symbol on someone (Tattoos)

          Symbol is something that represent or stands for something else. Symbols often take the form of words, visuals, or gestures that are used to convey ideas and beliefs. My friend have tattoos of many different kinds stamped to his arms and chest to represent his freedom of expression. My friend stamps tattoos on himself to look cool.Tattoos represent a way for people to express their; feelings, to be prideful, freedom, to be rebellious , or just  like my friend to be cool. Tattoos are expensive, they are painful and they are permanent. And after all the effort is put to have a tattoo, a large section of the society find them repulsive. From workplace to court, treatment toward a tattooed person can be prejudiced. They are labeled as criminal, a thug, and uneducated.  People think that tattoos are just a cry for attention,a rebellion against society or a way to hid who we truly are. But in actuality tattoo designs carry a meaning and tell you something about the person's belief or his or her background. They are not scared of public opinion and would love to show what they believe in.

Literary voice

Voice is the distinctive style or manner of expression of an author or of a character in book.Voice is the author's style, the quality that makes his writing. voice is associated with basic vision of the writer. It can be the general attitude of the author's view about the subject he is writing. Voice is the entity that is telling the story.For example in the movie avatar the directors vision about the story is told through the lead character of the movie. characters in the books, movies are medium for the author to write about his point of view, his voice.

Standing up

           A theme presents the main idea of a story, play, or a poem. Sometimes its easy to see the theme of the story, other times we have to conclude or guess what the author is trying to convey. In the story of ursula k guin's " The ones who walk away from omelas" there is no obvious theme that author is trying to convey. It tells us a story, but its upto us to determine those who walked from omelas did the right thing or not. While i applaud the courage of few people of omelas, i condemn their inaction to stand up and change the city for the better. Just like people of omelas there are times when we walk from a particular situation while we could have stand up to the situation.

Health Insurance

 The cost of Health Insurance is major social issue of today's american society. There are so many people who suffers because they don't have insurance. And the Government is trying to introduce Patient protection and affordable care act (PPACA) commonly known as Obamacare. There are arguments for Obamacare and against it. Some People see it as a blessing to those non-insured people, while others argue its an intrusion to their private life by government. What is this obamacare? It gives health insurance access to more than 30 million Americans. It gives businesses and individuals to purchase comprehensive coverage from regulated marketplace, insurer's cannot discriminate against people with Pre-existing conditions, and tax credits small businesses that offer insurance. While those are the pros of the obamacare, there are some downside. If you don't have insurance you will have to pay 95 dollar or 1 percent of your annual income in the first year, whichever is higher, and millions of people could lose their employee sponsored insurance, as they find paying penalty is much more economical than sponsoring a insurance. The pros and cons of the the new law goes on. As a working class person i will be more angry if government takes more tax from me, But at same time i know it will help millions of poor people. Like a Greenpeace activist vs mining companies, it is a clash of interest. Even though i am against government imposing their will on the people, i might just go for this one. Only time will tell us how successful  PPACA or obamacare is for american society.
         

Drunk drving

The cars should come with a technology where it can sense driver's alcohol level and stops the engine. It will be  really helpful to the other drivers on the road. Saturday night a group USF students died when their car collided with another car going the wrong way in an interstate highway. The driver who came in their opposite direction might have been intoxicated to drive like that. Those innocent life can not be brought back, and when all of a sudden you lose someone who is dear to you the whole perspective about life changes. A technology should be invented for the intoxicated drivers to not drive.

Equality

                           Equality by definition is a state being equal. Harrison bergserson story talks about a world where everybody in the world is equal. In my belief we should have equality in terms of right to freedom, liberty and to practice our own religion. For example same sex marriage should be legalized around the world, not because i am for it or against it, its just that individuals should have the liberty to choose how to live their life. But should the same privilege of equality should be applied  to individual's income. If everybody gets the same amount of money, will it be a better world. I don't think so, it takes away incentive to work harder, make new things,and decrease the the competition among companies. If a pharmacist and a pharmacist tech gets paid the same, there will be less incentive for the pharmacist to study seven year program compared to one year program of a tech. There should be a balance on how we apply equality in the society.

Grandma's jam

The story of" jilting of granny weatherall"  made me think of my grandmother and her house, my summer vacation home. My grandmother died when i was 11 years old, three years before i left India. Usually I go to her house on my summer vacations. Her house sits in the middle of different kinds of flowers and fruits trees. It was always pleasant to go to her house just because of all the lush green that surroundes her house.  I use to love to go there for two reasons. Number one reason is that she had lots of fruit trees, my favorite fruit is the small mango with dark spots on them. Those mango trees where big. Me, my cousins, and some of the friends around there use to gather stones and throw at those mangoes or wait for a good wind to blow. If it is a lucky day we are able to fill our baskets with tens of mangoes. we use to eat most of the mangoes right under the tree. And my grandmother use to make jams with the left over mangoes we brought home. I won't say she made it, she just knew the recipe. It was up to me and my cousins to make them, from peeling the mango skin to throwing away the wastes. When every ingredient was ready she use to cook it and made us watch how it is done. I always hated that one hour of tedious work, as it was robbing my precious play time with my friends. But the smell and taste of the mango jam kept me at the kitchen.I remember when my grandma use to yell out " jam is ready" all the cousins and me will run to the kitchen like dogs chasing a car. With a smiling face She gives each one of us four bread pieces and four spoons of jam. Because i used to over put the jam on the first three breads, i usually never made to the fourth bread with the jam. I remember trying to rob my cousin's spoon, and she scolding me for it. Reading this book somehow made me think of my grandma's smiling face,whenever i am not mischievous. Her death seems like a distant memory, but her smile seems to be clear as yesterday to me.  Almost forgot, And the second reason is that she use to give me money when i leave. Nostalgic times!!