chaotic moments

Do we need another Chanakya!

2012-01-08T11:20:00.000+05:30

Hell! YES!!!

I happen to see some of the episodes of the Tele-serial ‘Chandragupta’on ‘imagine’ … and happen to read an interesting novel – ‘Chanakya Chant’. Myassessment of the current Indian Political situation calls for the similaritieswith the rule of ‘Nands’ at the time of Chandragupta/ Chanakya. In that era,the Nand (King Dhanand, who killed his own father and siblings to become theking) was the sole person to acquire the property/gold/ … form of money. Intoday’s scenario, it’s worse… it’s not just one person, but who-so-ever who getsan opportunity to do so … basically several Nands in their own territories (akaministers/ or elected representatives (MLAs) …). In fact if we extrapolate to bothpublic and private sectors, we can redefine the territories to their work areas(dept, geographical location, area of constituency, industry, etc…) and at theindividual level, we have reincarnated a Nand …

In that era, it took almost 12-15 years of Chankya to groomChandragupta from a kid to a fierce warrior to overthrow Nand. Not onlythat, he deployed a farsighted strategy covering all the aspects of politicalgame. Chandragupta was just a small piece who may have played a lead role; itwas Chanakya’s brain and strategy which worked beyond the limits ofChandragupta, which lead to revolution … A revolution, which was peoplecentric, a revolution to bring in constructive change. A major point to note isthat Chanakya’s vision was not to defeat Nand – that was just a milestone for amuch larger vision … which was a United India – ready to face to biggestchallenge (of that time) of Alexander the great (an external crisis, a ruthless emperor who was coming with full force, acquiring theland wherever he stepped on) …

This is so relevant today … we might not have Alexander asthreat … but we have worse, we have global economic crisis, neighboringcountries’ malicious intensions … and internal conflicts … (be it Naxals/Maosor be it Gurjars, Dalits … etc.) With weak opposition, the poorly structuredand organized government is losing its feet to govern the country in the bestof the interest of the growth and development. What’s evern worse is that thePresident is too meek to step in … even though she (or he) doesn’t have realpowers to stop or intervene in any matter … The condition is so pathetic thatwe don’t have MPs discussing key matters (properly) in the Parliament – what wesee more often is adjournment, walkouts, literal fights, etc … corruption tothe core … spread like a viral fever … Today, even it there is an election,citizens don’t have any direction as who to vote for ! … What I foresee andanother government which is even more disintegrated …

Coming back to point … what we need is another Chanakya …APJ-AK did try to be one … providing a vision for the country … however, he waspractically thrown out and was replaced by a dummy (who could be tamed/ignored!!) … Could Anna do the same … I think not …

a) he it too old …

b) he doesn’t have a Chandragupta (we can’t call ArvindKejriwal that) …

c) he doesn’t have good vision (he has mission … not vision)…

d) he doesn’t have any strategic thinking … and further moredoesn’t think beyond one or two aspects … working tactically is the main issuewhich is leading to fizzle out of his initiatives …

e) last but not least, his own team is struggling withcredibility and united strength …

Probably some strong visionary can step up to be a Chanakya,who can hunt and groom a person to be the ideal representative of people – whocould think on his feet towards larger benefit than his own individualisticneeds … till then … we meek, weak and suppressed citizens (who have nophysical / monetary power to fight) should have tosit quietly and wait patiently for the rising sun!

PS: my saying that MPs/ MLAs practicing corruption doesn't mean every one of them is following same path - but most of them do ... or at least they don't raise their voice against it ...

Dress Code...

2012-01-03T14:06:00.003+05:30

I’ll start by stating an old phrase: When in Rome, Act like a Roman (or Do as Romans do) …

In the recent few years, we have seen an outrage on women’s attire … what should they wear and not wear … the slut walk … political / self deployed moral policing … wardrobes resulting in rapes! … etc … etc …

I believe, women should wear something they feel good in … however, there is a catch.

But before that… I’d like to state some thing very trivial … which most of the outspoken / shouting generation of women confuse with … is that their wardrobes results in rape … the fact is IT DOES NOT … the rapist … doesn’t look what you are wearing … they’ll rape you if they want to … their mindset is completely different …

SO! The big question is why this outrage on dress code … well to begin with … understand the cultural aspects of the location you are in … by cultural aspects, I also mean weather it is acceptable to wear anything or is there any specific dress code … for e.g. in some of the countries in mid-east … wearing burka is must for ladies venturing outside of their home! … (imagine any girl ventured in her bikinis there!)

In India, the current culture is for women (and men) to wear appropriately – especially when they are in public. Even though there is a transformation within the social structure, it is still far from reaching a culture like US! (where in you can wear whatever you want and any time or place) … Unfortunately (and sadly, but true) India is a place which is sexually starved (the kamasutra is ancient and Indians are the ones who probably don’t follow it!) … unlike US/Europe, we are bound to a family environment till we get married … (well most often or a normal case) … the opportunity to explore and experiment (all aspects) is fairly low during the teens/ adolescent age… further to the fact is that girls are ill-educated about sex (which is still considered a taboo if you want to discuss in public) … to make matter worse, the movies (or TV serials) has created nuisance in all respects of understanding and having relationships … I can give enough examples of weird cases … for instance … a guy follows and does weird and stupid acts and girl gets pataofied … Bad guy wants to creates his fear … he molests/ rapes the girls … etc …etc … Thing to take a note is that we live in a social framework which educates us that men are superior and they have right to force on women… This is what I call as culture… (PS: we can't bring in change overnight to a society with population of a billion) another important Qs … who created these rules … well our ancestors did … and it’s not that they have been constant like that … they have changed as the time has progressed … but then it’s a societal change …. Consider this … a decade ago, if a movie wanted to show a steamy sex scene, they’ll show milk boiling … or two flowers interacting … today … they practically show every little move … it’s a question of acceptance of the change … has this been drastic … absolutely not … it has been gradual … I believe, the change in thought process of women wardrobe would also gain acceptance in some time … also note that the Indian is a male centric society / culture and any change that suites the male ego would have faster response than otherwise…

Having said that, tt’s not that everywhere in India it’s like this only… well you visit a decent pub / high society parties … you’ll see all … women wearing (comfortably) in the dress they want to be in … but at the same time … if they wear the same dress in the local mohalla … which is not culturally updated … it’ll create a problem …

Now … what is this problem I am talking about … Well … to begin with, they don’t start raping them as they see …. They’ll start with what we call as eve-teasing … and may extend to molestation (which is also very scary!) and this is not limited to any time of the day … this is applicable almost everywhere … please note that rape is different and (if it does) happens much later stage, and that too when the guy is totally gone nut case … and then you can’t help him even if would be wearing a burka! … (it really takes a lot of guts for a guy to rape!) … molestation on the other hand is little different … one of the biggest reason for this is our judicial and policing system … what would you complain … what’s the proof!! … who did … what did he do … and so many similar and uncomfortable questions …

Another aspect of the Indian society / culture is that most of the “bad” activities (read illegal) happens under the covers of darkness / late nights … and most of the people who do that are goons … or have at least some power (money, muscle, of gun!). Again, based on the cultural aspects, it would be advisable for women … not to venture alone or very small groups which can’t defend themselves (physically)!

To cut short … I am not a moral police or anything like … in fact, I believe in complete freedom to women on what they wear / not wear … however, my thoughts are very simple… we live in a societal framework … and there are some fundamental flaws within each of these framework … we need to understand and accept those … and rather than taking head-on, we need to create and develop and environment which aligns to our thought process … till then it’s better to be safe than sorry!

2012 ... Change!!!

2011-12-30T10:26:00.004+05:30

I desire a change!

I want a change!!!

I need a Change !!!

I'll try to make it happen!

Damn! ... I'll make it happen....

...

Nah... I think ... I'll pass ... Let life be as it comes ...

Cheers ... wish you all a happy new year!

Book Reviews (opinions) ...

2011-07-25T11:03:00.001+05:30

Chankya Chant

After a long time I picked up this one … curiously … while just walking down an aisle at a book store … The TV serial “Chandragupt Maurya” … and intrinsic urge to know more on Chanakya were key to this impulse … and I don't regret it …

The good part is that it's combination of both fiction and some elements of mythological truths … It covers the ancient piece and a modern story to cover that base. The modern story is very realistic … and you can indirectly relate to the political situation within the Indian power lobby … Like Chanakya, there is another guru to bring in a revolution … though the means are not as justified …

The key take away / learning from the content I took … objective / goal is key to success … however, renunciation to the economy (read excess money) and emotions (read relationship) is core ingredient to success …

Rosabel Line

Dare I say the Indian version of Dan Brown … well this one is multi cultural to start with … try to conclude on a philosophical note of “One God” message … The book is page turner … however, my personal issue with the story moving back n forth in time scale … no specific order … placed to justify some notes … the author went into multiple time zones in a single piece …

I like to book overall as it places some of the factual content and then envelops the fiction around it … good thought provoking … little controversial too ...

Tipping point …

2011-01-11T10:43:00.002+05:30

Note: thinking aloud!

Last weekend, my bro told me that he wants to quit his new job (just 6 months old) … and start his own at home itself. At first I was little startled … knowing that he just came out of an environment saying its enough for him to beat the conflict of thoughts between dad and uncle and would like to get away from the mud pond.

So, first I asked … what's the issue … so there were two … primarily, office front … at office, he’s not able to mix up with the rest of the team … why … maturity of the team is fairly fresh and uni-directional (typical of fresh engg grads) … while he thinks on a bigger picture, the team looks into just the task at hand and move on … let the bugs roll in and then things would be sorted out … bro is for prevention than cure mode … further, bro is also little more idealist in terms of coding (read standards) … those who code would understand this … those who don’t … it’s like writing a book and consistency in writing style … it was again conflict of thought process … in addition, his project was in the phase of conceptualization – the boss (ideator ) was himself not sure what he’s really looking for … everyday he comes and thinks of some changes and asks the team to get those changes in no time … (a little too much to ask for …) … but then he’s paying for your execution and not your thoughts … you think over it and try to reason out… that’s good .. But then he needs to see whether his thoughts are aligned or not … for that he would like to see the results … I would consider very typical of an entrepreneur with some lads at hands … bro tells me that he wanted to raise some potential issues for a prototype which he then didn’t listen to and now he wants them clean up the garbage and damage others have done by not following … like y’day … (I don’t blame the boss)…

OKAY! … so what more …, the home is 2 hours one way from office (and changing 2 busses in between) and he can’t live alone … (won’t be able to manage himself) … physical exertion is effecting now. Agreed … what more …

“I want to go home and start my own” … hmm… so that’s what’s bothering so far … I know bro is little emotional from the family side … but I wasn’t very convinced with his real thought process … so I asked him … before taking any jump make sure you have identified a solid landing ground… basically, know what you are getting into before jumping in the cloud and landing nowhere … in addition … (typical of people like me – MBAs) … I asked him to draw a rough business plan …

What he told me in an un-organized way … was just a thought on napkin paper … may be little more than that … let’s say multiple papers … but still missed out essential elements; what I could know is what he wants to do … how was very vague … also, what are his potential expenses … and how he plans to manage them … I asked him to take some time to think over them … he said he needs time to draw those stuff … and with office he’s not able to do that …

So the big question is … “Is quitting job and then sit and think how you want to go ahead with the idea is good idea?!” … What’s the tipping point?

Lessons from UP-Bihar

2011-01-04T11:08:00.000+05:30

Note: Controversial, Political, Opinioned …

Last decade saw 2 major political scenarios … especially in states (UP and Bihar) which were known for their political instability… or better known as ‘mili-juli sarkar’ … (aka let’s feast together) …

A few years ago, BSP won the state elections with clear majority of more than 50% and now Bihar has seen much more distinct results with close to 80% majority … this clearly shows the power of voting and people at large. Especially, when the EC had enforced full control over the polling and security… these results are of very high importance and significance.

What happens next! … is the best question … the majority party is now the unopposed ‘boss’ of the region … they can and will do all that is needed to fill their pockets and shut up the raising voices … they dictate over the administrative setup and have “monopoly” over all the projects … UP has already seen many of these examples – like statues, re-doing of parks, … capital city wasting entire state electricity while the rest of the state is plunge into darkness …

I am not sure why, but I have a feeling that things would repeat in Bihar too … may be much more under the carpet and having much heavier impact (financially!) …

Hope for the best!

Looking forward 2011 …

2010-12-31T11:36:00.000+05:30

New Year … new role at work … hopefully something that would bring my energy back …

Get back on hitting Gym … tummy is started showing up … not good …

Get back on blogging again … (regularly and more frequently) …

Looking back … 2010 …

2010-12-31T11:33:00.000+05:30

Let me begin from the day I practically left the blog world … the mundane life was moving on with it’s own pace with essentially little excitement … and that’s why I had no motivation to sit and blog about things happening around my world (whatever they were) …

Looking back, 2010 started with a good note … a new role (into marketing) … a visit (my first) to US … LV for the conference … with all the Murphy’s law working it was a memorable trip …

New role made me quit gym, courtesy evening and late evening calls … not good …

The next big thing happened with S’s engagement at Kanpur… and I got a nostalgic taste of summer of UP …

Coming of bro to my place was good and bad … good for him, bad for parents (they are practically left alone) … good for him – as he cleared his long pending exams and got a job … although he’s now sinking into the mundane aspects of IT job … but then it’s better than nothing …

D’s b’day was just another day (almost!) … gifted her new mobile – which was accepted only when I got one for myself …

September brought some cheer to life with a week long vacation … Taj and Kovalam (thanks J for discounts) was the best part of the vacation …

Celebrated 2 years of marriage with no frills … just a dinner outside …

Closing to end of the year … S’s wedding was good and well needed break … home was usual good with loaded with wedding sweets (typical maru sweets) … the bad part was loads of expenses …

End of the year means end of the current role at office …

Bad taste @ Mainland China ...

2009-11-26T21:35:00.001+05:30

On my first wedding anniv ... I thought to take D out ... given MC is supposed to be best in chinese cuisine it was the first option ... A cousin of mine also accompanied us ...

We were seated and I asked lemon chilli potatoes for starters ... by the time we would order the main course ... somehow ... Mr waiter thought we asked for fish instead of potatoes ... pls note that there was no mention of lemon chilli fish on the menu card which was there on the table ... the ladies (pure veg by taste) did find little different but not knowing the difference and thinking that potatoes could be cooked differently in MC ate couple of pieces... by the time I was finalizing the main course ... I looked at the dish... with little surprise as potatoes were supposed to look like french fries ... and not pakodas ... I cut the pieces... I was sure it was not potatoes ... looked more like fish ... and my one bite confirmed it was fish! ... I called the manager and asked it was veg ... he confirmed it was fish ...

I called for the waiter who took the order ... he said we asked for a fish ... I lost myself ... asked when in the pamphlet was mentioned lemon chilli fish ... the ladies - by now understanding that they ate non-veg - were now in a real bad taste and mood ... we simply walked off ...

just outside the gate, the manager came in rushing ... apologizing ... (begging almost) ... however, couldn't convince the ladies ... in the meantime I blabbed that it was my first anniv ... which was overheard by the neighboring restaurant ... we moved out for a while ... and after cooled off came to the neighboring restaurant - Flames and Grills ... a joint for Kababs ... (both veg and non-veg) ... the manager - though recognized- didn't make us feel that way ... made us comfortable and we asked for veg ... it was nice selection of veg kababs ... in between my bro also joined in ... we had nice time ...

while we were awaiting of our bill ... the manager came in with a small cake with a candle ... mentioning what has happened outside ... and wishing us happy anniv ... and to top that he said it was complementary dinner ... we were simply floored ... though we insisted on paying the bill ... they didn't budge ...

It was an evening we would not forget ... from one bad experience to one really touching one ... that's what I call a customer delight!!!

Mis-Fortune by Welcome Group ...

2009-11-26T20:59:00.001+05:30

I was in Kolkata for my cousin's wedding and the make-shift residential arrangement was done at Fortune's hotel and Country Club guest house ... Fortune group of Hotels is backed by ITC's Welcome Group ... The wedding was fun... the hotel was good ... but it was not ITC stuff! When you go to ITC's hotel ... you expect a lot! (that's the great brand value ITC has...) ... Fortune failed to make it there ... and so did Country Club ...

One of things that is paramount in hospitality industry is Customer Service and the staff ... and it's so sad to say that both were poor in standard... most of the staff present were trainees - backed by a couple of manager (i guess) - which were not been seen ... there was courtiousness and softness ... they think marriage parties are filled with people who haven't stayed in good hotels ... are there for free of cost ... the infrastructure was good ... but not great... one of my aunts got hurt because one of false sealing fell on her head! The hotel also need to understand the local culture... whatever standard they want to copy or adopt... they shouldn't forget that they are in India and they need to respect Indian culture too ... for instance ... the toilets had only paper based cleaning option (no water based) ... which is not corrent when you have most of Indians as visitors (it may be ITC staff itself) ...

ITC - hope you are listening ...

UPDATE

I did receive a follow up call from Fortune ... thanking for the feedback!

Another update ...

2009-11-26T20:44:00.003+05:30

The building cafeteria has been asked not to sell tea / coffee - because no one was using the newly installed payment-based-vending machine... further ... the envelops from the mail room has been taken off!!! - something which is beyond my understanding ... (or a typical case of short-sightedness or penny wise and pound foolish)

No Free Coffee anymore ...

2009-10-13T10:35:00.001+05:30

YES! ... that's what one of the large IT organization has decided to go for ...

replacing the existing coffee-day vending machines with another one which is integrated with "smart card" ... will serve you coffee / tea / other bevs on a cost ... to be charged on smart card.

just wondering ... cost accountants say that given the volume, the expenditure on the free coffee would be substantial ... i agree to just the cost part ... however, i disagree with the whole concept ... simply because, if we see the earnings per employee, this cost is really insignificant on per employee bases ... and would really make no big difference ...

on the other hand, employees might as well walk down to cafe to have a coffee ... if i am to pay for my coffee, i might as well get it from barrista than the horrible vending machine coffee ... the amount of time spent not on seat will increase from 10-15 mins to 30-45 mins ... the productivity per employee will go down drastically ... something which organizations need to really look into ...

lot of time organizations miss out the larger picture while implementing the small patch ups ... which ends up as a costly affair ...

Austerity of Politics

2009-09-26T20:53:00.000+05:30

Last few weeks the running gov has given some stupid examples of a really needed action. Triggered by two of much respected ministers using their pvt assets to live their way, the austerity drive has resulted in actions which are nothing but laughing stock. Some of them are worth making note of … like the cattle class journey of RG creating real hassle for the cattle of the country … the hassle created by the security personnel limiting passengers to even move around (which is a much required activity in a sitting journey) … the cattle class debate on the holy cow …

I think it’s a needed step but requires little more than just travelling economy. I am sure the fin min must have dug out on expenses list of mins … and travel, phone, electricity/ utilities, etc. bills would have been very high … which could have resulted in some strictness. Little planning in execution of such kind of actions would result in better response.

For example travel …

Pvt / charter copters are absolutely not required for politicians (barring emergencies) …
Personal phone bills limited per month … use of telephone (with ISD barred) … would also result in ministers be in office for some time.
Reduction in personal security levels … they are elected by people… what are they scared of!
Use of smaller / desi cars for commutation (like maruti and tata) … why so many SUVs (that too international brands) … and even of SUV is required … why the expensive ones …
Limited expenditure on political travel … no extra reimbursements on supporting staff… like food and drinks bill …
Residential access… to be vacated timely by the ex-ministers so those incoming ministers do not waste on their out of ordinary stays …
Penalties to be laid on non-follow up of norms …
Accountability of every penny earned and spent …

I firmly believe some of these actions would certainly result in more transparency and reduction in extravagant atrocities …

Bridging the gap...

2009-09-26T20:52:00.000+05:30

Note: Gyan

A man asked a consultant what’s time … the consultant took the man’s watch told him it’s 5 AM by the man’s watch.

There is popular perception on consultants just playing around with jargons and making noise with empty thoughts …

In the above case, I think the consultant is not wrong … it’s the question by the man is wrong. Consultants are intelligent and mean … (I don’t see any reason why they should not) … if the question comes what’s the time by your (consultant’s) watch … he would have response would have been more reasonable …

Another aspect came across while I was attending a training o strategy … it was that most of the consultant would provide info on problems and possible solutions … but they are not likely to be part of execution / delivery of the solution … and that’s where the gap lies … wrong execution of any idea would result in failure … because execution failed, the assumption goes that the strategy/ solution is wrong… however, I have different thoughts on that … most often, the delivery / execution team (which does not includes the consultant who provided the solution) do not understand the perspective/ thoughts behind the solution … they miss out the problem all together and fix up the symptoms and not the problem.

So how to bridge the gap … it’s actually simple … let the consultant lead the delivery from the thought leadership perspective … which would result in consultant working harder as he has to save his bottom … (after all he has given the solution) …

Some training sessions are good…

2009-09-12T15:22:00.000+05:30

Last 2 days I was attending a training … on presentation skills … how funny (a training on ppt) … right? … wrong! … this training had nothing to do on ppt skills… in fact it prevented us to use ppt and use of ppt was used only as aid to presentation. The only time ppt slides were used – was to demonstrate how to use them. The presentation skills meant how you present yourself and your content. Not exactly the oratory skills but when to modulate … how much to modulate … how to stand… how to react … what to do with your hands … this training was more like a workshop … we were not just told … we were asked to do … we were video shot and coaching was provided till we improved at least once. Fantastic trainers … engaging us with every moment … connecting with us at every act …

this was one of the best training I have ever attended so far...

Pick any 2!

2009-09-08T10:54:00.000+05:30

Note: Gyan

We are always selling something – product, services, our expertise … here’s a quick tip – I learned through others experience …

Most of our sales can be based on 3 key pillars or points of a triangle – and out of these you let the customer control 2… the third is on your hand … if you give away all the three – you don’t win.

First to most of the customers, requirements start from “what” – what product / service and at what quality or scope (size). Quality is something none of the customers would compromise on. The restricted budget usually constraints the size or scope of product or project. Good part is the scope is normally negotiable, if not the quality.

Then, the Cost factor (or budget) – most of the customers have this constraints … here is when our financial modeling or pricing strategy comes in play – discounts, split/ staggered pricing helps …

And last but not the least, time to market – chances are this is one thing most of the customers won’t give up. They have their stakeholders too …

It’s a realistic triangle, and needs some control at your hand too to survive. One needs to have at least one flexible point to deliver. So best is to ask your customer to “Pick any 2! – Good – Quick – Cheap”.

Who is the customer?

2009-08-26T14:36:00.003+05:30

Note: Gyan!

Many a times, in our professional as well as personal life, we are either serving someone or being served. The term customer is no new to any of us. A lot of time when we are playing the role of customer, we say the customer service of the service provider is not good … (or the other way!) … at times we really wonder why is he really bothering me (or us)… why is that the person on the other side (of the desk/ phone) doesn’t understand the basics of customer service …

The reason is very simple … we are not his customers. In reality, his boss/org is his customer – the person on the other side is not serving me … but his boss /org … he’s getting his salary not from me … but his boss/org. The definition of customer or saying ‘customer is god’ hasn’t changed. It’s the customer – that has changed. So, if his boss says X … it has be X … and not Y (even if I insist it to be Y). The concept of customer is God is from people who are self employed/ businessmen… where the consumer is the customer, and his earnings come from the consumer. In salaried class structure, it doesn't end with same result... (that's why there is a concept of cost centers and profit centers) ...

This is very much applicable to us too… what ever we do … we do to please someone … who’s more important to me for that particular phase… we try to please our boss/ org by trying to achieve numbers (or target) … that too by any means (read: calculations) … but are we serving real customers???

It has to come from leadership. When the leaders stop asking about the numbers and ask how many customers have we made happy (and if possible, including the intensity of happiness) … that’s when the customer service would change. However, it also needs some validation; … for instance, MotorCraft (Maruti’s service center in NCR) used to call to get a feedback (a good way) … and if you give a normal feedback (let’s say 7/10) … they ask you why just 7. Normally, unless I get bad service I tend to give just above avg rating… and not 8 or 9/10 … why not – it was good service … not a GREAT one. A rating of 8 or 9 demands ‘great’ service... a delight factor. Surprisingly, they don’t ask what they liked about the service … knowing what didn’t go well is must, but knowing what went well and then rewarding the back end for the same is real motivation for employees to provide better customer service.

From an individual point of view – find who your customer is (real customer/ boss) … and serve him well!

A few drops from sky…

2009-08-25T11:11:00.001+05:30

Delhi – the capital city/state of the country – facing rain lashes – within few minutes the roads are flooded and worst of all … the airport roof is off!

One can imagine the level of corruption that might have crept in … the quality controls and standards have no meaning at all … a few drops flood the roads/ colonies …

I really don’t know to what level our local municipal corp is responsible in ensuring things being cleared … but I have firm belief that we (people at large) are equally responsible for the chaos…

If you carefully look around, you’ll observe that most of the drainage (wherever it exist) is choked / blocked with garbage / dump, which we have put in … and then when the rainwater have no space to drain out – it comes out on the roads and we cry foul (or rather flood) … not only that, we only are responsible for creating stupid traffic jams – by not following simple disciplines and common sense – every one is in hurry and by blocking other side of the road only leads to jams and confrontations … (NCR is already hot blooded for such acts) …

I think, any municipality can do little if the residents are not cooperative … for little convenience factor, we ourselves create loop holes/ twists and then when it boomerangs – we just simply cry and blame it on others (read local govt). Because of lack of cooperation from the residents, the local govt has also shown reluctance in cleaning up or taking measures for the prevention of calamities.

Of course, higher level politics and lack of actions results in chaos turning in calamities. The local govt/ municipality in the first place will wait for road to be built before they dig up for drainage … then they’ll take ages to complete the project and then they’ll leave the mud on road – which not only blocks half the road but also creates slippery surface during the rain – causing more accidents. Further the road they build is so fragile that it creates craters (not just pot holes) within a week …

Solution is not simple – but not impossible. A public – private partnership – which includes local residents and local govt coming together to form a small independent organization to ensure the basic needs of urbanization - proper road/ drainage/ water and electricity supply and distribution is taken care. Bangalore had this experiment done few years ago – BATF (Bangalore agenda task force) – what I understood was – it was fairly successful – but it lived short life simply because of political reasons – the govt changed and all the policies / activities are put on hold … and so was BATF … but if taken to a next level, this type of task force can create miracles. And we really need miracles to come out of chaos!

Addicted to idiot box…

2009-08-23T10:04:00.002+05:30

I just realized that we are so addicted to idiot box … yesterday, my neighbor got their TV (new home) and the cable connection guy messed up with the junction box, resulting in no connection on my line (which is courtesy Tata Sky). So, from 4 PM onwards, there is no TV!

It’s not that we are addicted to any particular channel/ serial … just that when there is nothing else to do (or not in a mood to move yours truly’s a**) … some thing needs to be there to occupy the space/ mind … channel surfing is one of the best ‘non-destructive’ past time. With no TV … and biwi in the kitchen (with her experiments) … it was really unnerving to sit idle … the weather was cold and I wasn’t really in a mood to pick up to read…

Aah! … why that idiot goofed up with my idiot box connection … and I don't want to miss the 'India got Talent' finale...

Update: I realized that I missed the India Talent show finale

I-day …

2009-08-19T21:32:00.002+05:30

This I-day I was home for more than one reason … Swine Flu has already set the fear factor; if the terror strikes – especially on such occasions – was the only deterrent … the new flu has created a real panic ripple … (given the fact that state reported more fatalities due to mosquito related – dengue, etc … )

Bangalore is a place which is 'city packed'. Given we stay just on the outer side of the town, I had no mood to sway in to the city side and get stuck in the mad crowd … adding to the woes were the discount festivals… surprisingly, marketing/advertisement folks have got the Indian mentality of taking any off (from office) as holiday (or rather shopping day) … creating a special discount day / festival on specific days … if you thought economy was down … I would suggest make a visit to shopping malls/ outlets in any of these days (or even weekends) … or try reaching for any hotel/package booking for weekend getaway for these extended ones … you’ll be shocked to see either the prices are beyond your budget (which you might have thought lowed due to recession) … or already packed …

Finally, I just wanted to laze on a quiet weekend …

India got Talent

2009-08-19T20:57:00.001+05:30

Reality shows have been there in Indian TV since the age of Z-TV … remember Antakshari … that was the first reality show on Indian TV and actually it was very Indian too. The reality shows got a boom since KBC … and there after there was no looking back… KBC being a copy of one of the popular reality shows of the west, there were multiple copies of either KBC of some other shows. Last couple of years, there has been a rain of these shows … some become very popular and continue as a series … like India Idol, Roadies, … some of these shows actually take the initial enthusiasm – but loose it even faster … there was a flurry of comedy shows too … and now every channel (especially news ones) are nothing but a comedy … too much of it taking out the humor per se. Personally, I hate most of them …

However, while the usual channel surfing, I happened to pause on something which was very inspiring … it was one of the semifinals of the India’s got Talent (copy of Britain’s got Talent) … I did happened to see one or two snippets of the shows earlier (during their usual qualifying rounds) … but couldn’t stick around … the semifinals have been selected ones… and man, they were good … awesome stuff … though my opinion of few of the entries was different – especially those which had solo singing … as there were plenty of shows for showing singing talent … but few of the entries really took the stage… the best part of the show is that the judges are very soft and mature (unlike other shows, where they start fighting within themselves) … their remarks were never to let any participant down … very humble … and to each of the participants they were encouraging as if they are the best!

They also had an I-day special, and it was really breadth taking one … I am just waiting for the finals now … as that would be the best of the bests …

Net connection woes …

2009-08-15T20:20:00.001+05:30

Airtel saga … extremely poor customer service

When I shifted to Bangalore, I needed a net connection for my home access … Airtel folks at Noida were very friendly, and gave me advice that rather than taking any new connection, get your connection (land line/ broadband) transferred – at no cost! It was a good deal – I connected with Bangalore Airtel folks … and the woes started … first, helpline puts you on hold of an average of 12 minutes by the time you reach their service person. Then they won’t have complete information … however, moving forward, I managed to get hold of people who would do the transfer – or rather new connection. The sales representative looked into the details, and said, the connection is possible, the infrastructure department will do the needful in laying the cables and the total time in getting things done would be about 3-5 days (acceptable, I thought). After 5 days, when I didn’t hear from anyone from Airtel – I tried reaching the sales guy – and man, he’s not picking the phone! … some how I actually managed to get hold of his boss … he too after initial few calls … refuse to pick the call … by the time already 15 days are over. Then one fine day, one guy from Airtel – infrastructure (out sourced) comes with some form having my name on it, and extended a wire from neighboring junction box (without neighbor’s permission) and did really a shabby job in laying the cable itself – something very temporary … after another 15 days of trying to reach to the sales exec and his boss – I (frustrated) decided to cancel the connection. Called up the helpline (after wait of exactly 14 mins) and requested for cancellation and refund (Rs 1000/ for wireless). I was given not only the date, but time (including seconds) by which my request would be serviced. Things were not as easy as I thought. I did receive a call from some CSA (customer service agent) – about why I would like to get the connection cancelled. Days passed on … and after about 10 days, I called again the helpline, waited for another 9 mins, and very politely gave the re-iterated the episode and gave the request number. The response I get is that it would be done by the respective sales executive. I got totally furious. My colleagues in office started staring me! I blasted the lady first asking why would the sales exec would be the responsible person – what in case that idiot quit in between … and my check war in favor of Airtel and not that executive … and I asked for escalation – another wait of 8 mins … and then again re-iteration of the stuff … and again similar response … I literally yelled at the CSA… somehow the call got disconnected … but that yelling probably helped to escalate things at least. As the coming weekend, I walked in to one of the service centers of Airtel and reported to manager directly. I was told that my check was ready and it would reach me in next 3 days. She was sorry for the delay – given that I had already cooled down by her messaging to her colleagues for the issue – I didn’t feel like asking what made it so late! Thankfully the check arrived in the said time… peace at last …

Mr Sunil Mittal - hope you are listening to your customers!

Reliance – heights of cheapness …

In the mean time, while I was looking for broadband option, I came across broadband data cards … there are only two options available (then and now even) – Reliance and Tata Indicom. I had tough time with connectivity with indicom (and it had really weird combination of tariffs), so I thought of trying reliance for a change. I found that the initial offers is coming from a third party (Business Partner) known as Vriti (H.O in Noida/NCR). Now Vriti had this scheme running as free holiday in Goa (hotel vouchers). This sounded exciting – and needless to say, I fell for it (another learning in life – don’t fall on these stupid free bees). Vriti carefully didn’t tell me any conditions on the holiday package (I’ll talk about it later). It simply handed over the instrument, and said the rest would be done by Reliance customer care. Surprisingly, it did get activated in fair time (though a little follow-up was done). Few days, and I realized the speed it is providing is no where near to normal broadband. I raised a complaint, which was promptly responded by technical executive (I can’t call them as engineer). He also concurred that the speed was drastically low. He called his folks (in Pune/Mumbai) who gave me following gyan – “please note that we are saying speed up to 3.1 mbps, and we didn’t mention anywhere the minimum speed. Further, this is NOT broadband, it’s data card (which has max speed of 114 kbps); Broadband+ is just a name of the product.” … this was not all … a few days later, I again receive a call from same department, stating that the max speed they can provide is about 700 kbps (please note that the product ads say 3.1 mbps) – and they don’t have any further comments. So far, I am using the stuff, with speed fluctuating between 100kbps to 1000kbps… but no time has it crossed 1.2 mbps.

Mr. Anil Ambani – that’s straight CHEATING with people.

Now, with Vriti, the gentlemen send me a pdf document – with details of when I can take their so called vacation/ hotel booking. Please have a look into dates/periods when offer is NOT valid:
15th Jan'09 - 15th Mar'09
01st Apr'09 - 30th Apr'09
05th Aug'09 - 17th Aug'09
28th Sep'09 - 14th Jan'10
All Bank Holidays
All Weekends

Let’s look into the validity periods
(I am assuming that the next year calendar would not be very different)
16th March – 31st March
1st May – 4th August
18th August – 27th September

Given that I can only take vacation after first bill is paid (that’s a condition I was told during the sale – on being asked) – which makes it starting Aug, I have only period of few days, that too – without weekends. You can very well imagine what went through my mind … I simply gave up – taking as learning from bad experience.

My faith on Reliance (and anything associated) has gone to all time low.

Changing Lives

2009-08-15T19:02:00.000+05:30

It’s been long time I blogged … its not that nothing’s happening … just that the events were so usual or mundane to be written about … or may be by the time I would have put my thoughts across, the world has already pored in too much of information on the subject … then after marriage, my mind was too preoccupied with irrelevant things … felt too personal/ close to write on publicly … But since I never wrote to have any audience (or just me) … I pulled myself back in …

Marriage does bring in changes … some good … some not so good … some you want them … some enforced … actually the things that remain same are fairly dependent on the compatibility of the couple.

One thing marriage has done is strengthen my belief on my intuitions and understanding of relationships and human psyche. Before my marriage, I used to observe very closely the relationships my close friends had with their partners (girl friends or wife) … and try to observe the changes they had undergone from pre to post marriage … and their relationship at large and impact of social and environmental factors … these observations laid foundations of understanding on individuals and relationships … today it helps in me control my thoughts (especially frustration/ anger) …

To give you example … I was fairly outgoing person … (just needed a good company) … and I had thought that when I’ll get married, I’ll go out (getaways) with my partner and have fun. But now, when I see my partner not comfortable in less sophisticated environment, it becomes difficult to execute plans … for either of us to enjoy, we both need to be comfortable in the activity or event. Its not that she doesn’t enjoy going out, but when you go out, you do try to catch the local flavors … and if you don’t eat out at all, it’s really difficult. The end result is that I prefer to sit at home!

You might think me as an idiot, and not understanding the women’s reason behind it and just cribbing about it … it’s not that … it’s just one of the examples to say that I do understand people … and I am trying to bring in change in my life to ensure that relationship (which is just 8 months old) endures ….

The year that wasn’t …

2008-12-31T22:26:00.001+05:30

Year 2008 has been most action packed year in my life …

It started on a terrible note … dad fell seriously ill … and for almost a month he was on bed.

Then came the excitement … the matrimonial process finally gave some results and I got engaged! (phew… finally!!!) … that too just before the V-day and I had a nice time :)

Holi at home (after 15 years break) was fun … not too much though as I did miss my circle of friends …

Then trouble struck again … with my fiancée met with an accident … which put her down on bed for long 2 months …

My cousins (sis) had an extra doze of fun at Rakhi with me being around at home! Gosh… that’s too many festivals I have been at home!

World economy dropping like a pack of cards and jobs under the scanner …

Then again, this Diwali was no different from last year … me being home! (too many trips to home already!!!)

Then came the D-day of my life … and I got married (do I need to say more!) … a huge dent in my bank account!; thought a trip to higher hills was something I always wanted to do and reaching to 13k ft was an awesome feeling …

The year end hasn’t been great with my uncle again getting seriously ill – hospitalized and operated upon… hope things improve as the year starts …

The New Year resolution!!! … well, I think married men shouldn't make any :)

Fashion …

2008-11-03T16:06:00.001+05:30

I would say this was typical MB movie (Page3, Corporate …).
Lots of glamour, lots of dirty (open) secrets… corporate rivalry, sleaziness, urban stress, lots of skin & sex (incl live-in & gay relationships) …

Priyanka was good, but Kangana was perfect!
Rest of the cast was just filling in.

Points to ponder …

Communication gap and relationship breaks …
Understanding of partner and their requirements (including the individual space)
Abusing (read insulting) – key to immediate breakup
There is just a fine line between attitude and arrogance
Professional and personal relationship mix-up
Reading the legal fine lines for any job!
Drugs helps you forget – most often self!
Everyone needs something!

Diwali in 2k8

2008-10-30T16:19:00.000+05:30

I might sound very negetive, but, it wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that this was probably gloomiest Diwali ever. Indian financial market crashing down and recession looming over the global economics has created negative vibes all across.

With the ease and flexibility to invest (direct/ indirect) in the equity market, small investors (as small as 500/ month), took the plunge and today are in jitters – don’t even know what to do … having prices soaring high and negligible savings, global uncertainty adding to woes, expenses had to cut this Diwali.

This Diwali, when I was home, I really missed the old days … there was no good lighting (on the streets and on houses), there was lack of enthusiasm on faces, everyone I saw was shopping for necessity (or for sake of ritual), the speakers were shouting only ads, crackers were probably the worst affected … it was until dusk of Diwali day when I really heard some noise of bursting crackers across the city. City news was filled with reports of synthetic khoya (solid milk base for sweets) – reducing the crowd at sweet shops too …

One could see the fear of uncertainty on everyone’s face …

Big Ads ...

2008-10-15T14:05:00.000+05:30

When TataSky launched its latest Ad featuring Amir Khan – I somehow didn’t liked it at all … not that Amir Khan had anything to do with but the Amir playing the dual role was repetitive (remember Coke!) …

And then came Ads of BigTV (Reliance) and Airtel TV (Welcome Home) … and I true think they are outrageously BAD! BigTV Ad is really scary – very destructive... I am still trying to understand what they really wanted to convey! …

and Airtel TV ad is really too much to digest! … I am still wondering how much Airtel shell out for the countless number of stars in a single ad (I am sure it must have broken the world record for number of celebrities in single ad campaign) … poor Rahul!

After seeing the latter two – TataSky ad is much better – talks about the product at least!

Game terrorists … Match Politicians …

2008-09-22T22:03:00.001+05:30

And that’s how I would put today’s socio-political scenario of the country … and I am not just referring to the recent blasts in Delhi (and Ahmedabad, Bangalore, erstwhile many other places across the country) by IM … but also what has been done by some Hindu fanatics (Bajarang Dal, etc) in Orissa, Karnataka and many other parts of the country (to Christian community). I would call the latter also an act of terrorism …

And how are politicians winning … by simply blaming each other for doing / not doing xyz thing which has some probability of bringing change … good, bad or ugly is not their retrospective … for instance … take POTA! … BJP is asking for POTA’s implementation again … but by the standards of POTA – when Bajrang Dal would also be treated on the same lines then officials responsible for enforcing POTA would be charged for targeting innocents!!! – Well that’s just an example of how politicians will go back on their words on a blink of an eye!

Why I don’t see politicians flowing the help (esp monetory) from their own pocket (and not from State or Central Gov’s fund) into the Bihar / Orissa floods??? (They all had already emptied the gov’s fund a month ago on Olympic medal winner anyways!) Why there was no action on Nepal’s failure on acting on their fault of lack of maintenance of barrage – which led to massive floods in Bihar creating devastation across the state! Not only people, but the land (soil) erosion with crops being damaged – resulting in scarcity of food … in fact till date their hasn’t been adequate help provided to thousands of people with basic necessities like meds and food supplies …

I firmly believe, that if politician don’t interfere in the national security processes (including state’s) … terrorism will not find it’s feet to survive for long … it’s not that our security processes have lapse… it’s our politicians who create loop holes for themselves and provide opportunity for the terrorists groups (mostly funded and supported by few of such politicians) to use (rather misuse and abuse) those exceptions!

End of the day … it’s the politicians who has the cake and he eats it too!

State before Nation...

2008-09-10T17:09:00.000+05:30

Following notes are my personal opinion based on the media excerpts (TV News and Newspapers) and therefore are biased.

Last few months we have seen two major instances which rocked the country for it being a Nation! And these two are Singur and Marathi in Mumbai …

I think former one could have been dealt little better way … assuming that out of 1000 acres allotted for the auto giant by the gov, about 300~400 acres were not really agreed upon! That’s about 40% (on the max front) … this could have been settled by talks with those who had issues with it (but why in the first place they agree on!) whatever the case may be – in case Tata backs off from the project (which is very likely), the 400 acres of land, which is at stake, can’t be now used for agriculture anyways … further, what happens to the people who had the rest 600 acres – where would they go now … an auto plant likes of Tata would have opened avenues for many new small scale industries and ancillary units … resulting in overall civic and economic development of the area … on top of that, the leading lady is actually claiming that she’s not responsible for the Road blocks and agitation on the highways!!! And it is gov’s duty to maintain the law and order… I really wonder what made state not to arrest the lady and put her behind the bars and have a little security tighten from the other end (rather than protecting the dharna!) why is MB always on the side of stopping progress … or part of the problem … why is she never a part of Solution … ever ???

On the other end of the country, this state of Maharashtra has a different claim of being separatists … and believe it can sustain without other states/center’s help … people living in Mumbai (or Maharashtra) need to be speaking marathi only!!! What about the national language – which is Hindi … if a person speaks publically in hindi, he’s not against marathi – or is he?! Worst, starting an agitation against an industry / person with destructive outlook towards everything, I ask the Mr Raj – what has he done to Mumbai, Maharashtra or India … except instigating violence … I think he needs to read and understand the constitution rights of the citizen of India very clearly … imagine Mumbai with only maharashtrians … what about the labor class which comes from UP, Bihar and Orissa, what about the business and engineering class that is predominantly across the country … Mumbai without bollywood (most of the stars are not from Maharashtra itself) … without Ambanis’, Bajaj, Tatas, Mittals, and so many industrialists … overall the economy of the city and the state will be dumped to nothing … the rest of Maharashtra is anyway groping with poverty (read poor farmers) … By creating another army of men who are uneducated, unemployed and exploited youth … the issues cannot be resolved … I can agree on retaliation of anyone who’s offending the local culture … but agitation like destruction is certainly criminal.

6 decades of freedom …

2008-08-14T12:55:00.004+05:30

I don’t want to procrastinate, but can’t help doing it …

At the eve of 61^st Independence Day of Republic of India, we have gained freedom for …

· Blocking pathways – roads / rails (irrespective of poor patients losing their lives or harassment to general public) – VHP leaders should be acquitted as criminals for such kind of disruption and banned as organization

· Blaming everyone else – the best way to get away …

· Politicizing every event (read dirty politics) – as remote as winning gold in Olympics – just imagine the amount other state govt, that are pouring on Bindra or Cricketers, would have invested in building sports development infrastructure, we would have won more gold medals …

· Demand bribes (do I need examples – recent scandal in Parliament is the biggest one)

· Putting road blocks and slowing down the growth initiatives, infrastructure development

· Get away from judiciary (read delaying so much so that it equals to denial)

· Reigning with Divide and Rule policy! – creating more and more communities and classes – just for virtual votes (as those classes probably never go and vote)

· …

The list is probably endless … A lot of this because of loose law enforcement … as we do have law for lot of things … but it is the judicial enforcement of law and timely justice process that can do wonders …

It is sad, that we are dividing ourselves into smaller and smaller pieces that it is not far when there will be one man party (and not independents) and MPs and MLAs would be sold openly for being in the “power” (as being in power means – no one can touch you! – not even judiciary - at least in India it virtually means so) … and then ask them about India – they’d have only one answer – what / who India! “It is I”!

It would be really interesting to see what Mr PM delivers from Red Fort tomorrow… I don’t expect him to deliver any thing new … probably few words to save the grace!

I really wonder how we can being some constructive change … when leaders like that in current govt (very educated - MMS, PC, Aluwalia, MS Aiyer, Scindhiya, …) can’t … then who?

5 things I wish to do before I die…

2008-07-28T15:37:00.001+05:30

A tag from Shubham … (sorry buddy for delayed response) …

I think this list is endless … it keeps on adding itself … every new day … every new opportunity …

Let me put it this way … the top 5 (may be feasible … may not be very practical) things I desire to accomplish …

Travel across India … preferable on road … including heritage, temples, coastal area, hills, historical and mythological places, wild life sanctuaries, …
Start my own … have few ideas … need lots of investment though … and a gut to go ahead!
Read Vedas, Puran, Astrology, Bhagvat Gita – need to learn Sanskrit for it – which is really next to impossible thing for me!…; teach the same!
Make a trip to Himalayas (incl Leh/ Laddakh) and climb at least one of the famous peaks – I think it’s too late for me climbing a peak!
Enter Indian Politics and run for parliamentary elections! (I know it’s the weirdest of all!)

Tags – well no tags …

Bananas always come in bunches …

2008-07-02T14:17:00.001+05:30

This quote is perfect when it comes to crisis situations …

Current scenario –

Economic Crisis – driven by US financial markets (sub primes) and OPEC’s monopolistic policies resulting in huge financial melt down (equity markets in RED) and rising inflation (rising prices of petroleum products and commodities, reduction in general expenditure triggering a cyclical phenomenon of putting things on “hold” … overall depressive mood …

Slowdown Crisis – a lot of economic crisis result in industrial slowdown and cost cutting measures – directly impacting on the human resources – either laying off or cutting the salaries … with rising inflation and reducing salaries (aggravated by increasing Tax burdens) leads to reduction in disposable income…

Environmental Crisis – Green house effects, dramatic changes in weather conditions resulting in losing crops and increasing health hazards … this is also resulting in food and drinking water crisis …

Energy Crisis – exponential reduction in traditional sources like fossil fuels creating a transcending effect on dependent industries and economic factors …

Political Crisis – Specifically Indian scenario – drift between the coalition parties on various issues – where in parties concluding on government (power) before the nation! Another aspect in political crisis is lack of attention on macro factors and over attention to the micro factors and vice –versa in some cases (which seems irrelevant as of today)

Personal Crisis – My marriage date is coming closer!!! (PS: that has some time though) …

Open for discussion ...

Online Habits...

2008-06-19T09:46:00.001+05:30

Tag from Shubham

My 5 favorite web sites

1) Google (ref below for apps)

2) LinkedIn

3) IBNLive

4) ReadWriteWeb

5) Wikipedia (and WikiMapia)

There are plenty of other sites which can be listed here, which I can say as most frequently used, but a lot of them are not really my favorite; they are because of some purpose and I visit them only when I need them …

Favorite Browser

· Firefox

Google Tools and Services (most frequently used)

1) Search

2) Picasa

3) Gmail

4) Orkut

5) Blogger

6) Maps

7) AdSense

The K – Factor

2008-05-20T12:01:00.002+05:30

This K is not for Kashmir nor the K obsession of Ekta Kapoor Soaps, this is the new K-factor in the Indian Political Context … the Karnataka Factor … having spent a lot of my time in Bangalore, I had this inclination on what’s happening there in terms of political and social development. The elections provide a great deal on how our political system is working … Few of the things that really blew me off …

Karnataka is limited to Bangalore and is limited to the IT populations (!!) – given the fact that 50% of the IT population is from outside state and doesn’t have voting powers, focusing on just one small segment of the state population is suicidal. (surprisingly media is too obsessed with the Bangalore and IT factor)

There is no intention of developing the city infrastructure (roads, flyovers), water, electricity, local/mass transportation, etc. And there was no mention of developing Tier 2 cities like Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli, etc – which can ease off little chaos present in Bangalore.

There was a mail chain floated about the awareness of Section 49-O of the election process – which indicates right to not to choose … given the current state of affairs in terms of election process, I have my doubts about the availability of the forms at all the booths, secondly the number of people exercising 49-O would be too less than total votes casted (or the winners’ votes) with the kind of booth capturing and malfunctioning of system, and lastly (not the least) half of the regular voters don’t find their names in the voting list they are supposed to go and vote!!! (Why NR Murthy (and family) didn’t go to vote – he did go, but couldn’t find his (and his family member’s) name on the voting list!!!). When people like Murthy won’t have their names – you can imagine the condition – and when you will exercise 49-O if you don’t have right to enter the premise!

My take on the whole of election process … there should not be more than 3 nationalized party for the election process. All the regional parties must be aligned to any of the three parties and must declare their stance on alliance before election. This goes for the individuals contestants too – this would increase the risk of losing and reduce the greed of being in the power (shuttling from one party to another just for sake of being in power)

The party manifesto should define categories (like education, infra, societal, municipal, agri, industrial, power, transportation, metro, etc) and stance and action plan (with time lines) on each of the categories. In addition to this – individual / regional parties can add / vary the manifesto on few of the detailed aspects (not on the broad out line).

I somehow liked the way UP elections happened last time (though the results were really shocking) – it was lot more credible than the usual ones – for once there was a lot more security and strictness during the poll. I wish that can be repeated everywhere.

Another aspect – which can be really off beat and has too many loop holes – online voting, voting from any booth (that can create possibility of multiple voting – but can be tackled using IT), and voting be anyone who has been staying in the place for more than a year in that place – this would enable significant non-local population which are dynamic because of their profession.

Comments / arguments welcome …

Religious and Spiritual Tourism …

2008-05-08T12:33:00.000+05:30

It’s time that India should look forward to developing the concept of Religious Tourism and Spiritual Tourism. In India, we have too many Gods and their incarnations and too many temples for each of them. In addition to this we have a lot of spiritual gurus (with due respect, starting from Osho, Ravi Shankar, Ramdev, etc) … who are gaining momentum across the world for their teachings.

Last weekend, I was on a religious tour in Rajasthan, accompanied by parents. Some of the things really startled me were the way things got commercialized in last few years – within the temple premise and streets outside on the approach to the temple … in addition to the main temple, there are plenty of smaller temples of related stories (mythical in nature) and India being religious mind – praying to all possible Gods and Goddesses encountered with …

By liberal atheist in nature, it was just a break from my usual stuff … but it pained me a lot to see the abuse of the sentiments of people by the commercialization of the feelings and resources. The pandits within the campus directly ask you for money, having their minimum set (and won’t take less than that) and won’t serve you with the required task - giving Prasad, putting a tika (mark with roli/sindur on forehead), tying the sacred thread on your hands, etc … and on the streets … they’ll provide you with complete plate with all the required accessories for puja, flowers, coconut, incents sticks, cloths (if required), etc with a high price tag … to add woes, the moment you step down the stairs of the temple you encounter another breed … an army of beggars … and this time I found a totally new way … these are gang of ladies (normally street cleaners) and their kids … they’ll not just ask, they’ll almost pester you and follow you till your door steps … and if you get into a restaurant, they’ll wait for you to come out … (really frustrating) … then you’ll find streets filled with sweet shops, accessories shops, flower shops, and … shops with photos/idols, books, and music cassettes with so called bhajans (in fact most of them modified a film song/tune into a bhajan) … and these shops are competing each other by playing loud volumes (who’s is the loudest) … there’s no steps to ensure cleanliness – in fact most of the garbage is because of these shops who clean their shops and dump the garbage in middle of the path/street …

Now the idea of religious tourism came into my mind by seeing the devotees!!! … various types/ kinds … I could make out only 5~10% of the people visiting the temples today are serious devotees … the rest are there because some other person has been their or said 10 things about it or has to make a mark (of being religious) in the society … barely following the rules and decorum of the temple premise … and then trying to show that they are one of the most religious creatures of all the lot … interesting thing to note was the way these were dressed – especially ladies – as if they are attending the kitti party of the neighborhood … with kids perplexed as to what is happening and finding space to breathe – distract themselves and their guardians … (you can see a big Q mark on their face as why they are there and why/what they are doing of supposed to do and why they are missing their friends/fav cartoon show… )

Now if it is commercialized – the other tradition regional cottage industry would gain a lot from it … (like historic tourism – tourist guide, we can have an army of pujaris to do the pujas …). Given that a lot of today’s youth is becoming religious in nature – who have no idea of the historic background (let it be mythical) … need that kind of support infrastructure to build upon them … this would not only add some revenues to the state but also boost the local service (hotels and restaurants) and cottage industry (textile, handicrafts, art, …)

Comments welcome …

Hawa Mahal …

2008-04-22T15:28:00.002+05:30

It was a very short trip to Jaipur this Sunday – to attend GKs wedding … and it was a mixed first time experience for the place. I have had heard of Jaipur from a lot of people and had a very good image … to a certain degree it was more or less same as I was told … just that my first and only monumental visit (to Hawa Mahal) was more than disappointment. It was simply because it was under renovation. Well to begin with the entrance was not at all as any tourist would expect … and then because of the renovation, the place was haunting with all the building construction material … to add to the woes, when we actually went up the Mahal, there was no Hawa (cool air/ breeze) – which was contrary to the popular belief of having breeziness across the floors …

My second half of the day was good … though on Sunday the market is generally closed, we did a bit of shopping (we – me and MS, who was also there for GK’s wedding). GK had already advised us for high level of bargaining – but we poor mortals couldn’t do too much … but over all it was fun (though MS was furious for I cut short her extravaganza so that we could reach at the starting of barat on time) …

Autowalas were of mix lot … some ok types and some raising the demands … but the city is dead by 9:30 PM or so … also, I didn't find too many shops for sweets (may be I was on wrong street) ...

But I think, I need another visit there to know more …

Mergers & Acquisition of a different kind …

2008-03-28T16:39:00.000+05:30

We haven’t finished reading Tata’s M&A with Ford’s JLR – there is another kind of M&A happened that shook India, if not the world …

D-Company taken over by Lashkar

It was on the lunch table we shared some of the lighter moments with the headline and associating with the management jargons …

The VC has now joined hands with the Execution Entity … sophistication joins hands with crude methods … technology with core processes … revenge takers with fundamentalism … business with religion …
Their Balance Sheet would include the assets as details of total arms and ammunitions acquired
The ROI would be again total number of attacks/killings with number of ammunitions/ bombs bought
Growth rate would be money accumulated in form of vasuli (regular D-Co stuff) and abductions in addition to the revenue generated through fake currency and other donations across the globe
The Hit Rate would be defined as number of killings per attack
The Goals & Objectives would list out number of bombings/ infiltrations/ mass killings/ suicide bomb squad generation/ … Appraisal will be done on a regular intervals …
The Core Function of HR would be recruitment, training and motivation – to become human bombs and mass killings – incentives to be defined accordingly
The best way to manage Pool/Bench – if pool increases – train them to be human bombs - to be deployed anywhere anytime … there will always be a vacancy …
Plenty of Onsite Opportunities

Feel free to add similar musings …

Holi - Day

2008-03-24T09:25:00.002+05:30

It was almost 15 years since I played my last Holi … actually last 14 years I wasn’t home during this festival … and that’s why this one was very nostalgic … I could recall a lot of things that used to happen or things I used to do so many years ago … especially after seeing the kids in the neighborhood doing the same stuff … Things have changed … but something haven’t to some extent … the ones that involve children and their innocence …

On the eve of Holi (chhoti holi) we used to do puja of Holika and Druv (made of cow-dung) and later at the community Holika – fire (dahan) … where after the small rituals, we used to get blessings of all the elders and have ‘thandai’ - cold flavored milk (without the bhang) … this ritual haven’t changed a lot … just that I don’t see kids so much enthusiastic about the whole session …

The next day morning used to start by around 8~8:30 am where in first thing we used to do is get ourselves coated with oil (mostly with sunflower oil). We used to prepare a bucket of color (at least one bucket, colors we used to buy a couple of days earlier) and then either through mugs or pichkari (a portable hand held spray pump – now comes in different shapes and sizes and materials) shower colors – from our balcony to all the people walking on the streets passing underneath. The ratio of them getting even a drop of that shower used to be very low (1 out of 5 or 6) … and the amount of happiness we used to get when the target used to achieve was immense … this is something I saw hasn’t change much … except that people are less on the streets … and lot of them are on a vehicle – mostly bikes – zipping around …

It used to be around 9:30 ~ 10 when community people used to come out and the local gathering used to get warmed up … with all the people, we kid also used to get a chance to color the elder people properly along with our age groups … this phenomenon has declined with the age and has taken different shapes … today the community scope got broaden and there are not too many people coming out for it … a reason for this is the way people apply colors to each other and the quality of color itself …

After this community thing … we used to gather with a few friends and walk around the city (and cycles) going to almost every friends’ place – having sweets (esp gujhiya) / namkeen added with either chai or thandai … I have strong feeling about this activity now … as friends have distanced out … not many like to entertain everyone at home … especially when dripping color can create a mess in a clean house … and the relationships are not as strong as they used to be …

There used to be lot of tolis with their bands (drums) which used to go across the town … which is now replaced by a gang of bikers or formation of a DJ based dance floor at every crossing you can say … with good holi music replaced by loud (really loud) music which not only dirty (double meaning – sexually explicit) but irrelevant too … one song though hasn’t lost its tradition is ‘rang barse’ … which is every second song that is being played (though now with added effects – which then destroys the beauty) … people used to hug each other … now the youth has created a tradition of ripping each other’s clothes apart …

As time has progressed, the quality of the colors used has also gone down substantially … they buy colors that doesn’t go easily … leading to the usage of varnish based paints too … not too sure why – but seemingly having a revenge … traditionally Holi was a festival to eliminate animosity, which seemingly has changed its purpose to make an opportunity to take revenge (playfully though) by painting others’ face red/painted … on the other hand, it also reflected who played how much of Holi – an unstated competition!

The worst stage of this event is clean up … loads of shampoo/soap/ other related stuff (like besan with malai …) is used to get back into normal looking human from dark – unrecognizable faces … everything you touch that time is colored in red/green … it takes almost an hour or two and even after so much of washing and cleaning, some amount of color remains … the skin gets really burnt if not dried …

The evening, is relatively better part of the process … where there are places with Holi-Milan samaroh (public meetings/ get-together) happens and people of all class and creed come in their better dressed format and greet each other … some of these have some entertainment stuff organized like hasya kavi sammelan or a local orchestra with loads of thandai being served. This was the time when I used to go around with friends – visiting everyone’s place – having loads of sweets and ending up at this place for final dispersion. This time I did see the cream of the business community gather at the central place – but the rest of the other Milan samaroh was not there … (or at least I was not aware of) …

At the end of the day … it was a mixed feeling … filled with nostalgia … missing those days where some of us friends used to spend hours and hours today … but getting drenched in different colors, I am not too sure if I would like to play again next year … but then next year would be a different issue altogether as I wouldn’t be alone next holi :)

Extended Expectations …

2008-03-19T11:58:00.001+05:30

The things I have been scared of… have been coming true for me …

With my life now being extended … the new set of relatives (immediate and extended) have their own agenda that needs to be taken care too… everyone of them wishes or desires to please each other in multitude ways … and expects that I would follow the suite. There is nothing really wrong here; just that my philosophy is little different from theirs and after a point it really bothers …

Now a lot of these expectations are driven not by the immediate family members but by the extended family or the society at large … for instance, the girls family is expected to treat the boy royally… he should be pampered … bought umpteen numbers of gifts, sweets, etc … the boy is expected to pay visits to all the extended family – giving them an opportunity to showcase how well they can pamper and load you with stuffs …

As I never really cared about such things, I don’t even know the rules of such game… and there I loose the battle before it starts even … and then I get few words from the immediate family about the things I have done or rather have not done ….

I really wonder who made such idiotic rules and rituals (and expectations) … and why such fancy fanfare about the whole thing – creating an uncomfortable zone for both parties … when do we dump the typical ‘log kya bolenge’ (what would people say) attitude …

PS: so far I have managed to survive to a certain extent … but I can feel the shortage of ammunitions to encounter such events for long …

Tracking Railways ...

2008-03-06T17:42:00.001+05:30

After traveling long distances for almost 13 years now, I think real one can see and feel the real India … whatever said, Laloo has done something to revive the Indian railways for last few years they have been giving huge profits (without actually implementing any of the new age industry gimmicks) … now you get “relatively” cleaner stations, better managed stalls, improved onboard pantry services, booking services … I agree there are still lot more to do in terms of scheduling and delays, number trains and stoppages, faster trains, porter systems, policing and security – both on board and at stations, maintenance of infrastructure, tracks and trains …

After going through the gist of the Rail budget this time, I think Laloo should have focused a little more on the sustainability part of the increments he has done so far. A little more investments on maintenance and enhancements of the tracks, improvements in station services and processes like porter and security, passenger services … little more security by putting barbed / fixed fencing through the sides of the tracks … this will reduce the accidents on tracks … especially cattle and vehicular … other things that could be looked into include coach and engine manufacturing with reusing the older coaches (defining the retiring time of both engine and coaches) … improving the facilities at the unmanned/ manned crossings electrification of signals … usage of satellite phones (or at least upgraded walky-talky stuff – currently are basic versions) … automated signaling and train tracking mechanism … effective consumer grievance system …

I agree it takes time and investments … and with our expectations growing faster than the services rendered, this list would be endless …

this post was meant to be published a lot earlier ... just laziness delayed it ...

Mithya ...

2008-02-26T12:55:00.000+05:30

Ek jhooth ke peechhe sau jhooth bolne padte hain … well that’s the summary …

However, it’s a worth watch … a good light comedy – thriller … Rajat Kapoor has not disappointed at all … Ranveer is brilliant … keeps you stick to the seat till the end …

There is nothing very new to the story … but it’s the crisp direction and story board that differentiates from others … best part … no crazy songs like other bollywood stuff …

Raj of Raj ...

2008-02-13T12:36:00.001+05:30

It is amazing to see how scared is Mumbai Police to make an arrest to one citizen … had he not been newly bred army commander … it simply shows how deep rooted the menace is … (as news headlines say he refused to accept the Police orders!)

Frankly, I don’t understand what the real problem is … Mumbai is a cosmopolitan and a metropolitan … which by definition means a culmination of cultures … so where does this marathi specific culture started cropping up in Mumbai … had it been any cultural heritage, it would have been little understandable … Mumbai of all places… and the weirdoes are asking Qs like what has BigB done to Mumbai … I think they should look into themselves first and ask the same Qs and then point fingers to others as I firmly believe he has put a lot for the country (leave alone Mumbai)

Does mumbaikars imagine what would happen if all the so called immigrants are moved out of Mumbai – the city will die … no utilities … no transportation … no food / milk supplies … no work force … no business … think about it … ambanis are from gujju land, Tatas are from Rajasthan and Jharkhand, birlas are from Kolkata (and Rajasthan) and I am sure more than 50% of the current business entities would be from outside Maharashtra (forget Mumbai) … what would they do … dance on me mumbaikar … and then probably sleep empty stomach …

On one hand some of us are trying to bring in the Indian-ness among people and there are few who still like to play the divide and rule policy … wish the law enforcement is little stricter in the financial capital of the country …

The new innings …

2008-02-11T14:56:00.000+05:30

For those who know me personally have been waiting for this moment …

YES!!!

Buddha mar gaya or the last wicket is finally fallen …

Well, frankly I didn’t expect the things to move so fast … it really seemed like being a part of some movie … with so much of traveling added with no proper sleep, it’s too tiring to actually enjoy the excitement … actually all the above have made it difficult to sink in the ‘fact’ of being engaged and committed.

The most difficult part is those who are excited are expecting me to be on top floor of excitement too … and do crazy stuff which is something beyond me anyways …

Whatever … the bottom line is … my new innings have started … and I am sure it’s a long one :)

Natural Linguistics ...

2008-02-04T11:51:00.000+05:30

Note: this is NOT my creation ... picked up from somewhere on web ...
note the Bold letters

Interesting … a line with no punctuation required can deliver so many meanings...

· "I never said she stole my money" - Someone else said it, but I didn't.

· "I never said she stole my money" - I simply didn't ever say it.

· "I never said she stole my money" - I might have implied it in some way, but I never explicitly said it.

· "I never said she stole my money" - I said someone took it, I didn't say it was her.

· "I never said she stole my money" - I just said she probably borrowed it.

· "I never said she stole my money" - I said she stole someone else's money.

· "I never said she stole my money" - I accused her of stealing my heart, but not my money.

Movies over the weekend …

2008-01-28T15:06:00.000+05:30

Taare Zameen Per …

A beautifully directed movie (you can feel the ‘Amir Khan’ stuff) … the selection of cast creating anonymity and neighborhood feeling … slapping the thoughts and expectations of parents on their child … (even for the elder bro – who’s champ on almost everything – fails to convert the finals – the ugly emotions demolishes the spirit of playing and participating for the child – as of being runners up is worst thing in life) … exposing the current teaching / teacher’s standards (which is very true is most of the circumstances) …

Yes the movie is little heavy … and emotional … but not the typical bollywood emotions (k series types) … it lets you think for a moment … lets you be the child for that period

A must watch for every parent … and every parent to be … very relevant to the current socio-cultural competitive environment …

Welcome …

A David Dhawan style slapstick comedy … sometimes stretching a bit too long in between … too noisy and too many songs (for me at least; and none I can remember) … none of the actors were at their best (esp. Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar … you expect much more from them when you see consistent performance from them …) … Katrina was beautiful … (as always… good that she didn’t speak too much) …

Keep your brains off when you see this flick … better get a DVD from neighborhood video rentals …)

Hulla Bol …

Little loose direction – lack of impact from Pankaj Kapur and Ajay Devgan (they can deliver much better) … reality left bollywood way …

It’s just another brick in the wall of India Rising phenomenon – a loose one on that … this flick had the potential of creating revolution – failed …

Worth watch – but not worth multiplex …

Who says (the Big Blue) Elephants can’t dance …

2008-01-16T18:27:00.000+05:30

Caution: the post is biased and based upon media / TV / news reports which publish half baked facts covered with fantasies of the reporters covering the issue and added some masala of my own!

No I am not talking about IBM – the big blue or the ‘elephant’ of the book …

Yes … this is about the current UP CM Mayawati (my prev post) … who turned 52 y’day and the entire state was colored blue … (elephant is her party/ electoral symbol) …

My views on the extravaganza (of course biased) …

· She made a mockery of the current affairs of system … she RULES the state (like queen); so either you are with her or against her … and if you are not with her … even God can’t save you from the long running harassments … (only one escape – she’s thrown out of ministry – unlikely to happen in next few months at least)

· An easy way to get the money into the individual pocket – demands if not met - would result in severe consequences. I am not too sure if all the dalits are getting liberated, she (as dalit) is sure getting out of the blues …

· Self proclaimed popularity – launching an autobiography and stating ‘if ppl call me super CM – what can I do’ seems extremely crafted way attaining salvation! … road to nationalized recognition and last but not least the chair of PM (there too she converts the Qs of desire very intelligently by saying ‘if ppl want me to be the PM – I don’t see why not’ … )

· So the Tax collected is going into re-building the Ambedkar Park (she built it in the first place) in Lucknow … and the new venture of Ganga Express Way … I wish she would have spent even some amount to salvage the poverty of the state by creating better and progressive job opportunities and to improve the existing infrastructure (read state-road network and state transport system) and may be little on the side of tourism …

There is a saying in hindi – sher ko sava sher chahiye … meaning a bully can be controlled by another bully only … she controlled mulayam … who will control her!!!

From Jets to Nano …

2008-01-16T18:16:00.000+05:30

TATA’s have done it …

Airplanes – Trucks – SUVs – Indica – Nano …

I wouldn’t be entirely wrong if I said that Tata’s were responsible in bringing passenger air services in India … and this year they have created another benchmark by bringing in Nano … in fact they are one of the bests (if not the best) in whatever field they are in … whether it is manufacturing or services (telecom/ IT/ Consulting/ …) they have provided India (read the mass of India – middle class) as affordable means of accessing what is known as luxury in a lot of aspects … especially in telecom and auto …

I think Nano is full of small innovation (let me call it Nano-vations) which will lead to new set of standards … a car meant for a small family who can have safer transportation … considering today its extremely unsafe to travel on scooter with a kid in front and wife hold younger one behind … we call female riders – crazy – I think its much safer for them now … at least they won’t tumble down and their scarf won’t get stuck in the rear wheel … with the growing affordability of the middle class – it’s a truly remarkable product …

Now, some of our environmentalists are claiming that bringing such inexpensive medium to the roads would create a havoc and chaos … there are too many cars anyway … and with nano on road, another million would be there in 2 yrs time frame … what would happen to pollution levels … global warming is anyway rising and nano has added fuel to the fire …

But I think little differently … I think innovation is child of necessity … there was a necessity to safe-inexpensive mode of private transportation – and you got that … so if you need to reduce the traffic to the road … you need to improve on the alternatives … look at Delhi and Kolkata – they have brought in Metro as alternate means of mass transport … people actually use them and avoid their own vehicles … this proves that if we have a proper (safe secure and affordable) and multiple means of mass transit … people would actually prefer to use them rather than own vehicles … after all buying is one thing … running costs petrol!!!

What we need today is a differentiated strategies to deal with it … differentiated based on the tier of the city (Metros (Delhi/Mumbai) / Rapid rising cities (B’lore/Pune/Hyd) / tier 2 and 3 cities (Indore/ Nagpur/ Bhuvaneshwar/ NCR) … ) … smaller than that wouldn’t make too much of a difference anyway …

Most of them need to have:

a) Proper roads – with dividers and street lights (which lights during night)

b) Road based transport – aka buses – run in PPP mode which should run based on ‘time factor’ and not the number of passengers factor … (Mumbai’s BEST is the best). Most of the bigger cities do have it but a person like me would want to travel in those overly crowded – unreliable in terms of time it reaches the destinations … and of course the kind of public who gets in … not that I hate them for any personal reason but the overall experience is not so great (neither is expected) … which triggers the need of multiple level of buses (like B’lore started with AC – Volvos … a nice initiative – but needs more buses and to be deployed in more routes with more frequency)

c) Rail based – Metro / Local (in case the distance is larger) – we have well laid out railway network – what we need is a good system (again Mumbai Local is an example but needs a lot of improvement there) … for instance I found that Delhi and NCR region are connected with EMU (locals) to some extent and similarly in Kolkata and Chennai too – but needs little more facilitated … Delhi’s and Kolkata’s Metro Rails are the best examples of how successful these modes can be … (debate can be there for type of Metro!)

d) Autos/ Taxis – should have proper stands – can be availed by hailing (Kolkata and Mumbai has this service and is fairly good) … Delhi has – but not properly regulated – and that is why people do not prefer to a great extent … though Radio Taxis have brought in some relief … still a log way to go … similarly three wheel auto rickshaws … needs a little more regularization and strict monitoring … (Mumbai autos are relatively better)

I think I am asking for too many things from the gov … as of course it takes time to develop such infrastructure … and by the time one gov decides to go for an alternative the other gov (post elections) uproots the entire plan and restarts again … and this process continues and we remain where we are … left hassled …

Lead India - the continued story ...

2008-01-06T20:04:00.000+05:30

This time I am impressed. Finally they are making some sense of the competition. This is with respect to the episode telecasted on 4^th Jan ’08… a brilliant idea of testing on the spot thinking, attitude towards issues and tackling them … it also brought out certain issues and hurdles – mostly government (state/central) and bureaucratic which needs to be addressed for sustainable growth – both economic and social …

One of the participant was very focused for making things BIG in his life, suddenly was at difficult situation when asked to do a menial task … though he did complete his task, the attitude to do that task was not inner … it was more to finish this task as this it was not meant for him. This shows his attitude towards smaller tasks and people (though he does a lot of activities which do result in larger benefit of the public) …

Another candidate, though was appreciated by the jury, in my opinion, didn’t deserve that many marks (or votes). Using the current authority she was holding, she actually just managed her task, there was nothing special about her organizational skill, capability to handle different people, etc. – and which was also not so tough compared to some of the other participants … I was not convinced about the over all word done by her …

In my opinion, whether they passed the test or failed, this acid test (and hope that a similar stuff continues) will really prove the worth of candidates …

On the other hand, we have leaders like Modi, Maya, Yadav(s), … the list is long … no doubt they are leaders … but again … I am not too sure if would like to have them as those who would lead the country … The biggest irony is that we had the best of the leaders at one given time (President – Dr Kalam, PM – Dr MM Singh, FM – PC, and Planning – Alhuwalia) … what more do you wish for … but alas … there was no dramatic change in our political scenario and corruption at large… now the only question in my mind is … is this effort going to be futile if even the Lead India leaders are given a chance to bring the change … (I know I am going a little pessimistic, but then I agree no efforts, no gain at all …) …

Another year passes away …

2007-12-30T17:23:00.000+05:30

Same time last year I argued with my alter ego (here) … and seems like things haven’t changed much …

Of course few things did happen …

Made a drastic decision on calling it a day at Wipro … and joining a relatively unknown company …and moving closer to home …
New place – got a house which is walking distance from office – no more long and tiring home-office travel
Made 2 trips to home in first two months (is that me! … I used to make 2 trips annually) … was at home during Diwali too (impressive me!)…
Couple of close friends got married … (me feeling lonely!?!)
Last not the least - Bought the CAR!!! - yup guys … this is the latest addition in my this year’s shopping extravaganza …

The rest of the things haven’t changed much … especially in terms of my New Year resolutions … same as year ago … and the year before …

Lead India … another entertainment???

2007-12-25T14:54:00.000+05:30

I had little hope about the program started by the Times Group that it will bring some good ideas and provide good people a platform to represent their ideas and create inspiration for others.

Bringing in Anupam Kher (an actor) … was the first level of disappointment. He, as expected tried to dramatize the concept itself … ending it diluting the whole! In fact any other actor would not have justified that position … it should have been any composed anchor / journalist (my best bet – Pranoy Roy) … thankfully they chose judges fairly decent …

The first two episodes were simply introductions; however, the third episode gave my all hopes in vain. Another competition with votes!!! Making the whole concept nothing but an entertainment set … the competition is all about finding the one leader ... who's to lead India ... you can't do that in this set ... simply these guys are different in themselves ... if at all they need to be tested ... we should get them debate on issues and their solutions ... and then let the panel debate and decide who could win the competition. I am still against Kher's dialog of "hamara (desh ka) neta kaisa ho ... " ... and what was Akshaya Kumar doing at that platform ...

I think what India needs today is not one leader, but a team of such leaders … in fact, bring in the top 3 leaders from each of the 8 locations (that's team of 24 leaders) and provide them with the agenda and little funding help (not the entire funding … the investments need to come from sponsors and may be self) and let them form a complete team and distribute the work according to their strengths and weakness and put their heart on the development.

One thing that was common in the first four participants that were introduced was, that all of them looked to revamp/ put some effort on creating individual development and empowerment by either education or vocational programs … however, the later four were more on the belief on ‘lets do it’ … I think we need a team with both kinds of people who on one hand look into the present and work to bring in harmony and also those who look for the future and work towards it … and that’s the best way forward …

But, I still feel there are a lot of hurdles… especially from the government and bureaucrats as the ideology works against corruption and towards the development … development of stronger and healthy system and not the economy of own! What is required is support from the younger gen politicos (like Rahul Gandhi, J Scindhiya, Milind, Pilot, ...) and corporates added with guidance of experienced Leaders like Murthy, Premji, Ratan Tata, KM BIrla, Ambanis, ...

Just hope things work out in a better direction ...

Relatively speaking …

2007-11-27T19:12:00.000+05:30

Last weekend, one of my friends got married, and I happened to attend the wedding … it has been recently that I attended a few weddings including those within family after a break of almost a decade. And these brought a common thought across – a major shift in trends in traditions and cultural aspects and aesthetics of the marriages...

Long back … the marriage used to be a 5-8 days long affair filled with loads of hulla gulla, traditional songs, lots of food and sweets and rooms full of relatives … Relatives – this is where I find a lot of distinction now – earlier they meant as supporting hands to the family and providing a sense of security and comfort that coordinating the marriage was not so difficult … the responsibilities were divided and owned by most of the members with checklists ready and rolling … now, relatives are there for the name sake … you don’t call them – u have to face the music of ignoring … u call them, they are the biggest guest in the house … rather than proving a supporting hand, they are becoming a burden on the hosts (mostly the parents) – creating a mess and chaos … whatever effort you might put into … no one will ever say a good word or give a hand … you miss even a slightest (may be irrelevant) thing – there goes a hue and cry … the worst is on the back of host … creating the fuss over nothing … somehow, I fail to understand this adventure of the so called relatives … and this has been consistent over all the recent weddings I have attended … family / friends across …

Agreed that time is the most critical part of our lives these days … but then managing time should be owns responsibility … if you are a relative (a close one for that matter) then there are certain unsaid responsibilities and expectations which are there and above the time factors … a little stretch is possibly required. Today marriages are not more than 2 day affair (most cases) … and most of the hosts also want their relatives to come in the core function (to reduce and avoid chaos) and leave … I noticed that a lot of such relatives are making that formality also little too obvious – visiting the party – having food … and moving off … some of them not even meeting and wishing / blessing the newly married couple – whose marriage they are attending! As if they were there for the free dinner/lunch!!! To add to the woes … they’ll crib about missing out on cold drinks during peak winter season … (God must be really crazy to develop and support such brains!)

Trip to Dilli Haat …

2007-11-19T12:43:00.000+05:30

Thanks to an old friend on mine RG, who was in town for the day, insisted on me seeing her all time favorite Dilli Haat. She knew that I’ll love the place … and she was absolutely right …

Though, by the time I reached to meet her at Dilli Haat, it was fairly late and was just before the closing time, I managed to get a good glimpse of what the ‘Haat’ is all about. In a few words – it is a place to be visited and experienced … especially for those who like explore the Indian culture and spirits … here, almost every month there is a fest – specific to the handicrafts and art/artifacts across the India. It was AadiShilp Mela this weekend (actually the month) … Apart from the fest, there are many fixed stalls from each of the states – for their state specific traditional / cultural display and very specific food for your taste buds … (this is the first time I really enjoyed Kashmiri food) … I also bought a nice stole (woolen) from a Himanchal Pradesh's stall for the winters …

In two hours, I felt so Indian … and felt really proud of being in India – which is so rich in its traditional culture – so simple and inexpensive and useful in daily life … from daily necessities to elements of decorative …

I think this is one place in Delhi, I’ll be visiting very often … and with more time in hand …

PS: You would love to buy a lot of stuff and but no cards … only cash …

Raining Train!!!

2007-11-15T20:53:00.000+05:30

Just when Nikhil went Go-gaga over India Railways (here) … I had exactly opposite experience while returning from my home during Diwali vacation…

The AC duct pipes in an 2 tier AC compartment started dripping … it was much more than just drips … it actually felt like raining inside the coupe … To add on to the fury, it stopped for sometime and started again in the middle of night … which created not chaos among the passengers sitting there but also made the coach dirty and wet … And when asked for the complaint register – the attendant made an excuse of not having one at his disposal!

Nikhil, I think you need to travel once in a UP/Bihar bound trains, especially when they are coming from that end …

Catching up with old – new movies …

2007-11-05T14:53:00.000+05:30

Chak de …

No elaborate review on this one … The good thing about this movie is that SRK has not dominated with screen presence … or may be he hasn’t been glamorous or sweet-sweet types … further … the movie has taken the Indian flavor very well and seamlessly.

Heyy Babyy …

This one doesn’t deserve any elaborate review … Just another flick… with a comedy, romance and drama … and lots of fun … I think I have seen some movie in English – similar to this one … but which Hollywood flick will have this kind of romantic drama!!!

Weekend Trip …

2007-10-29T12:49:00.000+05:30

I had a mast weekend at agra … we were 5 of us … 2 old friends and their spouse …

Considering the couples around me … I tried to ensure not to disturb them too much by keeping myself occupied with my Nikon … :)

We didn’t roam around too much as we wanted more to have a relaxed vacation than a hush-hush site seeing trip …

Started by 8:30 in morning, our first stop was Sikandra (Akbar’s makbara). We spent little more than an hour – busy shooting the dears there in the garden :) …

Then we went to hotel to freshen up and have lunch … we booked a serviced apartment (Signature Crest) rather than a hotel. It is slightly off the track and is in the residential area of the town. It’s a flat is a residential complex – fully furnished and is supported by a care taker – 24x7. Nice homely atmosphere ...

We got little delayed starting from the apartment and got further delayed by the traffic in between to reach the Taj Mahal. By the time we could enter the monument, it was already dark. Though the idea with us was to see the full moon Taj, but the moon delayed it’s presence … and we decided to return to Taj in the morning again … considering the traffic pains … we decided to call it a day …

The next day morning … we checked out and instead of going to Fatehpur Sikri (as planned earlier), we decided to spend some more time at Taj and return to base …

No doubt, Taj is magnanimous and is very beautiful … from one shot you might not understand the beauty of the monument, but when you see closely, the carvings and the stonework that has gone behind, added with the scale and scope of the work … it hits you hard with the facts … one of the things which impressed me most was that though the marble slabs were put together individually, the writings or the design didn’t break anywhere in between … you feel that it’s just one piece of stone that has been carved … then there were carvings which were consistent across the place … every wall/ door … had precisely same design and beauty.

However, there was a darker side to it too … the back side of the Taj – the Yamuna River – it was really painful to see the dirtiness / unkemptness of the river and its surroundings … I wish the administration would have given little more attention to it … further the approach road to the Taj (some 2~3 Km stretch) is really painful … may be the municipality does something to it…

While returning, we stopped over Panchhi Petha to grab some famous sweets (Pethas) of Agra. Then, at Mathura, just before the city, on the highway there is an outlet of McD (near refinery) and the Brijwasi sweet shop … which was supposed to keep the famous Mathura pedas … to our disappointment didn’t had any!!!

... a nice trip to cherish …

Off the festivities …

2007-10-24T12:14:00.000+05:30

Caution:

1. if you are hard core religious … pls don’t read further …

2. these thoughts are random and need not be linked with each other, might be confusing …

I am a Hindu by religion (though I prefer to believe in spirituality than religion), and I am sure that there is no other religion in this world to have so many festivals than us … from the start of the year … baisakhi/sankranti, holi, rakhi, ram-navmi, janmashtmi, ganesh chaturthi (ganpati), durga puja, dusshehra, diwali, ... I am sure this list is incomplete by all means … most of these I remember because in most cases I either get a paid holiday or I am asked to do something of it …

In recent year, though, the festivity part of any such festivals have been diminishing at a much faster rate than ever before … why go beyond … most often I use these as another holiday (paid vacation) … and try to catch up with so called life … if I think of getting involved into the festivity – it will mean a lot of responsibilities, a lot of hard work (literally) … and tiring day at the end of it …

Today, people (media, politicians, and corporate – product companies) have started using these event points for playing with people’s emotions and faiths … and trying make a kill (make money) … by it … for instance – starting a revolution or a habit which is not existing (some the ads) … some are constructive and some are really destructive …

Speaking of destructive side (esp. ecological), people have started creating idols/ pandals / other related stuff (magnanimous and glamorous) … irresponsibly in competition to each other (who started the competition for God’s sake! … or will God pay a visit / be happy (if at all) only to the best of the lot!!!, further, they do claim to be sensitive to the environment and ask others to reduce the size/expense, but when it came to themselves – it was a ‘not done’ thing … they need to differentiate from others … their popularity/fame is at stake!!! – and this I saw on TV on some media/news coverage … ) … it really doesn’t matter, if post-festivity the surrounding / environment is in the worst possible scenario … or during the celebration, there is a limit to which loud speakers should be blasted (with all the filmy rhyming bhajans – a disgust in the name of bhajans) … daily waste generated … electricity wasted (and we crib of electricity shortage)… and nuisance to the traffic (we also crib about the traffic) and well being … and the story doesn’t end here … the idols are then immersed into the near by water body (possibly that might be the source to the drinking water too – and then we crib about the water shortage too) … but then who cares even if the water is getting polluted with the poisonous paints and polythene / plastics used … (assuming that at least the idols are generally made of mud – which is not so harmful to the over all environment) … and this is for ganpati, durga puja (at least, if not more) … further take dusshehra / diwali … the amount of air pollution due to the explosives (fire crackers) used … I remember we used to burn crackers too … but the amount and type of the crackers used today were seemingly more reasonable (may the next coming generation would say the same thing years later for today’s generation) …

This is just a sample of what we do to the environment in the name of God … (poor God) … we (unfortunately), as Hindu, create a hue and cry over smallest matter that hurts the so called sentiments of religions (baseless – should I say!) … but we fail to realize and accept the teachings rendered … ignoring to the self comfort zone … intending to do what I feel like … caring a damn over other’s (may be God’s) feeling …

I think what we need is not declaration of war with each other … as to whose ram/raven is bigger, but to kill the raven within us to bring the ram out … there was a dialog (within the song) in the movie Swadesh … man ka raven maar do … har man me hai ram … meaning … just kill the evil (devil) within and you’ll find the God (peace) within you …

I hope someday … some form of God again comes to earth (may be mythologically) … and hope that things might look for brighter day …

Customer 2.0

2007-10-23T10:57:00.000+05:30

The new generation is pacing fast to the innovative growth and making the technology shift the paradigm – the way it has been perceived and used … Yesterday, technology was used as a tool to enhance productivity and efficiency … today, it is the cutting edge differentiator … it’s not just the tool … it’s becoming the life … and soul perhaps …

Critics were not sure of Web 2.0, when it came, they said – there is nothing new … whatever there is – its’ all there ... on the net (the erstwhile web 1.0) … gone are the static pages who used to load page by page … extract information every time from the source and expected you to do a smart job … today … all the info is smartly customized to every user, presented on the click of the mouse … and is there already … updated … every new day there is new set of customization available … from user to enterprise … (enterprise 2.0) … from tech savvy user (e-shopping) to age old customer … from news reader/browser to new age blogger (bloozle.com) … everyone has there specific needs and this new customer needs it all … in no time … with all the features … and above all … free of cost …

Imagine … what’s for tomorrow …

Lead India ...

2007-10-15T16:08:00.000+05:30

Caution – opinionated and controversial

Last few weeks there has been Lead India campaign running across India courtesy TOI (http://lead.timesofindia.com/default.asp) … very innovative way of bringing new ideas, but I have my concerns over the executability of the same and loss of so many good ideas.

There is no doubt about the potential leaders and their thoughts for bringing in change to define the lead India campaign. Some of the thoughts put forward are really thought provoking and executable to the extent of taking that first step. Though, some of us might say, we need that first step to bring in change – I differ to a certain degree. My opinion in this matter is very conservative (unlike me, though), for simple reason that we don’t have even a single thought for the second step forward. What I mean is, assuming we give the final 8 (or even 24) a chance to implement (with a small token amount of 50 lakhs) what they think will be the dawn of change, where are we heading to … will these changes lead to better governance (of the govt in center and state) or our process of electing these idiots (most of them are real idiots and apologies to those who get hurt – but the fact is that few of the politicians might be educated, but they are not just party leaders), governing us … a lot of people ask – ‘do you vote’ … I don’t … why then crib – because the way electoral system in the present form, seems irrelevant – simply because though I am from a small town, I am out of that town last 13 years and there is no way my vote / electoral right will help me or my current location benefit) … and I am sure that my name is not there in the voter list in the first place (assuming I go to vote)! …

Talking about leaders – I think we need to first define what kind of leaders are we looking for – thought leaders or mass leaders … in that respect – current CM of UP – Mayawati is true leader – (I think she got some recognition recently too) … I have not imagined any party (forget Mayawati’s) to achieve single party majority… she actually lead the people to vote!!! and with strict security and very less unfair means of ballot casting, Maya won the battle (if not war) for the power … another leader that comes to my mind is Bala sahib in Mumbai … I am not too sure if he still commands the same leadership as he used to earlier, but then he was (and to a good extent, is) a leader … these guys can move the masses … just like MK Gandhi (who has been the best mass leader I can think of) … Further imagine Rahul Bose as mass leader (he's known because he's actor) ... what about the other participants - for instance Ujjwal Banerjee (a fellow NITIEian, who among those who rcvd lowest votes in sms/internet polls) - can we think of them becoming the 'mass leader' - I don't think so!

Coming back to topic - the Lead India campaign, I think, is just looking for thought leaders… again why … because, these are youth, without muscle/ political power … when people with huge political power (and being in active politics) – like Rahul Gandhi, Jyotir Aditya, Pilot, Paritranam, … (there are many more) – are just pushed to lower decks, when they actually could contribute … I don’t say that they are not doing anything, but they could have done much more, had a proper opportunity been given to them … so back again – these folks will result in mere thought leaders as their actions will be very localized and will go into stalemate situation as the 50L sum empties to zero.

I don’t have any specific solutions to it … but what we can do is try to extract some ideas and thoughts which are executable across India and has immediate impact to the grass root levels, to form as common portfolio of Agenda India (or India Agenda task force) – governed by a body of people not directly from the ugly politics (as these guys are only loyal to the chair) … but from people who are retiring from the business (as mentors), guys from NGOs, and people volunteers who are ready to devote some time of theirs … a body which should exist even when there is a change in govt, … get into action with full transparency … and with penalty clauses in case of non-actions … in cases of failures, revisit these ideas and make changes accordingly … however, the bigger Qs is still hanging – who’ll fund … where is the fund come from to execute the broad agendas!

Out of date …

2007-10-05T15:39:00.000+05:30

Since my new work profile required me to look around for new and ‘hi-tech’ technology and gadgets/ software … I realized how out of date I had been past so long … it really seemed as if the world has moved to a different zone, while I am still in the ancient era. I don’t claim myself as tech-buff, but new avenues to improve (innovations in general) do attract my attention often… and lately there has been quite a lot happened, especially in web based technology …

well… that means lots of reading and catching up to do … (the engg in me has just got a jolt!!!) …

Change as it happens …

2007-10-01T19:33:00.000+05:30

After a long time, finally I thought of putting some updates on my blog. Well, to simply put, life was going so mundane, that I really didn’t feel like writing – even when something happened in between – like movies I saw, Indian sports (hockey, football & chakde effect) … cricket (though I don’t really like to blog on that) … political drama (ram-sethu, UP Police crisis) … my movements/ relocation … my vacation to Pune & Mumbai …

But it’s good to be back …

For those who are not directly in touch with me … I have moved to Noida from Bangalore, and yes I hv finally made a move from W … moved from an 80k employee company to a 1800 employee company … :) … Overall I have already started to feel the change in terms of big company with loads of processes in place to a small company which is still evolving …

Will be back ...

Weekend Movies ...

2007-06-20T11:12:00.000+05:30

Metro …

When the first ad of Metro (life in a metro) came in on TV … my first thought was of a movie – thriller – filmed on a Metro rail – which had been talk of the town then … be it in Delhi, Bangalore, or Mumbai (Kolkata is a old time in this case) … later did I realized it being about the metropolitan culture!

To be frank I was shocked to see the entire script of a play being used here – word by word … scene by scene … almost one part of the movie is about that … I wrote about this play here – "Chabi", directed by Dinesh Thakur (@Prithvi, Mumbai).

Overall the movie was good … little on the extremes but well scripted … but again … the end was lousy. Further, I can agree to the young generation part of the movie, but oldies … Nah!!! That’s something difficult to digest …

Cheeni Kum …

This is one of the sweet movies that have come in recent times … very simple, romantic, elegant and flavored with powerful acting of all the 5 characters … yes including the little kiddo … it tells you how a movie without a good story can be made and made well.

It’s a two thumbs up … a must watch … the timing of the dialogs, selection of characters, and sequencing of the scenes … perfect … Sweet with sugarfree … :D

I too have reservations …

2007-06-06T16:34:00.000+05:30

Last week a couple of communities of Rajasthan literally took the state on ransom, in fact extended the violent protests to the national capital… and protest for what – getting “upgrade” (or rather down grade) to Schedule Tribe (ST) class from OBC – just because the percentage of communities in OBC are more resulting in more competition … and other objecting the same as their monopoly will get a competition … this is most ridiculous protest I have seen so far in Indian politics … kids who don’t even know what they are protesting for – worse even the youth who didn’t care what’ll result of their protest … are ready with a sword in their hands and destructing the infrastructure and hurting people across … the surprise factor is that their leader is well educated (one of them being doctor! – a life savior) instigating youth and kids to take up law in their hands … this is a bit too much of manipulating the legal system …

Understandably there are flaws in the system … especially in deciding the boundaries and rational for any community to get a class/caste definition … but taking a couple of states and national capital on ransom – calling for strike … is pure taking law in the hands and should be punished with harshly. But then how do you decide who was there in the “mob” … In my opinion the leaders should be put behind the bars in the first place and anyone who comes for opposition should be followed with the suite … a protest like this should be treated with open fire … I know this is going a bit extreme – but then these people were no less on the streets …

Further, all those politicians who lured the ignorant public for their upgrade/downgrades of the caste systems should be questioned and thrown out of the parliament/assembly … as there should not be any place for those who don’t even care about the existing system and without knowing and understanding the impact of their statements, try to promise heaven on earth … something which is not possible …

One thing which really went over my head was that one of the communities in the case was referencing it’s role in the 1857 war … I say “bullshit” … their fore fathers did a great job agreed … what have they done to deserve anything … not at least this …

Mumbai @ 1:40 AM!

2007-05-24T10:16:00.000+05:30

In my two years in Mumbai (2003-05) … I never felt Mumbai sleeps anytime of the day or night! The fact that the last local leaves at 1:40 AM (from Kurla) as stated in the movie, the autos and the taxis spring up for those who are left behind … (to earn that extra buck) …

But the movie was bizarre!!! At as early as 1:40 AM … at one of the most populated and commercially stuffed place like Kurla, not a single soul is visible on the street … in fact they also showed some more streets … with negligible traffic… which is little too much to digest (those who know about Mumbai – will agree with me) …

Further … the lady luck … dressed to kill (in the middle of night) … and alone! (had she not dressed up like she was… I would have accepted for Mumbai) … and agrees to enter the bar (a dance bar!) … allows the guy with him to go for gambling while she waits for him to return – while the only other ladies in the bar were the dancers … (guts!!!) … and our so called hero was so DUMB to understand this … too dumb to know to speak fearlessly to the “bhai log” …

The movie was too immature … loose direction … and crappy story …

Those who by any chance plan to see… please don’t waste your time/money on it …

Now the Qs… why did I see … I didn’t know which movie I was about to see till the end as the group had booked the ticket without asking me (well I did tell them any movie would do… I wasn’t sure they would plan to see this) … :(

Sub ‘Maya’ hai …

2007-05-17T14:55:00.000+05:30

Yes, it’s all Maya’s Maya … now at least …

For those who still didn’t get it … I am talking about the new CM of UP … I thing I’ll agree that this lady has guts and loads of it …

Now there will be a season of revenge … against ex-CM and their supporters … and anyone who’s in opposition … (including people like Big B and Jr. Ambani). Some of the analysts claim that the overall crime rate fell in her regime (earlier) … to them I just have to say that when the crime is not going to be reported – how can you say that crime has come down… esp when you have more than 50% of the MLAs having a solid track records in police files … and others have no less status. The action will also include lots of transfers and suspensions … re-opening of cases and files … (of course closing of a huge pile of cases too … like Taj corridor case) …

A couple of bloggers from IBN Live has just rightly put their thoughts here and here… and they match my thoughts too … There are few more reasons why we should be really scared … she knows no fear! She’s the one who openly asks from money … creates mockery of the system, is openly corrupt … takes things into her hand directly … doesn’t have a org structure … no media spokesperson … no left hands and right hands (advisors) … which ensures all the strategies to herself and no leakages and goof ups …

I still can’t believe that she won … with a complete majority … in a very much controlled elections … there cold be only two things that has happened … either she drugged people with money (unlikely though) … or people have thought a better devil than others (she being upfront on what she likes/dislikes and being corrupt; while others have a tendency of saying something and doing something) …

I just remember a line for school hindi texts … ‘Maya maha thagni, hum jani’ … and I am not too sure if even God knows what’s in for UP.

PS: these are my personal opinion and holds no legal value …

Spidy 3 … thumbs down

2007-05-15T14:52:00.000+05:30

Spiderman 3 was far away from the expectations … and I am more surprised how movie buffs reviewed is “must watch” … I am sure even kids mustn’t have like the movie … the only thing that was good was the graphics (animation) … and that’s it … a movie with no storyline … sick emotion … and utter confusion !!! Well, that’s how I’ll sum up this one …

For those who were planning to see … I’ll suggest getting the VCD/DVD home and seeing it (in fast forwarding mode) …

PS: this is my 100th post …

Mr. Bean …

2007-05-07T15:59:00.001+05:30

This weekend I saw Mr. Bean’s Holiday …

It was Mr. Bean at his usual … hilarious if you like him … and boring if you have seen him too many times… the movie has nice cinematography … with beauty of France fully explored …

If you like Mr. Bean … must watch … but I think this might be his one of the lasts … he did looked little old in this one …

A B Baby …

2007-04-23T22:07:00.000+05:30

Well AB and AR are celebs and of course their wedding is certainly a news element and should be made part of the 30 mins time slot. But imagine 3 days just devoted for this … the research includes who’s invited and who’s not … for instance the new debate is going on as to why are Khans and Kumars not invited… who’s coming and who’s not … why is Sr Ambani been seen when he’s political rival of ABs and Jr Ambani… minute by minute report as what’s happening at their respective residence … who came … when they came … how long they stayed … there is no end to any of these irrelevant stories which though are part of page 3 … are currently on page 1!!!

And what the heck is happening to me… why am I writing this crap and so long!!!

Stop!

Education vs. Sex Education

2007-04-20T22:06:00.000+05:30

“We don’t need no sex education” – front page head lines on Bangalore Times (the city supplement to TOI) …

It’s only few months, when so many schools were closed for they were teaching in English medium! … I think gov should focus on primary education more than whether secondary education has sex education as curriculum. With changing dynamics of cultural make up, having awareness of sex and more importantly safe sex is really a must.

Few of very prominent reasons I feel that can effect children widely include glamorization of TV serials, movies, magazines, news channels and news papers, advertisements and other media elements … every damn place is filled with sleaze… just because they say that it sells! … Can you prevent kids from it??? The answer is simple NO! From this perspective, creating proper understanding of the related aspects is not only essential but should be mandatory.

But this is beyond the understanding of gov … as they need another new stupid agenda to divert themselves from the issues which concerns more (for instance – primary education and its development) …

Just Married …

2007-04-12T11:13:00.000+05:30

NO… it’s not about me… it’s about the movie…

I think every one who’s up for an arranged marriage should (rather must) see this movie… (yes! finally I saw this last week)… it might not help you with what to do … but will definitely help you with what not to do!!! Also it brings out, very subtly, various problems and emotions one faces irrespective of his existing relationships (different type of relationships) …

I also saw Honeymoon Travels … another funny movie on the similar lines … story wise nothing wise in it … but again it also brings out different emotions one might go through post marriage …

There was another movie on the same lines – ‘salam-e-ishq’ which I haven’t seen yet … and from the reviews I have read … I don’t think I need another doze!!!

Who's Next!!!

2007-04-03T09:14:00.000+05:30

First it was Pakistan ...
Woolmer lost his life and Inzy his captaincy and cricket! (retirement!)
many others in the line of fire...

Then it was India ...
Kumble retiring from ODI...
Blame game shooting across the team including Dravid and Chappel - who are being asked to step down from their respective positions...
Sachin being asked to step down from cricket ... (yeah! retirement...)

Now ... its West Indies ...
after 3 matches in a row and almost out of the final 4 for WC, the blame game is started ...
Lara is being asked to step down ...

... who's next ...

What a loss…

2007-03-26T14:15:00.000+05:30

Aah!!! World Cup – 2007 … I am sure it must have given jitters to whole lot of people … a terrible loss… cricket … naah… (It’s not even worth talking about) … I am concerned about huge amount of money that went into WC as so call “religious” campaign … companies like nike, sahara, LG, tata sky … (to name a few) … who made a gamble over our over hyped Indian cricket team … they knew India won’t win the WC… but super 8 was no where gone … and the chances of being in final 4 was calculated … some news channel did an estimate of something like 400 C!!! Whoa … that’s a magnanimous amount … and why forget bookies … poor folks … I can’t even think of the amount …

What a financial loss…

Movies I saw last month…

2007-03-20T13:42:00.000+05:30

A couple of new and a not-so-old one …

Bas Ek Pal …
This was a lovely movie with very beautiful songs … nicely and simple putting the complexities of relationships … the best part was when you don’t feel the complexities till the middle of the movie … the start is so simple that it could happen to you too …

Water …
AARRRGGGH…. This movie is too slow for me to sit … agree that the direction for the topic was good … caste played their role well … but then it was too slow… further I really do not appreciate this topic at this juncture … agree it was a topic of pre-independence, it has very little relevance in today’s scenario. A widow home system which has been shown in the movie is the thing of past and reflects a black mark on our society and culture … something I personally would not like to bring upon especially at an international platform of Oscars … had it been still prevalent in today (probable exception in extreme rural India) – this could have been a good piece. But still, this needed a bit more pace!

Traffic Signal …
Not to my expectation … coming from MB – the punch was missing … his earlier movies hit the audience hard… this one was loose… it was like just an incident … it happened and over …

Though I never used to give any beggar anything … now it’s definite no-no … even if the person is actually needy …

Holi – Day…

2007-03-05T11:10:00.000+05:30

This weekend it was Holi – the festival of colors… and it’s been ages I played holi. Due to some reasons or the other, holi always eluded away from me. Last I remember was way back in 1992 or 93… something like that… it used to be pure fun… it was colors only… in the mohalla, I remember we used to have a big tub like place where we used to mix colors and use it as our storage tank… senior members did with gulal and mid age and us kids with the storage tank… for any mischief we were put into that storage tank … and then with the gang of friends going around (actually walking) through the city and neighborhood, visiting different mohallas and other friends … in the evening dress up new and start visiting friends home for home made goodies (gujhiya, mathari, besan laddoos,...) … from one place to another and one house to another … the growing the gang … and ending up at a local holi-milan samaroh, where some band party /orchestra would be singing and trying to entertain the people…

Things started to change when people started looking forward to what is called ‘pakka rang’ – strong color which lasts longer … and it went on to things beyond colors like varnish and paints … and now to mud to anything possible! (Yuck!)

This holi too was just another holiday for me (though it didn’t make any difference being on weekend) … with most of the friends spread across the globe – the get together doesn’t happen … and with busy and fast nuclear families … the fun is also lost … now its just lets stay over home yaar … why waste so much of energy in it…

Thrilled …

2007-02-24T16:01:00.000+05:30

Last fortnight I saw two thrillers …
- Layer Cake (Daniel Craig, Matthew Vaughn)
- Departed (Leonardo DiCaprio,Matt Damon,Jack Nicholson,Mark Wahlberg,Martin Sheen)

Amazing movies … both of them based on mafia … are a MUST SEE if you like thrillers …

A bit of caution: both have bloody brutal action and language!!

Modern Economics …

2007-02-16T13:47:00.000+05:30

With recent news snippets … I am little confused with the economics I learnt in school…

Figures in approx …

GDP at 9.1%
Inflation at 6.7%

Petrol Prices go down by a rupee (or two)...
Vegetable and Fruits prices shoots up by 20%-300%...

Sensex/Market is up …
Home loan interest rates also up …

Any Guesses what's FM planning for the budget 2007!!!

On the contrary …

2007-02-13T10:37:00.001+05:30

Saw “Guru” last weekend … and my review for the movie is on the other side of the popular one… no doubt about the technical aspects … to the perfection …

However, with little (almost nil) knowledge about the life history of Dhirubhai and having bias of other reviews and comments so far … my expectations with the Mani Ratnam movie was way too high. There were many instances which could be done away with … like two song / dance sequence with ash … (no enmity with her) … but in a movie like this … the intro dance of ash seemed just out of place. Further, the dance at the time of separation of the couple … a dance with a happy note seemed out of context; though the song was extremely good and was perfect with the sequence, should have been filmed in a different way … then again towards the end … a person coming out of paralysis in two weeks time seems really “filmy” …

2007-02-08T12:12:00.000+05:30

Why is it that most of the recruiters (read recruitment / resource managers) don’t have even a vague idea of what they are calling candidate for … further when the interview takes place … the direction of the discussion is way too different than the expectations set! Worst still, with multiple rounds happening, each of the rounds talks of contradicting roles!! … Seemingly they too don’t know what for they are interviewing any candidate for …

It is not the first time that I have faced this scenario … a lot of my friends also go through the same … and it just reminds me of a cartoon displaying a simple IT scenario of customer requirement and delivery of a swing!

Another issue I face with recruiters is, that they will put you into something that you have been doing … and not a level above based on the past scenario … (well this is a bit of catch-22 scenario) … and further they’ll definitely not hire you for a different role – relevancy of the work-ex (I wonder how to define a relevancy of the prior work ex in a particular field – especially in the case of management roles) …

58 years and going …

2007-01-29T13:51:00.000+05:30

Our constitution celebrated 58th birthday this 26th of January 2007. Most of our prominent TV News Channels (NDTV/ IBN Live/ Times Now) are focusing on India … India Poised … State of the Nation … Brand India … India 2020 … mostly debating or discussing over the current issues and potential opportunities for India as Global nation. From Delhi to Davos, India is making its presence felt across. I think media played a major role in creating the awareness (good, bad, or ugly) …

One of such ugly aspect of the world against India came into picture – racism … yes the Shetty’s case … well it was just one of the incidents that came into picture and got hyped courtesy media … (this time nothing against media) … but the question remains … is India still looked down upon … I think that’s a never ending debate with too many examples for the either side… however, I just looked inward … within India … we have too many divisions … though none can be classified under the true definition of racism, but it is nothing less than that either… whether it is caste, class, money (or lack of it), gender, occupation, … you name it and it will be there … and then we create a hue and cry over racism.

If this is the way we are dividing ourselves with every new possible way … whatever we progress in the new economy … the positive effect would nullify … and the dream of superpower economy by end of 2020 will just remain a dream. And as we used to boast of our glorified history … we’ll just continue harping over the current global acceptance!

The year that wasn’t …

2006-12-29T10:19:00.000+05:30

Trying to put a dialog with me and my alter-ego!

I need a girlfriend …
Nah! You are too old for that … and then that wasn’t in the objectives even …

OK … I was to get married … at least get engaged!
Hmm… you didn’t try too hard! And it wasn’t ur responsibility either … remember you outsourced it to your parents!!!

I was to get a fat pay check ...
Think again … do you think you deserved it…

Ok … at least a good raise
Think again ... what have u done to earn that!!!

What about my onsite trip …
U did made a visit to UK… so what if it was hardly 2 days…

Having a better work-life balance …
Whoa! … you can’t have the cake and eat it too! You need a big pay check and a work life balance! … Get practical. Buddy … you need to get a life first …

OK OK … that’s it … the New Year resolution … (and before I could finish)
Repeat the old set!!!

The tale of two weddings ...

2006-12-26T11:42:00.000+05:30

My home visit this vacation saw two of very close friends got married. I was able attend wedding of one and reception of another. Considering their wedding was separated by just a day, only one of them was possible to attend.

I came home and stayed over for two days. The third day I was off to Lucknow to attend Dr A’s wedding. He’s getting married to another Dr (college junior though) – but an arranged wedding (really surprise factor!). My entrance at his place started with me to take up responsibility of the grooming of the groom!!! Yes … I had to decide what he’s going to wear for his Jaimaal, Pheras and further ceremonies – added with Sr A’s selection too … after a long puja – the barat started – this gentleman was too scared to sit on horse – so Honda city was called for. Barat took its own sweet time to reach the destination … at the destination too – some puja and then jaimaal – and then photo sessions – and then dinner. Post dinner, only family members were remaining for the pheras. Pandits took their time to do the entire ceremony while I spent time chatting with A’s sis. By the time pheras ended and other related ceremonies from the bride side ended it was early morning 5am! … Post vidai we returned home with some more ceremonies waiting … Ah!!! Too many of them … (I am wondering what’ll happen to me when I’ll be the bakra!) … finally I said good bye to the newly wedded couple by 11 and headed back to home. It was almost close to 40 hr non-stop no-sleep which led me in a dizzy state by the end of it…

The next day I had to prepare for another trip … since the wedding was next day of Dr A’s, we (me and AN) decided to attend the reception instead. AN boarded his flight in Delhi on time … but got delayed due to ATC!!! (Imagine 12 planes queued up for take off)… finally AN landed in Lucknow where we just roamed around H’zrt Ganj and straight to my home. The next day we went to Allahabad to catch another train to PT’s home … PT is the guy who got married… the wait for the train at the Allahabad station was the one I am sure AN wouldn’t forget his life … though we started just 4 hrs late, by the time we reached the destination, the train was almost 7 hrs late … phew … the reception was uneventful (by our standards … it was good) … the next day PT came to us (our hotel) so that he can actually catch some sleep which he needed desperately … for the return journey the train which was to take us back arrived just short of 12 hrs late. Thankfully it started just a couple of hours late from the origin station … and reached our destination without more delay … though the woes was increased as there was no pantry car in the train … and the route was also dry in terms of food, drinks, and ... ahem ... The only good part of the over all journey was that we got free upgrades to AC2 from AC3 (which I got booked under tatkal scheme). It was late evening by the time we reached home after catching another train from Allahabad.

After seeing and hearing both the weeding woes … I am really scared!!!

Delhi Metro…

2006-12-26T11:37:00.000+05:30

En-route to my home, I made an overnight transit visit to Delhi and this time I took some time out to take a ride on Delhi Metro. It was little nostalgic – as about close to two decades ago I took a joy ride on Calcutta Metro – the first in India. Then I was kid and it was really fun to go underground levels and enter a totally different “clean” zone of Calcutta – a centrally air cooled and sparkling clean floors … trains having automatic doors for opening and closing with a radio welcoming and notifying of the stations coming forth and also the announcement of side of the platform and doors opening and closing.

A similar experience I revisited at Delhi Metro. The only difference was the route I took at Delhi was over the roads and in Cal it was totally underground. Today however, Cal Metro is crowded like anything – especially in the office hours. It being cheap (though relatively expensive), people are now using Cal Metro as an alternative mode of daily commutation. I think in Delhi is reaching that stage fast – though expensive (and relatively inexpensive) – public is rapidly taking it as an alternative safe transportation system. It also suits Delhi as a National Capital!!!

But I think there is still need for feeder services (of either auto-ricks or buses) from Metro Stations to smaller areas in Delhi – something like in Mumbai – may be its there – but I didn’t notice!

Whatever it is … I think it’s a good means of commutation and other state govts should use it as an example for their key cities … Bangalore – anyone listening!!!

OO7 … Bond … James Bond!

2006-12-04T11:44:00.000+05:30

Have been trying to catch up the bond classics on star movies last few weeks … still - missed out few of them … and finally saw Casino Royale … the latest flick of Ian Flemings’ creations.

My review …

The new Bond – he’s good … Sean was Classy and Peirce was Charming … Craig is Tough! He’s different, but suits the “bond” profile. Great body and looks, and uses more brains (at least in his first movie) than the gadgets …

The Movie – the first few minutes were AWESOME! … The chase sequence on a construction site in middle of Africa (or wherever!) was simply superb … however, the movie loses pace with sudden end of story and dramatic (?!) ending with bond girl giving a negative touch and M justifying her negativism!

Damn! I missed Q!!!

Memories down the Delhi lane …

2006-11-27T17:32:00.000+05:30

For my business visa, they asked me to visit Delhi (rather than Chennai) … and when I booked my acco – they gave me in Malviya Nagar … this triggered the nostalgia … it was `94 when I lived in this place for almost an year … a quite of the main road having a small market of its own … with very friendly people … I was taking a pre-JEE coaching from IIT Study Circle (at Green Park) and used to stay here… I had my first hand of cooking here only … there were four of us … a cousin of mine studying in DPS-RKP, and two other – who were with me in the same coarse. They were Manavendra and Bhupendra – both from Bihar – but extremely different from their nature. Bhupi was quite, shy and philosophical while Manu was body builder type – a “bihari” as we normally perceive – but very studious. There were few buses we used to take to commute between home and center. It was my first face-to-face with the real world – literally.

My stay at Mlv’ngr was very short this time – couldn’t even visit the market. After I returned from visa interview, I immediately went to a friends’ place in Gurgaon – where I had luxury of having home cooked food. I relaxed a lot and caught up with a good pal of mine – and a great time. The next day, I returned to Delhi – with another good friend and stayed over his place … it was good catching up with him – especially when I couldn’t make it for his wedding. The Sunday was devoted to one of my best friends – whom I met after a long-long time. It was really fun shopping for her – we went over so many shops hunting for few winter wears … finally we got some at West Side at lajpat. After a few more general shopping – it was time to bid her good buy too … and that was my visit to Delhi. I know, there are lots of friends whom I initially planned to meet … but couldn’t – simply because of my laziness …

Finally I saw LRM …

2006-10-16T18:26:00.000+05:30

The movie was entertaining and thought provoking … though I am still not convinced if the concept of gandhigiri would work to an extent… a common man (like me) just cannot survive on the philosophies of MKG… simply because those are too harsh to live …

So far, (am to a great extent even today) – I am not a follower of MKG… but some of the principals I saw in the movie – I have been following them through out my life… not because MKG said… but because my environment taught me so… like honesty and truthfulness (ppl who know me … know I am very bad at lies)… try to resolve issues peacefully and with a thought process … but it doesn’t mean that I don’t lie… I lie / cheat a lot … sometimes to myself too … I don’t think always good for everyone in my life… I am selfish and money minded … things which do not belong to the Gandhian principals…

Another reason why Gandhigiri might not be very effective – is that ppl don’t slap / use lathis anymore … they just shoot … and there is no second chance… further, ppl today are too busy with their own daily issues to wait for anything to happen!!! It’s a race and everyone wants to win … (or at least continue racing till he lasts) … Gandhigiri requires patience… which is something at a scarcity at large.

Bottom line is Gandhigiri is tough … not impossible … but requires high level of will power and inner strength …

Note: after hearing a lot of debate on the word “gandhigiri” through media … I hv only one thing to say … if Gandhigiri is to dadagiri, then Gandhi-ism is to terrorism …

Pyar ke side effect…

2006-10-09T09:33:00.000+05:30

After long time I saw some movie… and this one was fantastic…

Too good … I’ll say everyone who’s yet to marry or is about to… should see this one… it not only talks about pyar ke side effects – it also talks about engagement ke side effect and break up ke side effects and also touches upon shaadi ke side effects…

Rahul Bose has again given his best … PKSE really (subtly) touches the pain points of being in committed and is interesting to see stupidity people can go thru…

Hilarious …

Nokia N73

2006-10-02T01:49:00.000+05:30

Just bought myself a new phone after a long wait… upgrading myself from Nokia 3310 (yes I was using the ancient one) … to Nokia N Series – N73 with 3.2 Mega Pixel camera (Carl Zeiss Optics) and amazing music system (3-D sound!!!) and a large screen …

Though there are plenty of apps which I don’t think so I’ll be using – but when compared to Sony-Ericsson K 790i (I was about to buy this one) – Nokia was way too good looking!

… so far it has been a bit of expensive (& luxury) expense of mine!

PDA at workplace

2006-09-25T12:02:00.000+05:30

It’s not Personal Digital Assistant I am talking about – it’s Public Display of Affection at the workplace …

I am not against PDA per se, but at office – in open spaces or canteens, where senior management also walks around along with the customers, I think PDA is a bit inappropriate and embarrassing for the visitors too. I agree that today the avg age in the software industry has gone to college age – in fact the initial few months or at least the training period is considered an extension of college, but that’s no reason not to maintain discipline. Worse, folks, who have been there in the organization for long, are now joining the band – re-living their youth!!!

I think – office space needs a bit more of “formal” environment and culture – need to maintain a sense of dignity, and should not be treated as just another public place …

I rest my case.

Late, as usual …

2006-09-08T18:44:00.000+05:30

Well this post was supposed to go on Sept 5th … the teacher’s day… and I am late, as usual. I still remember my school days when we (students) used to take up roles of teachers that day and occupy princi’s office, teachers room,… take classes and throw a party to our teachers…

Teachers, at least when I was in school, had a different aura of themselves. Not all were good and thus respected too … but there was a difference… as time flew, the quality of the faculty at every level of education, especially towards higher classes, has been deteriorating... teachers have been complaining about the quality of students enrolling has been degrading … students claim that the teachers are not qualified / knowledgeable enough to take the class…

I think, it’s a cyclic issue and resulting in nothing but overall degradation – both in quality of student (and then resulting in citizens) and thus the society at large. If we look deeper in to the profiles of the teachers in schools today, we’ll find most of them are there not because they want to teach and share knowledge, but either to have income without too much of effort or they could find any other job … (I won’t say better!) …

I think there is extreme lack of incentive to teach – esp. in schools and colleges… as I have seen many of them taking tuitions and extra classes for many of their students after the school hours to get some extra cash … in fact a lot of them run a scheme where in they make mandatory to have extra classes / tuitions if the student wants to pass / get some extra marks … and in this competitive environment where in even 95% is less, students are left with no choice but to please their masters …

Also, a lot of them are really incapable of teaching… they are there because they couldn’t be anywhere… and the frustration is obvious … resulting in poor academic grooming of students … there was a time when teachers’ had all the answers… looks like the days are over now… another set of teachers are house wives … who want to kill their day time when their hubbies are out on roads … also to get some extra income. Well that’s not bad, but at least there should be intention of teaching …

Moving to the higher education level … the scene is more than pathetic … apart from IIT’s and few of the NITs (earlier RECs) there are hardly any college with a good strength of faculty … a lot of them are their own students who don’t get placed start their post graduation and then doctorate to become faculty … but if you see their up bringing in the education scenario – it’s again way behind … as these folks (most of them) … actually do a lot of copy paste stuff rather than the actual research … to be assessed by some faculties who came through the same route … understandably their knowledge would also be limited … and similar case is their in the management section … I am not aware of the other sect of the education umbrella and therefore I am not going to comment on them …

We have been hearing quite often that students are not respecting teachers … I say those who say this are wrong… absolutely wrong … actually they don’t deserve that respect in the first place… you don’t ask respect … you gain respected … students do respect if they respect students and their feelings and their goals of life … if they create a learning environment rather than imposing literature (education can never be imposed) … emphasize on thought process rather than book …

One of the key reasons that we have dearth of good teachers/ faculty is the remuneration thus generated is too feeble to clear up the living expenses … I think if teaching is seen as a profession with high quality and then high income – it’ll gain more attention. If we compare from the schools and univs across the ocean, the faculty out there gets much higher packages than that in India. Pay high for a quality (entry condition and penalties clauses will work wonders) – I am sure many will come forward …

A quick visit to another world …

2006-09-04T10:00:00.000+05:30

My first On-site trip is full of experience …

Highlights…

I got myself upgraded to Business Class on British Airways… trust me … its different!

However, as usual, with a lost mind… I forgot to take the receipt of my first dinner (that was nearly GBP 25)… arhhh…

OK… to begin …

I was supposed to travel blr-lhr direct … however, unavailability of tickets forced me to travel through Delhi, and all the travel itinerary got pre-pone to early evening from late night… a hush-hush from office and I was off to Delhi… Thanks to Alu, who came at airport on my request and stayed with me till wee early morning when I went in for check-in. Check in was smooth… I was the first on the counter and he asked me if I was feeling lucky … (apart from usual questions) … and I said I think so … he asked me I would like to upgrade to B-class (from earlier – world class plus – a level above economy)… I said why not!!! … He gave me a B-Class window seat! (I was definitely feeling lucky). Further moving to immigration, though guy looked at my photo many times (my photo in Visa and Passport don’t exactly match… they just manage)… but then he really didn’t ask anything… after that the wait period was awful… there was relatively nothing you could do… with eyes drooping and head spinning… it was really difficult to stay up!

Finally when I boarded the plane, it was different from what I have seen B-Class sections earlier … one gets his own space … in isolation … and seats in pair arranged in diagonally facing with a dividing curtain … and I was seated with reverse direction … (it was not so good feeling) … and then my neighbor managed to spill my juice on my seat! Ouch!

The rest of the flight was peaceful … breakfast was superb … I haven’t seen a “thick” spanish omelet … it was really delicious… there were few movies running in their entertainment section (including a few new ones) … but my headache didn’t let me do justice to them…

While the flight was moving over our neighbor - afgans, the sight was unexpected … it was different… huge ranges of hills and mountains with literally no vegetation… a few lines of greenery could be seen on the river marks (it could be river itself, but I was more than sure it was human habitat than just the river) … vast lands with no growth in vicinity … even then it was having a beauty of its own.

I reached my destination in time (actually a little before) … and immigration was smooth. Then we (my boss and other team members came by another flight) … started our further journey by car to our final destination … it was a long ride…

Few things which amazed me of this place was the adherence to the signs and traffic sense… the highway was such that you can’t take a U-turn in the middle of the road… there were places where in some work was going on … the speed limits were on… and all the vehicles actually followed those limits… within the town/city … it was more prominent … whatever speed you are coming, for a pedestrian you have to give way… even if the road is empty, you don’t jump signals… you give way to the vehicles over the circles … you follow lanes … in a three lane-road, you are only in the lane where you need to go and don’t jump lanes in between, even if the side lanes are empty and you are in a BIG queue …

Another thing that amazed me was the adherence to the work-life balance (or so to speak), most of shops close by 6pm (even if the sunset was closer to 8pm) … even the coffee shops close … the only things that are open are food joints (not all) … and pubs.

I have now traveled in Mercedes Benz (car and van), BMW, Porsche, and London Taxi … yay!!!

My return was a direct flight in economy class and let me tell you there is a good difference between b-class and economy class…

It was a good trip overall … and now back to Hosur Road in Bangalore … grrr….

The adolescent India … Part 1

2006-08-17T15:24:00.000+05:30

Celebrating 59th Independence Day, India, on Aug 15th 2006, is still in its adolescence.

Since 1947, India grew rapidly … though attacked by the “friendly” neighbors be it Pak or China … and the helper Russians got themselves dissolved … though the initial steps were extremely focused did little good, were necessary … what went wrong was the flow of national capital was too focused for the 5 years and then the focus shifted absolutely out of sync … be it operation green or operation flood … or opening of public sectors to create employment or 20-20 program… (aka sarkari naukri) … the new age revolution did start in 80’s but today’s politics’ crab mentality is now hampering the growth India is destined to … further, there are multiple smaller pockets of separatists who still believe that they need an individual identity e.g. Maoists and Naxals – spreading through half the states in the country… However, thanks to Information Technology (I.T.) revolution with liberated communication channels and the progressive attitude, India has made it’s presence being felt in the world (namely US & EU) …

Having said that, I believe, India is still in its adolescence … still long way towards maturity …

One of the aspect, which I feel, is diminishing among us (including me) is that of nationalism … we are thinking and acting in our self interests without really looking forward to what’s its big picture look like … to a great extent the reason for such thinking lies in the leadership of our nation – political and economical … we have been witness to a number of incidents (factual or rumored) about politicians and leading business honchos working towards creating loop holes and making modifications in the constitution itself to achieve their personal agendas. Most often than not, they all have a common agenda … let me make some more money and very quickly … by any means… and this is what translates the repercussions down the ladder to the common man, where he has no other option left with him than to steal (be it tax, or power, or anything) … which is of course not in the national interest.

Today we have actually put India on to the global map, however, within ourselves we still need to clean ourselves and necessitate a paradigm shift to survive. Some of the key survival necessities have changed its face during the last 6 decades…

to be continued …

F.R.I.E.N.D.S …

2006-08-11T23:20:00.000+05:30

Friends, without whom the life is meaningless … remembering few of them on the friendship day (and week!) … (in random order)

Alu (aka Nike) – no words would describe this man … a sagi to the core … amazing mind … almost photographic memory … lazy, extravagant, gamer, techie, … we’ve been thru ups and downs of life together… questioning life!

Amit-Sindhu – a perfect couple complimenting each other in all the aspects… amit is more like me… lean mean machine… lazy and business minded … sindhu is far better off us… ensures the balance…

Medda – this sale and marketing manager can sell anything to anyone … with strong fundas about every thing under the sun… a real life womanizer… and a great buddy …

Pandey ji – this man of principles has very strong likes and dislikes … artist by heart and geek by minds … a trustworthy guy, philosopher and a great friend …

Anand-Alok – band of brothers... childhood memories … school mischief mongers … Anand the house-man (now husband and father) and Alok – the sleeping brain … (I still wonder how does this guy remembers so much)…

Ani – the hard core marketing fellow moving into hard core finance is really amazing thing of this quiz-whiz… from love to life we have talked about eternity during our late college night-outs…

Atul – he was the jack of all - sales guy … and is in sales!!! I am sure his wife needn’t worry for a chit chat!!! … finding simple solutions to seemingly complex problems…

Bhupi – the sardar of my life… a philosopher, a guide and a friend … nothing is impossible for this man … from winning a competition of eating maximum chapattis (well those were more of rubbery – college canteen stuff) … to working continuously for days without sleeping!!! Patience and determination are his in-built aspects … the poet has been there whenever I needed him…

Laksh – this hard-core orthodox tam fell in love with punju … the dedication (of studies) in due course of time turned into tides of laziness… the soft-n-sweet creature has an ability to leave people on-spots with her amazing power of “sharp” memory! Duh!!

Kaddu – charming looks and magnetic personality… this guy had all the traits of womanizer… a friend with whom I had tough time too (perfect traits of a Gemini) … but what’s the friendship if it can’t last the tough times! We shared a lot of good times in college, be it studies or freaking out… or a late night discussion over tea! This guy is happily married now J … poor girls …

Goel – a man of golden heart … guts ... and brilliant mind … full of life even after his marriage …

Mendi – well if I am chaos… he’s chaotic chaos… I think that’s what binds us :D

Lalitgu – patience is his second name … the silent mover has always given results when I lost all hopes!

Mahi – the miss-call lady will never call you … you better call her on time or face the music! Sharing cribs is our mutual hobby J

Manasi – the down-to-earth lady … with so much close to life … amazing sensitivity, dedication and grace … I am at a loss of words to outline her!

Baba – the whiz kid … highly temperamental … philosophical … articulative … cribber … blogger … consultant!

Nits – the lady from chandigarh had no punju qualities … absolute down-to-earth … confused to core … sensitive … stubborn … dedicated to work!!!

Thaks – the man in tension… can take six months to decide on a pair of shoes … has distinct likes and dislikes … high level of fundas of life …

Rahul – smiling Buddha – nay… he’s just smiling fatso maru … with an extra large heart … the big man always thinks BIG!

Sind – the bubbly chubbly – intelligent (!) – lovable lady … ready for adventures and fun … mom of a beautiful princess now…

Shalini – sweet, beautiful, soft, and just a girl (& not the girlfriend)!

Hyacie – a cute and dumb girl with artistic mind and musical heart – knows her world well enuf…

Few others who’ll always be in my heart …
Kaka, Pondy, Murli, CP, JB, Amal, HP, Deba, Archie, Kish, Pussy, Shivam, Bharat, Kala, Jassi, Jackal, MD, Meril, CS, Senti, Anurag, Vinay, Roma, Shruti, Shreekar, …

This list actually doesn’t have an end per se … but it is good having so many of them …

Wife hunt …

2006-08-03T17:40:00.000+05:30

Well that’s what I am up to these days…

I didn’t do a girlfriend hunt earlier (hmm… you can have all the wild imaginations of me not getting any ‘bhav’ and “sour grapes” too) … thinking that parents will anyway not accept any non-sense from me and would stick to their ‘choice’ of ‘bahu’ …

Well things started well… parents initiated a lot of action on this front… and then when dad got a bit too busy with his business issues, he ‘outsourced’ the job to me! So since last month … I must have seen (rather scanned) more than 500 profiles of ‘prospects’ … and filtering and filtering applying “rules” … these included scanning through the sites (like shaadi.com, jeevansathi.com, bharatmatrimony.com, agarwal2agarwal.com) and profiles that came in through the “family” networking…

So, now I am doing the first few levels of the filtering and passing on to dad for further research (basically family oriented research) and filtering … and hope that we reach to few prospects whom we (me and dad) can mutually agree on to take further actions…

Wish me luck!

Chaotic Silence…

2006-07-04T18:41:00.000+05:30

Is silence a sign of defeat!

Or is it a sign of a precursor to the volcano of deep down frustrated anger…

Or is it a sign of wisdom!!!

I remember I used to be very vocal… (at least till half my life at work life before management) … however, slowly I am finding myself moving into the deep caves of silence… sometimes it’s very un-nerving, chaotic and deafening … you can’t just bear the screams of silence within you… on the other hand … it also gives me a feeling of ‘nothing can’t be done’… a defeat… a fear… a state of mind which has given up … but then it is this silence which stirs you and calms you down … further, it is this silence within which I do think about things and make plans and schedules … and actually think about every thing under my purview!!! … Is this effect of knowledge or wisdom gained!!!

Confused… so am I…

Any thoughts …

In the darkness of ‘Power’

2006-06-16T10:01:00.000+05:30

It’s really weird that the constituency of the most powerful person (or at least one of them) is denied of electricity; ironically the district has a power plant (NTPC). This is the tussle between Congress and SP – and the city I am talking about is none other than Raebareli – Sonia Gandhi’s (Congress President) constituency …

Raebareli has always been in the news for all the VIP level political reasons … but never was provided with the similar treatment… devoid of all the development activities and funding since the time of Indira and Rajiv, it is still one of the most back laid towns in UP … and today, the issues have gone too wild…

Just before by-elections, Raebareli was given 24 hrs power supply – in a SP led govt in state – with a thought that people might out vote Ms Gandhi … well the Congress old fort had anyway different thoughts… and results are obvious… today the situation is that even though there is a NTPC power plant in the district, Raebareli is virtually living in darkness… as the daily power supply is around just 8 hrs – 10hrs (which is also not certain)

Due to this politics of ‘power’ … a city lives in darkness… I can really feel the pain of the students…

Press or Judiciary???

2006-06-16T09:57:00.000+05:30

It has been continuously increasing trends in the press media (read news agencies) to move into investigative journalism … however I think that the press is biting a bit too big than it can swallow… till press represents all the facts and figures and take proper responsibilities (as they take credit) for their analysis (which is of course no less than a fairy tale) … it’s OK… but the moment they come into questioning into someone like the courts do… it’s offensive, rude, intruding, and in my opinion, beyond the boundaries of press…

One of the recent incidents, while I was surfing thru channels, I noticed some discussion on one of the recent cases where in the correspondent/ press analyst was grilling on some lady … Qs like where was she in the middle of night… how many phone calls she made… whom did she called and why & what did they talk about… the press actually made an analysis that if you (she) talk to someone (some he) for long in the wee hours well almost daily (they actually managed to get the call history of the lady) – you are in affair with that guy!!!

Whatever, I am strongly against this and especially when press cooks delicious stories (actually sagas) around something that never existed… especially when they don’t even realize and have concern for the impact it will create (constructive and destructive is second thought) … especially trying to be a moral police and judiciary – making or breaking anyone’s life!

I don’t say that all channels are same… but as time passes the maturity level of today’s press is on a decline and which is definitely not good for countries progress.

What Next…

2006-06-06T18:35:00.000+05:30

Quota & Reservation Strike…

It ended few days back… but the issue remains open at large… the NDTV Big Fight was worth a watch … few points (rather assumptions) to take away… and I sincerely question these…

- Since parliament is elected by people – every decision it makes is constitutional and for the people…
- It really doesn’t matter if the data is 2 decades old…
- Supreme Court is not the supremo! … It’s the parliament
- If it were not the SC rule of 50% min for General class… the OBC would have been even bigger…
- Govt talking about the moral values
- Govt trying to justify the number 27% …

Politics & Morality

President of India returned the ‘Office of Profit’ bill for re-structuring… and BJP comes out and states ‘victory of morality’ …

I seek an answer from the same BJP spokesperson… where has your morality gone past few weeks when the students of India went on agitation against reservations… how come I didn’t hear a single voice from opposition criticizing the actions of the present govt… (as I here every time there is something really constructive happening)… I presume that the opposition is also looking for the same policy for their vote bank – claming that since the present govt couldn’t do it… we’ll do it … and then they talk of moral values!!!

TAX – MAN!!!

Looks like govt wants all of us to look for entrepreneur ship… read rediff

well from the new tax norms – (tax – returns filling) – only people from the salaried class seemed to be effected… I don’t understand … for all salaried class there is form 16 which you can’t evade – it’s the TDS by the company – and you can’t do much about it… for every other expenses there is TDS … on the other hand, the non-salaried class always find some loop to evade these stupid policies…

Media…

Why do I always come down to media bashing… well they end up doing really idiotic stuff …

It was a case of Rahul Mahajan and the channel was Aaj Tak… the discussion between media spokesperson and lawyer of 3 friends in loop… when Mr Lawyer showed skepticism towards answering few loop-holed Qs… this guy (with beard) … started his own story about how and what happened and added with in between whys too… though the lawyer refuted all what he said… it is now very evident what media cooks up and present… well something like turning plain dal to a five-star hotel’s afghani dish! I had fairly good impression about Aaj Tak… but now I’ll just say I had…

Cricket…

Something I am not good at…

The new player of the media box – W. Jaffer… you wanna know any of his history/ geography… tune into any news channel…

Social Welfare…

2006-05-06T23:33:00.000+05:30

Caution: Controversial & Opinionated

Y’day I had a major discussion with my boss on social welfare activities/programs done by any of the companies – private/public/govt… the focus area was on BPOs and the highly tense and demanding work environment and its impact on society at large.

The talk started with a general reference to a recent article in TOI on BPO providing the diet guide to its employees …

His (my boss) started with how deficiently the BPO folks are paid … well I countered him with the kind of skill and qualification they have they are getting more than they can digest. He argued – every industry (field) has its own requirement and with that BPO is served with deserving candidates – however the kind of work pressures they assume, the compensation might not be correct. Work pressure is not of working all night/ in shifts… it’s about number of calls (rather successful call)/ conversions/ and such similar stuff which virtually forces to employees to work extra (beyond the official deadlines) … resulting in social imbalance…

I countered – it better that the youth is occupied in constructive activities and earning its own pocket money (actually more than that) rather than destructive and terrorist activities (similar to what we faced in UP & Bihar few years ago … the unemployed youth taking up arms for their survival) … if we look to overall unemployment also – the BPO industry caters to large mass who is not able to get the professional qualification (may be due to personal problems if not intellect). I agree that every thing has its drawbacks but it really doesn’t mean that we can say they are creating social imbalance. And to the question of their rewards (pay scales) … I think the guys are getting more than they could have imagined few years back… and it’s the competitive world and the structure is very much governed by some of the simple laws of demand and supply… where there is need, there is higher salary…

Boss again argued – you can’t cut your hand to take care of your headache – just that the pain in arm will be more than that in the head! Because from my argument – child labor is right!!!

Well, I didn’t agree completely … the point I put forth had a different perspective… I said child labor per say is not right – BUT – if the same child is left for begging on the streets or die of hunger or gets into destructive activities – child labor is better than those things… however – this doesn’t mean that the child should be working like an adult as they actually are in many of the industries (most of them being hazardous) … they should be given an opportunity to grow and get themselves a decent living.

I still say a working kid is better than him begging … he’ll learn the life hard way … on the other hand if the child gets into begging… he’ll not be able to work anytime in his life… my belief is that if the child has access to his survival necessities (food & shelter) – he shall not be put into child labor… otherwise – it’s better for the child to fight for his survival.

We had to cut our discussion because of a phone call from big boss…

Comments are welcome (with no personal accusations)…

For every thing else there is CC…

2006-05-02T18:20:00.000+05:30

… sometimes coming of a family member (my mom this time) to your place becomes an expensive proposition… just spent around another 6 grand for Saris for mom apart from the additional house hold expenses and making of kitchen and her to-n-fro tickets – which thinned my wallet by a drastic measure… and as of today my CC bills are nearing my a month’s take home …

However … I have no regrets on what I am doing as every thing said … few things in this world are priceless… and for everything else…

May Day... May Day…

2006-05-02T18:18:00.000+05:30

I know it's a day late...

Well not necessarily I need help … but past few days the media has given me mouthful of food for thought… from reservations (aka Mandal-II – and the stir of the meds) to abduction-killing of an Indian engineer by Taliban in Afghanistan working for a Bahrain’s company (followed by the case of two wives and distribution of the survival kit!) …

Most thoughtful was the recent NDTV Big Fight on Celebrities involvement into the social activities (celebrity activism) and its commercialization… another interesting case was of cancellation of vacation of school and college teachers of govt. instt asking them to update and upgrade their skills…

Surprisingly, the Mahajan drama took a back seat among the recent happenings… which was the talk of the media circle … spreading from who Mahajan and his family is to the assumed motives of the act of his younger sib… hope he survives...

It’s a really situation of May Day… May Day… and SOS for India today… as Shabana said very rightly (NDTV Big Fight) … it’s good that media is seeking attention however – in a wrong way… they are talking about why Amir Khan is doing social activism (what’s motive of Amir to join social activism – is it related to his movies… ) rather than if Amir is coming there … what’s the root cause of the issue… and further … why should Amir be responsible for every other issues in the world just because he’s taking interest in one of the issues…

...reservations again...

2006-05-02T18:11:00.000+05:30

so far the best post on reservations I came across ...

http://alok-naik.blogspot.com/2006/05/quotas-again.html

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