too Much

Wish you knew the answer to that?Well ,I do!!!

Two women were imprisoned in a cell for six long years and when they had served their sentence they were set free.As they bid their good-byes to each other they were overheard saying, "There is so much we have not shared with each other ,let's catch up some time again soon."

A husband is reading the newspaper and the phone rings.the wife picks it up and talks to the other person on the line for half an hour.When she ends the call her husband asks,'Who was it on the line?' The wife replies,"No one we know.It was a wrong number."

There are so many jokes doing the rounds that tell us about the yakkity-yak or the amount of non-stop chatter women do.Be it any topic like clothes , food, shopping ,children,television serials,mother-in laws, husbands ,neighbours ..... women are said to be experts at talking on them like there is no tomorrow.

I do not talk too much (Really!) and so am amazed at the amount women talk.As a frequent traveller in local trains I have witnessed this very often.They sit and make themselves comfortable and then all the women,be it young or old, start talking on various topics.Even at the workplace they wait for a chance to get together and chat.Bus-stops,malls,road-side,temples,parties,weddings.....they can talk anywhere and everywhere!

Why is it that women talk so much or too much???
Or is it that men talk lesser? If so,why???

I got my answer to this when we had a doctor visiting our school for a workshop on the care of our vocal chords.She was basically a voice specialist and came to enlighten us about how to take care of our vocal chords.As teachers,we make the maximum use of our voices during the teaching/learning process so she was there to make sure that we take care of our voice boxes and vocal chords.I am sure many husbands would like to mention that their wives(or should I say bitter halves, according to them, that is) too talk too much so they should also take the same precautions.

Moving on, she explained that each one of us has got vocal chords that vibrate at a certain speed .The vocal chords of women vibrate 225 times a minute while that of males vibrate for 160 times a minute!!!She,the doctor who knew best,explained that it was but natural for women to talk more as their vocal chords vibrated more times per minute as compared to that of men.This bit of information had us all in splits.In the teaching profession women are always in a majority so we all applauded that bit of news.Seriously,our vocal chords are so designed that we speak more than the male species???

I explained about this bit of information (about the vibrations of the vocal chords) at home to the man of the house and my daughter.Each one had their own theory as to why the vocal chords vibrated as much as they did.(I guess this is what happens when you have intellectuals at home who have a view point of their own for everything.)
Theory number one-
My daughter,a psychology student who is going to be twenty in a few months,is of the opinion that a woman is structured to talk more because she has the male species as her audience most of the time.Women have to repeat what they have said at least four times so they have to speak more as compared to men.
This is why....
When women speak the first time the men fail to listen (They are either reading the newspaper,watching sports or share market news on the telly or doing anything else,but listening)
When women repeat what they have said the second time,the men fail to understand as obviously they have not been really listening carefully.
When women repeat it for the third time the men oppose and disagree with whatever has been said so the women have to repeat it for the fourth time!!!
Theory number two-
My husband feels that as women are the ones who give birth and are the nurturers, they are the ones in close contact with the new-born infants who have to be taught many things by repetition.Toddlers have to be taught things again and again so we women are structured to talk more.Another theory he thought made sense was that women have sharper and shriller voices as compared to the huskier and full-throat male voices hence the difference in the number of vibrations in the vocal chords.
(No prizes for guessing which theory I feel was more apt,my daughter's or my husbands)

Moving on......So now all the men and women like me who wonder why women talk too much please be informed that it was meant to be so by the wonders of nature.Women are the ones with the gift of the gab!!!So stop complaining and take their chatter in your stride.As even if you want to you cannot fight against nature.

More power to women!!!

Only wish they knew what to say,how to say and when,but then very few have mastered that art,even amongst  the men.

Sadly,we all have learnt to talk but have not really learnt how,what and when to talk.We do not know when to give our vocal chords the much needed rest.