Disability - In Developed and Developing countries

Of things I appreciate most in the Western world, support to disabled is one. They are treated with great respect and care. They are encouraged to be independent. Every building, bus, train, shops and parks are made easily accessible by people who are unable to walk.
Wherever you travel in Europe, you are bound to hit this sign,which is world Disability symbol.

 

  In Supermarkets there will be nearer parking slots reserved for them. Even the houses are modified to suit the need of disabled. Like widened doors, accessible switches, low mirrors etc. Detailed care is given to each things you do. It's not only for physically challenged, they also cater for blind, deaf, people with illness etc. Every public flyers are made available in Bigger fronts, braille or in CD forms if requested.

 Examples of equipment and adaptations include:

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1. stair lifts

2. powered or manual height-adjustable beds

3. powered leg-lifters for people who have difficulty lifting their legs into bed

4. Ceiling hoists -when lifting people becomes a problem.

Ceiling hoist

Battery powered vehicle

A wide range of gadgets and devices are available that make everyday tasks easier for people with specific disabilities. Some examples are:

> clamps and holders to keep jars stable so they can be opened with one hand

> talking kitchen scales for people who are blind or visually impaired

> alarm clocks that vibrate under the pillow for deaf and hearing impaired people

> kettle tippers for people who have limited arm strength or restricted movement

> devices that remind people with memory loss or learning disabilities to do a daily task, for example taking a pill.

Contrastingly, in India, people are made to accept disability as a curse and lead the life. They are restricted to stay at home most of the times. It is hardly possible for them to be on their own are not treated equally in society. I understand people cannot afford costly equipment, but the government can provide them with some and also the attitude of people towards them should change. Disabled people should be confident in achieving what it is possible to them.
I really wish India and other developing countries will have all these facilities soon.

My birthday

Normally birthdays are made special by wishes. My this year's birthday was made doubly special because of my husband. I got my birthday gift a week before, as he could not resist seeing my expression. The big Marks & Spencer's box was wrapped up using my Cardigan's belt. :) And I kept wondering what M & S item it might be. But to my surprise it was an Apple product hidden inside, a brand new MacBook Air 13".

It was very sweet of him to upgrade Mac Air to 4GB of RAM as I always keep complaining about speed.

The whole process of unpacking the gift and my funny expression was recorded in the mobile.

On the previous day of my birthday, we had a get together in a friend's place. At the end everybody surprised me with a birthday cake and small celebrations :) Thanks to hubby too for being a part of it.

On the day, when I woke up in the morning, our living room was gleaming with lights, my favourite Venkateshwara Suprabhata  being played, and a sweet birthday card written in Kannada with great difficulty by my husband, with only a single mistake.

I feel blessed to have such a sweet, caring and loving husband. Thank god for that. :)

English to Kannada

It is a normal practice to think in your native language (mother tongue) and translate to the language you speak. But in my husband's case, even though his native is Kannada he has been out of India for so long that English has become his 1st language now.

So habitually he thinks in English. I have come across many funny translations he makes in this regard. Some are :

• ನೀನು weight ಹಾಕೊಂಡಿದಿeಯ. - You have put on weight.
• ಅವನಿಗೆ ಒಂದು girlfriend ಇದೆ. - He has a girlfriend.
• ಅವನ ಹೆಂಡತಿ ಬಂದಿದೆ.           - His wife arrived. 

 

[He has a habit of mentioning girl (especially wife or girlfriend) with no gender.]

 ಸದ್ಯಕ್ಕೆಇಷ್ಟೇ ನೆನಪಾಗಿದ್ದು. I will keep updating the post as dialogues keep coming. :)

Social Networks

ಇವತ್ತು Office ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುವುದನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ತುಂಬಾ ದಿನಗಳಾದ ಮೇಲೆ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ಬರೆಯಬೇಕೆಂದು ಕುಳಿತಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಬರೀ facebook , twitter , gtalk ಅಂತ ಸಮಯ ವ್ಯರ್ಥ ಮಾಡೋ ಬದಲು ಅವೆಲ್ಲದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ವಿಮರ್ಷಿಸೋಣ ಅಂತನಿಸ್ತು. ಇಂದಿನ ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರ್ ಯುಗದಲ್ಲಿ you ought to be involved in social networking. ನಿನ್ನೆ ತಂಗಿ ಜೊತೆ ಮಾತಾಡ್ತಾ, ಅವಳು ಹೇಳ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದ್ಲು. ಅವಳಿಗೆ Facebook ಅಕೌಂಟ್ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಎಲ್ಲ ಫ್ರೆಂಡ್ಸ್ ಕೇಳೋದು.. ನೀನು facebook ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಇದ್ಯಾ ? ಇಲ್ಲ ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಯಾಕೆ ಇಲ್ಲ ಅಂತ. ಮುಂಚೆ ಮೊಬೈಲ್ ನಂಬರ್ ಕೇಳುತಿದ್ದ ಹಾಗೆ, ಇಂದು meet ಆದಾಗ "What is your Facebook ID / gtalk ID / twitter ID?" ಅಂತ ಜನ ಕೇಳ್ತಾರೆ.

 ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ 3 -4  ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ Orkut ಎಂಬ ಗೂಗಲ್ ನ networking ಸೈಟ್ ಬಹಳ famous ಆಗಿತ್ತು. ಇಂದು ಎಲ್ಲರೂ Wholesale ಆಗಿ Facebook ಸೇರುತ್ತ ಇದಾರೆ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಕಳೆದು ಹೋದ ಗೆಳೆಯರನ್ನು ಹುಡುಕಬಹುದು,ಯಾವುದೇ ವಿಷಯದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಅನಿಸಿಕೆಯನ್ನು "status" ಮೂಲಕ ಫ್ರೆಂಡ್ಸ್ list ಗೆ ತಿಳಿಸಬಹುದು, ನಿಮಗೆ ಸಿಗೋ best link ಗಳನ್ನು share ಮಾಡಬಹುದು, photos share ಮಾಡೋಕ್ಕೆ ಇದು ಒಳ್ಳೆ ಮಾರ್ಗ, ಬೇರೆಯವರ ಅನಿಸಿಕೆ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಟೀಕಿಸಬಹುದು. Photos upload ಮಾಡೋಕ್ಕೆ competition ಆಗಿದೆ. ಎಲ್ಲರಿಂದಾನು ಕಾಮೆಂಟ್ ಬರಬೇಕು ಅನ್ನೋದಕ್ಕಾಗಿ, ಚಿತ್ರ ವಿಚಿತ್ರ ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪೋಸ್ ಕೊಟ್ಟು ಅದಕ್ಕಾಗೆ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಫೋಟೋ session ಕೂಡ ಇರುತ್ತೆ.

 ಬ್ರಿಟಿನ್ ನಲ್ಲಂತೂ ಜನ ಒಂದು small communication ಗೂ Online use ಮಾಡ್ತಾರೆ. ಹೊರಗಡೆ ಮಳೆಯಾಗ್ತಿದೆ ಅಂತಾನೋ, snow ಆಗ್ತಿದೆ ಅಂತಾನೋ, ಇವತ್ತು badminton ಆಡೋಕ್ಕೆ ಯಾರಾದ್ರು ಬರ್ತೀರಾ ಅಂತಾನೋ, ಹೀಗೆ.ಏನು ಇಲ್ಲಾಂದ್ರೆ ನಂಗೆ ನಿದ್ದೆ ಬರ್ತಾ ಇದೆ ಅಂತ ಜನರ status ಇರುತ್ತೆ. :) ಅವ್ರಿಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ account ಸಾಲದು ಅಂತ, ಅವರ ಬೆಕ್ಕು ನಾಯಿಗಳಿಗೂ twitter account ಇರುತ್ತೆ, ಅದರ ಆಟೋಟಗಳನ್ನು ವರ್ಣಿಸಲು. :)

ಹಳೆಯ colleague ಮೊನ್ನೆ ಹೇಳ್ತಾ ಇದ್ರು, " ನನ್ನ ಹೆಂಡ್ತಿ ಆರ್ಕುಟ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಬೇರೆಯವರ ಟ್ರಿಪ್ ಫೋಟೋಸ್ ನೋಡಿದಾಗ ತುಂಬಾ upset ಆಗ್ತಾಳೆ. ಎಲ್ಲರ ಗಂಡಂದಿರೂ ತಮ್ಮ wife ನ ಟೂರ್ ಕರದೆಕೊಂದು ಹೋಗ್ತಾರೆ, ನೀವು ಮಾತ್ರ ಎಲ್ಲೂ ಕರೆದುಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗೋಲ್ಲ" ಅಂತ complaint ಇರುತ್ತೆ. ಇದು ಬೇರೊಬ್ಬರ ಜೀವನವನ್ನೇ ಹಾಳು ಮಾಡು ಮಟ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಯಿತಲ್ಲ ಅಂತ ಬೇಸರವಾಗುತ್ತೆ. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಒಮ್ಮೊಮ್ಮೆ ನಾನು status update ಅಥವ ಫೋಟೋಸ್ share ಮಾಡೋ ಮುನ್ನ ಯೋಚಿಸಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತೆ, because others might envy.
What I feared most that has happened as per this study from Stanford.

http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/27/youre-not-alone-misery-has-more-company-than-you-think/?xid=sflow

Social Network ಬೇಕು ನಿಜ, ಆದರೆ ಅದನ್ನ ಜನ ಬಳಸೋ ಸಮಯ, ಅದರಿಂದ ಪ್ರಭಾವಿತರಾಗುವುದನ್ನ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು. ಇದು ನನಗೂ ಕೂಡ ಅನ್ವಯಿಸುತ್ತೆ. ಬರೀ advise ಮಾಡ್ತಿಲ್ಲ :) ಹಾಗಂತ ಇದರಿಂದ ನೂರೆಂಟು  ಲಾಭಗಳೂ ಇವೆ. ಮೊನ್ನೆ Bristol ನಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಕೊಲೆ ಪ್ರಕರಣವನ್ನು ತನಿಖೆ ಮಾಡಲು CBI ನವರು ಒಂದು FB ಪೇಜ್ ಮಾಡಿದ್ರು. ಅದರಿಂದಾಗಿ ಸುಮಾರು 300 ಜನ ಪೊಲೀಸರಿಗೆ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಕೊಟ್ಟರಂತೆ.

ಎಲ್ಲದರಲ್ಲೂ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯದು ಕೆಟ್ಟದು ಇರುತ್ತೆ. ನಿಮಗೆ ಯಾವುದು ಸೂಕ್ತವೋ ಅದನ್ನು ಮಾತ್ರ ಪಡೆಯೋದು ಗೊತ್ತಿದ್ರೆ ಇಂದಿನ ಟ್ರೆಂಡ್ ಜೊತೆ ನೀವೂ ಮುನ್ನಡೆಯಬಹುದು. Good luck!