Pointers for Pet Owners going on Vacation

Tips for Travelling with your Pet

Today, on the 3rd Birthday of my cat, I can't help but think of the thousands of pets that are lost or abandoned by people on vacation. Most pet owners who travel are not really mean but are just unaware or too lazy to bother to think of any options. As, the summer holidays start, here are some points to help pet owners plan thier vacation.

Vacation with Pets Tip 1. Leave the pet with neighbours/family in the same Neighbourhood (all pets) - Make sure the caretakers are people who love pets and won't mistreat him/ forget to feed him in your absence. The pet should be ok in the same environment with familiar faces. Remember to provide your pets favourite food/toys and money to buy milk,bread etc. that he needs daily. Another merit is that you can phone often and 'speak' to your pet and know that she is fine.

Travel with Pets Tip 2. Leaving Pets with friend/family in other areas of the city (all pets except cats) - for pets that don't move out of the house much. This is so they don't get lost or killed finding thier way back home, or walking in some other animal's territory.

Vacation with Pets Tip 3. Leaving Pet Home Alone (cats only) - Since cats are very protective of thier territory and not as emotional as dogs. Leave an entry/exit point open, like a tiny window/balcony or a small hole cut in the door so the cat can go outside to pee/poo. Take small packets of catfood wrapped in newspaper and hide them around the house. Stick some packets with cellotape at different heights which the cat can sniff and find after a few days. Leave a bucketful of drinking water around. Your cat should be fine when you return coz most of them can easily hunt birds/rodents, scavenge in garbage bins or steal from neighbours. However, if you have a expensive breed cat, there is a chance it may get stolen if it's too tame. Most thieves think twice about stealing a cat as they are difficult to catch, scratch and bite sharply and are considered bad luck.

Travel with Pets Tip 4. Animal Hotels/ Holiday Home ( usually for dogs) - I would not recommend this as pets are largely ignored in these homes. They are not fed properly or given water, they howl miserably the whole day long, people whack them, there is a chance they may be sold off too. There may be some good animal homes but hey they are very difficult to find and they cost hellova-lot. Can be used as a last resort.

Vacation with Pets Tip 5. Taking Pet Along on the Vacation (all pets) - Always keep the pet in a carrying case or on a leash firmly tied up, unless you are indoors with all the doors and windows shut. The animal may get disoriented by its surroundings and if it runs off there is a 95 percent chance you will never find it again. There is also the issue of continous howling to deal with. Remember to pack your pets food and toys. Line the pet's box with a diaper, for easy cleaning.

a) Driving down to your vacation spot is the most convienient. Just ignore the howling. The pet is just communicating its discomfort and is not in any great danger.

b) Train - try and travel by second class. If you have a small, silent animal keep him in a box/pet case either under the seat or on the top berth. If you have a big dog/noisy pet and you cannot convince fellow passengers or the TT to let him stay with you then you have to put him in the luggage bogie. You have the option of checking on him when the train stops for a long time at some stations.

c) Plane - is the most problematic with Lots of rules and procedures to go through. Also your pets health may suffer due to lack of oxygen, heat, cold and pressure in the baggage hold.

There are many who lock thier doors and leave thier pets to the mercy of the streets just for a few weeks mazaa. This is certainly not fair,animals may not be able to speak out but thier silent tears and howls leads to the Law of Karma catching up with thier owners.

Anyone with more suggestions on travelling with thier pets please post a comment !!

travelling with pets cats dogs travel tips

Reservation in Private Sector - 70% for Jack-less

Private Sector Job Reservation

Before the CEO's of private companies make a bigger deal out of 'Lack of talent' being brought in by reservations for SC/ST and students start believing the drivel being dished out in the media that they won't get jobs, here is some food for thought -

1. I don't know many who have got a job without knowing someone ( papa/chacha/dost works there, beaurocrat recommendations, Client/Customers/Suppliers Kid etc). In all the seven jobs that I've worked, I've got through with one of the above jacks.

2. Neither me nor anyone I know has ever got a private sector job by applying through the internet/newspapers. Even though we were well qualified and attended ten's of interviews we were never selected. Later I found out through a friend in HR, that the applicant was already appointed. The interviews and ads in the paper for resumes was just an eyewash used as a legal requirement.

3. Those people without jack who are placed by educational institutes/placement companies work as trainees/interns for years sometimes. They are made to work extra hours, late night shifts, work on holidays and if anything goes wrong then it's thier fault. The salary is paltry and sometimes even that is not paid for months. Performance Appraisals are a big Dhoka. The cost of the educational course is not paid back by the job. Placement agencies ask for the first 2 months salary but they see to it that the company they place you with sacks you within 3 months. This is so they can appoint someone new and take that person's 2 months salary too.

4. Privat SectorJobs are bought and sold - by unscrupulous HR and placement people. eg. my brother was asked for Rs. 70,000 for a call centre job in Wipro, Calcutta. He is a B.Tech in Computers.

I am all for Private Sector Job Reservation. There should be atleast 70 percent reservations for people who don't have jack. Out of this 35 percent should be reserved for women. Women are more qualified, work harder and more efficiently, yet they are disqualified for no apparent reason.

Yeah, Mr. CEO's, Worried that some unknown SC/ST's will get private sector jobs for free !! Why should they not, atleast there will be some qualified employees, doing work and getting paid for it. The government is there to protect them. Manmohan Ji, please do something for the 'Jackless' too !!

Weekend Movie Reviews - Malamaal Weekly, Taxi No. 9211

What I watched over the Weekend - Malamaal Weekly, Taxi No. 9211

1. Malamaal Weekly - 3/10 - for the yelling and screaming dialogue. Point to note for the producers...a corpse starts stinking after some time.

2. Taxi No. 9211 - 6/10 - had a good story, script and plot with strong characters. ( ya, i know it was a mixture of Hollywood films Changing Lanes/Collateral but it was still well adapted). Nana Patekar was as usual realistic and gave his character depth and John tried hard and was not that bad either.

3. Formula One San Marino Grand Prix - 10/10 for Michael Schumacher who won after keeping Alonso at bay for more 2/3 rd of the race.

Aamir Khan Finally Talks Sense - No to Narmada Dam.

No to Big Dams like Narmada Dam aka Sardar Sarovar Project

Aamir Khan may or may not be seeking additional publicity for the dwindling ticket sales of Rang de Basanti - but atleast he has his heart in the right place by supporting a just cause like Narmada Bachao Andolan instead of pulling silly publicity stunts like anchoring TV news channels etc.

You don't find much about the demerits of large dams like the Sardar Sarovar Project in newspapers or the internet but that does not mean they do not exist. The press is largely dependant on the government and newsagencies for thier information. As most of them are controlled by big business houses is is pretty easy to spread lies or give incomplete information. The media can't exist without thier ads. eg. in TOI today, I saw a one page ad supporting the Sardar Sarovar Project with the photos of Ambani brothers, Birlas, and heads of Essar, Aravind Mills, Nirma, Torrent, Adani, Cadila, Zydus, L&T and Kotak Mahindra - all Gujaratis ( Marwaris & Sindhis). These are the people who subvert public opinion, lobby the government and the media to continue with an economically unfeasible project just cause they have some stake in its constuction - like providing cement, stones etc. They are only bothered about how much profit they will make or loose on the dam.

Myths perpetuated by those Damn lying builders -

Narmada Dam Lie No. 1. - Tribals are Rehabilitated - The creation of reservoirs leads to lakhs of kilometeres of fertile land near the river being flooded. There is talk about giving alternative land to the poor tribals but in reality either infertile land is given, or land already belonging to someone else or land really far away. Officials in charge of distributing land demand bribes and gifts from tribals and harass them.

Narmada Dam Lie No. 2. - We are growing trees to replace the ones we cut down, we are creating bird sanctuaries - In reality the freshwater ecosystem and forests are also destroyed. Lots of animal, birds, fish and plant species are threatened and face extinction. Before a reservoir is flooded people can be moved, but who will move those lakhs of animals and wild plants that habitate that area. The reservoir will be filled with drowned dead animals leading to the spread of water borne diseases. Animals serve a specific purpose in the food chain and thier destruction leads to pollution and diseases like plague etc. Who told them to spend crores on planting trees unsuitable to the natural environment which died soon after ?? Why would you destroy a natural ecosystem and plant a fake water-bird habitat in its place ??

Narmada Dam Lie No. 3. - Dams reduce floods - Dams are a man made construction and can break anytime !! There is no guarantee of the quality of construction ( shoddy materials have been most probably used ). Narmada Area is an earthquake prone area - remember the Gujrat quake ?? In case the dam breaks there will be unparalled flooding and destruction like in New Orleans, America. Also flash floods and silting is caused when large amount of water is released by the dam.

Narmada Dam Lie No. 4. - There will be plenty of Drinking water - Dams lead to waterlogging and increased salination of land. Salt water affects drinking water leading to diseases. No crops can be grown on saline lands, and use of fertilisers and pesticides to lessen the saline effect proves costly and harmful. There are cheaper ways that ensure a better supply of water like traditional rainwater harvesting, construction of large tanks and borewells, recharging wells and planting of trees.

Narmada Dam Lie No. 5. - Cheap Electicity for farmers/businesses - In reality Hydro electricity from the dam will be available only in 2021 to the people. This is economically unviable because of the negative cost benefit ratio. It would be cheaper to use thermal power or renewable sources like solar or wind energy that is free and abundant in India and easy to set up.

Narmada Dam Lie No. 6. - Greening of lands - why do you forcefully want farmers to grow cash crops for export like sugarcane, sun flowers, groundnuts etc. that pushes up the cost of living in these areas ?? As farmers stop growing thier natural dry crops like bajra and jowar, they will starve and end up committing suicide like the other poor that are ignored in India.

Just because tribals don't have the money that talks or a PR firm to articulate and publicise thier POV in English/ Hindi does not mean that they are blockages in the progress of the nation. Why should an uneducated majority in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh suffer for the profits of a few Kanjoos Marwari businessmen ?? Narendra Modi as usual is 'Bhadka-ing' innocent Gujratis to take up violence. EVERY SCHOOL KID LEARNS ABOUT THE HARM BIG DAMS CAUSE IN THIER GEOGRAPHY TEXTBOOKS, THEN WHY SHOULD IT TAKE THE GOVERNMENT SO LONG TO CUT ITS LOSSES AND MOVE AHEAD BY STOPPING THE NARMADA DAM PROJECT NOW ??