The Place we live in & People we meet !

Thotlakonda and Bojjannakonda budhist sites

2011-01-30T18:53:00.011+05:30

Thotlakonda: Vishakhapatnam was once upon a time a great hub for budhist activities. We can find many ancient budhist sites nearby. The most famous being the Thotlakonda site. It is located on the very scenic sea side drive towards Bheemli. The ruins of the stupas and the quarters of the monks are located on a hill with a splendid view of hills on one side and the sea on the other.

Bojjannakonda rideMost of the travels i have been doing lately in coastal andhra were in cabs / buses / trains. I had been longing for the rush of freedom which only zooming my bike can give.

I located Bojjanna konda which was around 50 kms from Vizag. The pics on the net looked a little promising. So i just picked my jacket and got onto my bike.

The usually crowded highway was clear and i could happily cruise on 100 kmph without many breaks. The site is located just before entering Anakapalle from the highway near a village called Sankara which derives its name from Sangharam.

The ruins are believed to be dating around 4th century AD. The site acutally comprises of two adjacent hills called Bojjannakonda and Lingalakonda. That was the peak of activity, and historians believe after that era it decreased due to the rise of hinduism.

The main stupa is rock cut and encased in a brick structure.There are many rock cut caves which were possibly used for meditation or as a center of learning. There are many miniature Stupa like structures on the hill adjacent to Lingalakonda.

During the excavation they found many coins and earthenware dating to that era. One would expect them to be displayed near the site in a small museum, but despite being a protected site by the ASI... there is hardly anything except a board mentioning about the site briefly.

These sites were discovered in late 80's and pushed the history of Vizag back by 2000 years. Some even say that Vishakhapatnam derives its name from an ancient but very famous Budhist monk.

Sitaron se aage jahan aur bhi hain : Meaning

2010-12-22T19:23:00.004+05:30

Sitaron se aage jahan aur bhi hain
Abhi ishq ke imtehan aur bhi hain
Tahi zindagi se nahin ye fizayen
Yahan siakdon karwaan aur bhi hain

Khana’at na kar aalam-e-rang-o-bu par
Chaman aur bhi aashiyaan aur bhi hain
Agar kho gaya ek nasheman to kya ghum
Maqmat-e-aah-o-fughaan aur bhi hain

Tu shaheen hai parvwaaz hai kaam tera
Tere saamne aasmaan aur bhi hain
Isi roz-o-shab main ulajh kar na rah ja
Ke tere zameen par makaan aur bhi hain

Gaye din ke tanha tha main anjuman mein
Yahaan ab mere raazdaan aur bhi hain

A loose translation is given below:

Beyond the stars there are more worlds
Our quest yet has more tests to pass
This existence alone does not matter
There are boundless journeys ahead

Do not rest on what you have
There are many more paradises to explore
Why worry if you have lost one abode
There are a million worlds to claim

You are the falcon, flight is your passion
And you have higher skies to transcend
Lose not yourself in the cycle of days and nights
There are many more deeds within your reach

Gone is the day when I was lonely in the crowd
Today those who resonate my thoughts are around me

Mohammed Iqbal
Naujawaan ke Naam, Bal-e-Jibraeel, 1908

Birthdays. Facebook. Telephone

2010-10-24T01:04:00.001+05:30

I’ve heard a few cynics retort ‘Why do people celebrate birthdays .. ab bache thodi rahe?! ’. But ...there are a few good things about birthdays... some people try to make you feel special no matter who you are. A lot of people atleast acknowledge you existence and according to their priority list and where you stand - deal with you accordingly. In a few rare occasion you might even get a gift ! If your friends are insistent and you are gullible, you might even end up throwing a party. In the end you have good time for atleast a day for sure !

These days Facebook has made it very convenient to wish people on their birthdays and you don’t even have to worry about remembering their dates. The person being wished also knows that you might just have logged into your FB account !
I have noticed that people maintain a certain pecking order in dealing with birthdays:
1. If it’s a BFF or someone you have been trying to impress - they take the trouble of selecting and sending a gift !
2. If its a good friend - they might even call you to wish
3. In most of the other cases - they just copy paste ‘Happy birthday’ from the previous post on your profile
4. Since there are atleast 3 - 4 birthdays on most of the days - they are now posting Happy birthday X ,Y,Z in a single post - X , Y , Z are expected to go to their profile and thank for the wishes !

Since we have talked about wishing on phone i have also noticed a strange behaviour. Most of the times people tend to thing its rude / uncomfortable to say ‘bye’ and disconnect the phone. I have noticed weird ways of saying ab bahut ho gaya .. rakhte hai . Among my friends a few are below:

Sunil - What else dude (after every sentence)
Shanti - Oye .. mere boss ka phone a raha hai ( on a sunday ??? !! )
Sagar - Mera balance khatam ho gaya hai - tu call kar (after college who uses a pre-paid ... gawd!)
Vikas Soni - Aur sir sab badhiya .... ?
Arpit agarwal - Lagi padi hai yaar !
Shabda Raaj - Chal gaana ga / Ma_ _i se baat hua ?
Ankit Varshneya - Oye ..... ‘uska’ call a raha hai .. main baad mein karta hun !
Bikash - KK .... Shadi kab kar raha hai ?
Manik - Aur kaise chal raha hai (main itni der se kya bata raha tha ? ! )
Dev - $#@%^ (inappropriate for a public forum)
Sasanka - inkenti mama .... ? !

R.I.P - Indian Cricket and Indians

2010-04-23T23:13:00.008+05:30

The naxals are blasting away the policemen to hell and back. The terrorists are blowing up our markets, gunning down unarmed citizens at will. After more than 20 bomb blasts in just 3 years, there are not even 2 convictions with one certain Amir Ajmal making a mockery of our judiciary demanding transcripts in urdu and non vegetarian food in the cell. The Prices are zooming with the inflation threatening to rival that of Zimbabwe. The financial crisis seems to take the W shaped recovery. The exporters are badly hit by the global recession. Countries like China and the US are building up oil reserves and grabbing rights all over the world for the precious few resources. There are millions of unemployed, whose energies if not channeled properly with due opportunities, might turn against our nation state. There are major scandals erupting implicating the ministers at union level itself. The chief ministers like Mayawati and Madhu Koda are swindling public money in not less than thousands of Crores.

These are probably 1 % of the problems staring in the face of India, in no particular order. With so many issues plaguing our country which has succesfully been a 'developing nation' for over 65 years now … there is one thing that we are majorly concerned about… The Indian Premier League!
The naxalite issue was discussed in the parliament for one day with no particular conclusion … but the IPL muck is dominating the news channels, the parliament, discussions in local trains, school / college / office canteens. We don’t give a damn to any of the above glaring problems, but are concerned if some Sunanda Pushkar was given sweat equity for free.

There is one particular phrase in Sanskrit - “Yatha Raja tatha praja !” but unfortunately has been phrased in reverse … it should be “Yatha praja, tatha Raja” !
People get rulers they deserve. We certainly deserve no better than Lalu yadav , Mayawati, Sharad Pawar etc … etc !

Even if you look at the IPL from sporting perspective, the T20 format is more entertaining and good, but there ought to be some restraint, even from business perspective ... it is being overdone and the public interest will burn out in a few years.
The IPL is held every damn year and it runs over 2 months. The T20 world cup is held every 2 years and add to that the random cups and T20 tournies that are held every year. Whatever happened to the one day internationals and test matches where there was a proper contest between nations? The franchisee owners are raking in millions of dollars and also everyone is eyeing the money making machine. And the public will feed on anything related to cricket. We just don’t give a damn to whatever is happening in the background as long as we get our daily dose of entertainment. You could possibly blame the horrible programs and soaps dominating the TV that people are desperate to see anything different, which IPL succesfully provides in ample, nevermind the "I'm Dashing .. I'm Karbonn" kind of commercials after every ball instead of between overs as before.

So for million problems, what is the solution?

India is still a developing nation and our parents generation is probably the first which could provide good education and all modern day comforts to their children. Our generation will be more encouraging in terms of sports / entrepreneurship / other adventurous career options.

We don’t have in us to change the world, we care more for our comforts than changing the world… all that is fine, but can we atleast behave as responsible citizens.We need to be responsible as citizens, journalists, and do atleast our part!

Pretty random post meandering about many things? … ya I’m a lazy guy who just believes in comfort of armchair philosophy :D .

i want to be ....

2010-03-13T12:56:00.003+05:30

On a lazy afternoon sitting in the cozy cane chairs in our college library, we were going over the magazines and papers saw that Morgan Freeman had just bought a private jet worth 36 Crore rupees for himself. One of my friend remarked ' I wish my name was Sunil Nusserwanji Tata ' another said ' I wish i would have still been a maharaja of my now erstwhile kingdom'.
I was trying to think about whom i would want to be ... with every name i thought of, there was some struggle involved in early days, or some problems associated with the present. Few were born with a platinum spoon and just got to chill all their lives... if they did they turned out to be psychos like Uday and Qusay Hussein. Can I conclude that human lives are ephemeral and are condemned to Sisyphus like endeavors?

I can’t refrain from quoting Tyler Durden ‘Our lives are devoid of any passion, no great war, no great depression to fight, our lives are our great depression …. When I look at the clock, I see my life ending minute by minute’.

Then it just struck me … What if im not a human being … I wouldn’t like to be time, because it’s a mute spectator doing nothing, not beginning anywhere, and not seeming to end any time sooner!
I wish I am God.
I would enjoy looking at the world. Look at how tensed you people get at silly things, how you undermine yourselves in things you could have done very easily. How you give up before even taking a start. How you resign to your fate without putting a fight.
How fragile egos rupture longstanding relationships. How you dream about a million things and complain you don’t have them, instead of taking a tiny step towards achieving them. How you are prisoners of what you perceive are your limitations.
It would be like watching 6 Billion movies together … on a giant screen! I can even change the stories in the middle if they get boring. I would enjoy putting twist endings and laugh at the exasperated expressions on your faces. I would enjoy putting tiny obstacles in your paths and smile at seeing you give up so easily.
It would be funny to see some of you doubt my existence, some fighting in my name about things I never said, defending the faith they themselves they don’t have. It would be amusing to see some of you taking pride in believing that they don’t need me. At the same time it would be sad to see people reposing total faith in me without caring to put their own efforts, don’t they still understand that I let people do what they want, intervening rarely if ?
I wouldn’t need to worry about pleasing anyone, putting up a fake smile; I would simply make people I don’t like disappear. After all ... I’m god! The infinite power wouldn’t be too bad either, cause who will complain even if im infinitely corrupt! :p
It would be great fun to be god … coz it would FEEL LIKE GOD!

A stranger once taught me something!

2010-01-03T19:16:00.007+05:30

Once in a while there are incidents which keep coming back to you, mostly when you are alone. Either you were too stupid in that episode, or you were too smart, resulting in a smirk or ending in a smile!

One such incident happened to me while i was returning from my office more than an year ago! It was a long day and the next train to my place was around 45 minutes away. Unable to wait on the dark and mosquito ridden platform, i decided to board a train which goes close to my home so that i can catch an auto from there.

It was around 9:45 p.m. and apart from me another middle aged gentleman got down at the station. As we walked out , there was one solitary auto standing at the entrance. I was walking ahead of the gentleman and was thinking that i would have a long walk if i miss this auto.

Just when i was considering this, the other man broke into a sprint and caught the auto and sped away, leaving me feeling like a total loser! I was apprehensive that running for that auto might looka little uncivilised, just the way we contemplate a second helping of the dessert, at the place of an acquiantance we don't know too closely!

His sprint made me wonder, why was i bothering of what that stranger would think of me. I would never have met him again! He reminded me that it is ok to be a little self centred, as i have seen only those people being smug and in comfort while the altruists suffer in silence! Coming across such people who don't even flinch once in name of decency have forced me to reconsider my stance.

Just when i decided to get meaner and make the 'sprint' in the future, i come across those rare people who don't mind letting other people scramble and don't even complain about them. They don't mind sharing their pie, even to those who wouldn't share theirs with them!

Like always im again confused as to whose stance is right, so i keep meandering between the two paths, i sprint when i badly need it, i let go when i feel its ok to!

3 kinds of people

2010-01-03T17:26:00.001+05:30

Past few months: I had been longing to blog for quite some time but kept away due to sheer laziness! Over the past few months I have travelled into the interiors of rural Mahbubnagar in Andhra Pradesh and lazed along the beaches of Goa and ‘Raved’ till 4 am , I drove along the highway from Bombay to Pune and finished the 2009 with a visit to Ganapati Phule a beautiful beach some 350 kilometers from Bombay.

Past few years: It was a happening year which happened pretty fast and as many (mostly older people) people around me keep saying that since mid 90’s time has been flying. I guess it’s due to the advent of recreational facilities in which the cable TV saw us gluing to the idiot box and with the onset of late 90’s the internet / mobile took us by storm. So there’s hardly any time to sit and stare... In the coming years when the entertainment revolution really reaches its zenith it will change the way we waste our perfect Sundays or vacations!

What I thought: All along these travels I had been wondering about many people I met … more so during my internship when I was wandering the rural areas in the bus mostly sitting alone … (the rattling makes it strainful to read anything over a long period of time) There was a myriad of people I met throughout mostly because of my constant shifting of cities and schools every 3 years!
I felt that we can identify most of people we met into 3 categories, mostly because most of things in life are in black, white or most popularly in grey. The middle category is always the heaviest! I wonder why I find it easy to categorize everything into 3 !!

3 kinds of people! The wild and maverick types mostly seemed to be highly individualistic in whatever they do … the other bunch seemed to be of nice wand warm people, but I mostly found that it is a tad tiresome to be with nice people! They are the ones who would stick with you through your thick and thin, but they aren’t exactly the lot you would like to hang out with when you want to have some fun! The wild ones are good to party with and have fun, but they do not prefer to be weighed down by strings attached!
I was always confused as to which group do I belong more. I felt that I’m the nice and boring type when I’m with the wild ones … and I feel that I’m the outrageous and adventurous types when I’m with the nice and docile types! Thus I mostly settled for the people in the middle … who tend to be nice and a tad adventurous at times as much as their traditional sensibilities would allow them.
Among these 3 kinds of people there are varying shades of narcissism. Predictably the wild ones are the sometimes the most self centered with the shades varying sometimes with predictable patterns and sometimes with more exceptions than rules! The line between self-centeredness and selfishness is too damn fine! I find the selfish variety to obnoxious to handle, and consciously stay away … but sometimes you can’t have all the choices in this world. You have to bear with the other people’s idiosyncrasies, just as they bear with yours!

With this I remember one line from The Departed which I watched again yesterday … The wedding ring shows people that at least one person can put up with this SOB apart from few other things!

Are we really Shining ?

2009-09-21T10:34:00.004+05:30

This is the slogan which ruined a party and crashed the hopes of a PM hopeful. There have been a million theories that when a country is doing good in sports it means that it has arrived economically.

There's a reason for it... when a country has enough for its basic needs and a majority of its people are doing well, they start thinking about sports, different career options. They encourage their kids to play more sports as the pressure to take a job and start earning decreases. I know people who have performed at national and international level for India, but have taken the academic route and are my batchmates @ SP. This happened due to lack of availability of funds and the pressure to get a job.

But seeing that India is doign a very decent job at the international arena in al sports, i have a feeling that we started developing few years back, as such changes take time to manifest.

But still we have a lonnnng way to go!

Tale of 2 crashes!

2009-09-11T23:15:00.005+05:30

This is about two deaths in aircrafts... one hardly drew any attention with no one noticing his name ... the other was the most televised event of the year!

They just keep saying that MIG(Mikoyan Gurevich) s are flying coffins. Yet they keep operating them. We have lost some of our finest pilots in such crashes.

Earlier they used to form headlines with some tabloids putting them on front page in blaring red.. nowadays they are mentioned a little apologetically and stashed away on the inner pages. RDB brilliantly portrayed the extent of rot in the Defence ministry and the procurements. One stint in any ministry and your generations to come will be taken care of. There apparently is no limit to the extent of corruption and nepotism.The swindling is in 1000 's of crores of public money. Now even the press is tired of reporting these incidents and even the public is bored to read about them.

The honorable minister of external affairs SMK and the twittering minister Shahsi Tharoor who pretends to be a saint on the twitter stays in 5 star hotels with rent as high as a lakh rupees per night.

Mr Tharoor - The public money you spend every night on stay alone can send 1000 more kids to schools for an year!

I also take this opportunity to pay homage to the ex CM of AP - YSR. Though he is reported to have swindled around 60,000 Crore rupees in past 6 years and though he tried to usurp the land of Tirumala Hills to build churches and use his power to spread Christianity and though he awarded major infra projects to his son and built a media empire for him ...

He was a man of masses ... he radically developed Cuddapah, his constituency, he brought in many schemes for the welfare of rural people, though populist, his schemes did benefit many rural people especially the BOP. He did a lot for the farmers of Andhra and just as he began working wonders for the people ... he met with an untimely death!

His death is a terrible loss to Congress , Cuddapah, and the people of Andhra Pradesh in that order. May his soul rest in peace and may his son turn out to be a blessing in disguise ... as his becoming a CM seems inevitable.

M.A Jinnah split India. Period.

2009-08-31T20:15:00.003+05:30

Sometimes people just love shooting in their foot. Once in the past Advani had done that to prove that he is a moderate. He confused both Pakistani’s and people back home. But since he is a major leader he got away with it as one rare mistake. He is 81 years of age and has lost his last elections and also the chance to become the Prime Minister of Indian Republic. This started the power struggle among the BJP senior leaders to become the next head. Jaswant Singh has long been in the waiting and got a feeling that he is being sidelined by others like Sushma Swaraj, MM Joshi and others who are close to the Sangh.

He was desperate and wanted to do something drastic which would swing things in his favour. Both of which could force a man to abandon his reasoning abilities and act with emotions. He took the radical step of writing a book on Jinnah and went to the extent of repeating Advani’s mistake, but also went ahead to criticise Sardar Patel. He not only shot himself in his foot, but also hacked it, and threw it away! BJP is without in a self destruct mode, now unless Congress really messes up this term or some wonderful leader comes to the rescue of BJP ... I guess we are heading on a road to becoming a unilateral party!

As far as Muhammad Ali Jeenah(this was how he used to sign his name) is concerned, he was a sorry and confused guy. He was jealous of Nehru and felt that he is not getting his due. The britishers were successful in nurturing his inferiority complex and self doubts. They planted the idea of two nations theory. It was initially turned down by the Mahatma and Mr Jeenah too! Gradually he was convinced that the only way he can become the ruler is to split India, else Nehru would sideline him after independence. So he was essentially he was a liberal to some extent, but his ego and selfishness dominated his senses. Had he been a selfless man like the Mahatma, history of the subcontinent would have been different.

As to why Nehru and Sardar Patel supported the partition, im clueless for lack of information!

So after partition, Jeenah got what he wanted hence the Quaid-e-Azam announced in the constituent assembly of Pakistan that people can practice their faith and their religion is not the business of the state.

If you had seen the Lion King you would remember the pack of jackals who surrounded the Lion King, used to influence his thoughts and finally led to his death attempting to save his son Simba. A similar thing happened to Jeenah. He was sidelined after the partition. But Jinnah wanted to organise plebiscite in Kashmir, and if they wanted to go to India, he was willing to agree. But others (the jackals) were against the idea.They wanted to separate Kashmir from India.

His trusted man Liaqat Ali Khan was killed. Jinnah was suffering from TB already, then complications in Lung cancer also developed and wanted to return from Quetta to Karachi. Quaid-e-azam was denied even an ambulance, and timely medical attention which could have saved his life. Since he was becoming an ideological threat to the jackals and was aiming at making Pakistan a softer state. Thus, he died a sorry death and could not enjoy the fruits of the separatist state he created and is misinterpreted widely.

His life is an example of the line “I slogged for it. I got it. Shit!”

Are you confused whether I like Jinnah, Well I think I pity him. I am fine with his ideology, but hate him for partitioning my happy country. I will never forgive him for being a weak man and misleading the muslims into believing they are insecure in India and leading them to live life of a Mohajir in Pakistan - a 2^nd rate citizen! But my respect for the Mahatma has certainly increased over time. Though I disagree with him on few ideas … but then he was born 116 years before me… so Generation gap!

Hollywood vs Bollywood

2009-07-18T00:50:00.006+05:30

Well i rarely write about movies .... everyone who has an opinion and had access to internet has already written reams about it. While i was watching Indiana Jones and the Crystal skull on my laptop today, i was wondering..... Btw i am a major fan of Indy ,probably because of my love of history, adventure.. or the subtle humor ... or the way he jumps across continents or a common hate for reptilians or fascination for his Fedora hat and his famous whip!

O.K .. i stop here ... the point here is not to sing praises of the movie,! But i was wondering about the budget of the movie .. it was $ 185 Million. I was comparing it with indian Sci-fi movies like Krrish or other mythological movies. The highest budget of an indian movie is the unfinished Dasavatharam of Kamal Hasan .. which was inaugurated by Her majesty Queen Elizabeth the second.

The most expensive Hollywood movie is Pirates of the Carribean: Worlds end which cost $ 300 Million i.e 1500 Crore Rupees.

The most expensive Indian movie is Dasavatharam with budget of 130 Crores. Now there are talks of "where are you Sophia" by Nagendra Karri from Visakhapatnam proposed to be of 150 crores.

We complain of the shoddy graphics and the cartoonish images and bad stunts! Well the average budget of a high flying Bollywood movie is around 40 - 50 crores. The talent one can get is also on that scale. The reason is simple, Hollywood movies earn so much too... POC 3 earned around Rs 4805 crores... go figure!

We can make reasonably good movies in budgets of 50 crores .... we have in the past... but we chose to make movies like Kambakht Ishq and Singh is King !!

The best talent in Bollywood , Lollywood, Kollywood and all the wother woods in India recieve meagre budgets of 1 - 5 crores, and they have done brilliant job with that. Most of the hits in past few months(barring the strike) have been low budget movies with brilliant scripts and storyline.

Bollywood: You can not complain that the viewership is falling by making crappy movies like KI, New York etc.

We proudly claim that we make largest number of movies in the world... true ! .... but numbers and statistics are like a Bikini, they hide more than they reveal!

Islamic Woman : Afghanistan's barbaric law

2009-07-14T15:02:00.001+05:30

Courtesy: cfcoklahoma.org

http://cfcoklahoma.org/New_Site/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=0&func=view&catid=91&id=2328#2328

This week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed legislation which among other things, allows Afghan men to starve their wives if they refuse to have sex with them. The measure was an amendment to a law which have husbands the right to force themselves on their wives, if they did not consent.

Some NATO countries have threatened to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan as a result of the measure.

Speaking to British newspaper The Independent, women's rights activist Wazhma Frough said that hard line clerics pressured the Justice Ministry to retain the most outrageous parts of the original legislation. She said: "There have been a few little changes, but they are not enough. For example, if the wife doesn't accept her husband's sexual requirements then he can deny her food."

Afghanistan's Muslim law now allows rapists to go free if they offer to marry their victims. The same practice actually exists in Mexico and is known as ‘Rapto.’

The new law has touched-off riots in the streets of Kabul, as hundreds of women protested the law which would be unthinkable in a civilized society. However, groups of men from Kabul’s largest Shia madrassa also took to the streets and attacked the women. The event has been completely ignored by the American press.

Activist Razia Jan, who is currently building a women's center in Bamiyan said: "Violence against women is already endemic. Men pay thousands of dollars for young girls and they are treated like slaves. Women here are already so vulnerable."

Of course, government sanctioned violence against women is nothing new throughout the Muslim world.

Saudi Arabia recently revised their rape laws (of sorts). Now, in order for a woman to prove that she was raped, she must have three men testify as witnesses to the crime. Until recently, a female rape victim was required to bring four male witnesses to court.

Of course, under such conditions, the crime of rape is almost never prosecuted in Saudi Arabia. In fact, it is often the woman who ends up in jail and charged with adultery or indecency charges.

In 2007 the victim of a brutal gang rape was given a sentence of 200 lashes and six years in prison for having been in an unrelated man’s car at the time of the attack. After the case garnered major world media attention she was pardoned by King Abdullah, though he claimed the sentence to be fair.

A few years ago, a book entitled "The Islamic Woman" was published which detailed beating techniques to be imposed on Muslim women--at the hands of their controlling husbands. The book's author is a Muslim Imam named Mohamed Kamal Mostafa, currently living in Spain.

"The Islamic Woman" instructs men to hit women "on their hands and feet, making sure to use a cudgel that is not too thick so as not to leave permanent scar tissue." Mostafa also warns his fellow Muslims to "inflict blows that are not too strong nor too hard, because the aim is to make them suffer psychologically."

Murder is also inflicted upon Muslim women by their husbands, fathers, and brothers. The practice is called "honor killings." A Muslim woman or young girl will often be killed by a male family member, after she is believed to have committed an act which defies Islam.

In 2003, a Jordanian man was sentenced to one year in prison, for the murder of his own sister. The young woman became pregnant as a result of being raped by a neighbor. Her family then decided that she must marry the rapist. Before the forced marriage could take place, word of the pregnancy spread throughout the community. The woman's brother returned from a trip to slurs and jeers, calling him the "brother of a slut."

According to the Jordan Times, the man was so angry with his sister over the fact that she had been raped and impregnated--he slipped into her room at night and strangled her with a telephone cord.

The Jordanian paper published excerpts of the court's rulings. They are as follows: "The victim's actions were an unlawful and dangerous act that brought disgrace and shame to her family. He (the brother) could no longer control himself and became very angry. It does not matter that the defendant killed his sister hours after returning from Aqaba. He was still under the influence of extreme anger, which caused him to lose his ability because of the unlawful act committed by his sister."

*Reporter’s note: It is a travesty beyond imagination that we have sent our young men to fight and die in a country which has established a government that condones rape and a medieval type of oppression against their women. It is also a travesty that American women’s rights groups such as NOW (National Organization for Women) spend their resources lobbying for the continuation of late-term abortions, rather than bringing attention to the plight of their counterparts throughout the Muslim world.

In my opinion, we should pull-out our troops and all forms of support to Muslim countries which condone such brutality upon women. The entire Western world lined-up against the government of South Africa and imposed harsh economic sanctions against that nation, until they ended the practice of Apartheid.

Bharat vs India : My experience

2009-07-10T22:59:00.002+05:30

“One should visit places abroad … It opens you up and will be an interesting experience. We are Argumentative Indians … we like to talk a lot, but when it comes to actions.. .everyone shies away. We are very good in strategy and ideas …. What we lack is execution!” The person who had come to deliver a guest lecture as part of IMC course said this to me over coffee today.

I remarked … true probably.

Yesterday we had an interesting experience. We have to create a commercial for a marketing course as part of our curriculum at SP. It is one of the regular assignments. We decided to take an extra step. Most of the surveys we conduct are of people within our campus or friends we know. So we end up having a view as that of a frog in a well.

This time we decided to shoot a real video and hit the Santosh nagar slums near Goregaon. It was a different experience. Watching people live in those teeny weeny houses .. I peeked into a house and saw a little girl trying to do her homework with book toward the light coming through the door. Her mom was cooking in the same room and her little brother was playing nearby! For quite sometime I got habituated to seeing people in malls, reading about shining India and dreaming of owning a Porsche when I see it in the showroom on WE highway! This was a slight kick in the ass.

We probably do not understand the other communities as well as we think we do.

We met a lady in the slums and proposed our idea of promoting quality food in small sachets … not really a brilliant and new idea.. as the sachet revolution is everywhere around you in India. Our intention was to provide the quality food to people who purchase in small quantities.

She replied that .. “it’s the mindset of the people that if they can buy a low quality for 2 rs less, they would do so and probably buy some masala or vegetables with that money.” How can you consume such customers to buy a product based on promise quality? Here we should get closer to the bottom side of Maslow’s pyramid!

In the end our video ditched us in the last moment .. didn’t work. But nevertheless A drive to realities of life in the rains of Mumbai on my favorite bike with my great friend ….. I felt that it was one evening well spent!

Micheal Jackson - King of pop R.I.P ! !

2009-06-28T12:35:00.004+05:30

Moonwalking MJ

Yesterday when I was walking in Andheri Sports complex, I remarked to my friend that 13 years ago MJ had walked here and cast his spell on the audience… and promised to return which he could not keep. R.I.P M.J - The king of pop ! !

An era has come to an end. As they say … once in many decades are such people born who change the face of the world with their imagination, genius and creativity. When it comes to entertainment the fact that Micheal Joseph Jackson stormed the world and redefined Pop music and dance , goes undebated. Like his illustrious father-in-law his spectacular life was brutally cut short … was it by over dosage or a stupid doctor? The planet was waiting for his epic comeback ‘This is it’ on July 8th and just weeks before it, the tragedy struck. While we were waiting for him to redeem his career, his allegations and then retire in style.

He seemed to defy gravity, perform complex physical manoeuvres which would otherwise seem impossible… He produced music which will live on …long after he is gone! He inspired many generations, and so many of us have atleast secretly tried to mimic his moves… and have failed to do so.

A little known fact is that he also owns a patent on his name. This is regarding a specially designed shoe which allowed him to perform gravity defying steps .... remember Smooth criminal ? He practices devoutly and is a maniac for details .... he even gave up 2 meals a day to regain his dancer physique. Such perfection of course is never attained without sustained hardwork and passion.

Though its sad that while he was alive the entire world especially the media badgered him with mindless allegations and were constantly on him. The moment he is no more … everyone is flocking to pretend they are his true fans.
It is sad to see the toll the celebrity takes on the genius of a person. MJ … Curt Kobain…. Elvis .. Lennon … all the good ones seem to go early ... while Madonna still lives!

No tribute is worthy of u MJ … u live on forever in our hearts!

India votes congress to power !

2009-05-17T00:32:00.002+05:30

Coalition politics will doom India someday!

India is a country with a billion problems and a billion possible solutions. Hence even the simplest things are complicated to a great extent. In such conditions it is in the best interests of our country to have a definite government.

Economic recession, Terrorist attacks, acute shortage of infrastructure, frequent natural calamities, increasing energy demands and four neighbouring countries which are in a pretty bad state. …

In face of all these we need a decisive government which can take a firm stand and work in the best interests of the country without a compromise. With due respect to the intellect and stellar academic qualifications of our prime minister, I feel that the post of a ‘Prime’ minister is primarily a role of leadership. He should be able to guide the party and also the coalition in a direction. He also determines the government policies to a large extent. He not only needs to have a command over his cabinet, but also needs to command their respect! Unfortunately this does not seem to be the case.

Gandhian National Congress:

Indian National congress is a party full of typical Indians – constantly bickering among themselves, full of internal coteries and politics, extremely sycophantic ( Who can forget ‘Indira hi India, India hi Indira’ .. and the drama of every leader crying and begging a reluctant foreign lady, who is refusing; to become our prime minister ! ). However as days passed my hatred towards junior Mrs G turned gradually into admiration. She conducted herself quite gracefully, accepted India and its ways and has managed to silence all her critics.

I am still however quite sceptical of the capabilities of Rahul Gandhi. He has not demonstrated any maturity and comes across as a person too dumb and shy to become our premier. His surname can make him say ‘Prime ministership is my birth right and I shall have it!’ He gives out quite confused statements, and has failed to impress us by his intellect.

Left is no more left!

Left parties have shot themselves not only in their foot but all over! They had managed some 50 odd seats by chance in their previous elections. Instead of consolidating their hold, they have displayed horrible political sense. The fiasco over Tata motors put a permanent dent on the image of Bengal, and by opposing the nuclear deal vehemently; they have alienated the urban voters too. Though the communism has collapsed all over the world, they still cling to the ancient ideologies and threaten to push India back to pre- liberalisation era!

‘Haar’tiya Janata party:

This is one party which is an epitomy of brand confusion. In the beginning years the Hindu card had worked to an extent. But in this rapidly changing era how can they focus their agenda on hindutva still!

They should vehemently deny being a communal party and sue anyone who says that again. They should totally focus on development front. They should now also give a rest to the Sonia being a foreigner – We won’t buy it anymore!

Its tough for a person like Advani whose image is firmly in people’s minds as a Hindutva spearhead to become a prime ministerial candidate. It’s a pity however that India’s best administrator and orator is tainted with the paint of Godhra! I hope we will see him as a PM someday. However he too should totally shun the Hindutva agenda and project his developmental activities. To win in Rural areas – Now BJP really needs to do its homework here!!!

I hope congress speeds up the reforms and acts tough on terror, asserts India on international forums well, and provides a stable government for next 5 years. I swear I will vote the next time!

Andhra assembly elections:

There have been two biggest shocks. One is congress winning clear majority and PRP losing horribly. In the beginning of establishing his party Chiranjeevi claimed that he would win 160 + seats by himself and become the chief minister in NTR style. Alas, there were a million problems which led to his downfall:

1. NTR rode on a telugu pride when there was no regional party. He drove home the telugu sentiment due the congress chief ministers acting as puppets to the congress govt at the centre. This was totally missing in Chiranjeevi campaign.

2. There were many internal tussles within the party and the party cadre was not motivated enough.

3. There were no right candidates in PRP to stand for elections.

4. Times have changed and the voters have too, it’s not so easy to con them, and film stars can’t directly become the kings anymore.

Congress will again perpetrate corruption to a level never known before. YSR will write the remaining half of the state onto his son’s name. They will hunt down the remaining few rural cadre of TDP.

But they must now be repenting for burning all the files in the secretariat, as they might not have expected to come back to power and face this situation!

Now or Later ??

2009-03-08T10:16:00.000+05:30

Aquarians they say worry a lot about world and the ways of life .. or to say in better terms about philosophical things in life. Born in the middle of Aquarius i apparently worry a tad more than my fellow aquarians ! (Wondering how all this is connected ... read on ! )

We recently learnt in our Business strategy that a company should have a short and precise but absolutely clear mission or vision statement which will help all the employees decide whenever in a dilemma. I thought why not have one for life itself and stumbled upon the one below:
There are 3 kinds of people:

Those who live too much in the Future
Those who live too much in pesent
Rare few who balance both

Future guys:
They tend to overslog .. whether it be studies or whether it be in an organisation and are very driven by motives and long term goals and objectives . They end up ignoring the present i.e their families, friends, and miss out on opportunities to enjoy life. They assume that they are havign fun while working .. but at some point there comes a breaking point and they decide ... " I Can't take it anymore .. i should have taken it easier" . By then either they are past their prime ... or their lives to broken to be mended !

This reminds me of a story about a Soldier: The emperor granted a boon to a soldier who fought valiantly in a war. The boon was that the soldier can become the ruler of as much land he can cover on his horse. He bagan riding tirelessly in the greed to cover as much as he could. Suddenly one day he realised that he had crossed his nineties and that he had not even enjoyed a part of what he earned! This shows that sometimes being so driven by ambition .. we lose sight of the present !

Right here Right now guys:
Some people feel that they have come into this world to have fun and enjoy !! They have a philosophy of ' Kal kisne dekha hai ! ' They enjoy every moment of life without a care about the future. But after a certain time .. the present passes and we have to step ito the future. That's when the Grasshoppers realise that they should have worked like the ants!

I see an analogy of this in the Rip Van Winkle story. The guy dozes off for 20 years in the mountains after drinking a divine ale made by the dwarfs. He wakes up and tries to find his family and town. Alas .. everything had changed. His wife had passed away .. his kids and friends don't recognise him.

His sleeping can be taken as an analogy to the guy who does what he wants and enjoys his life. Because he lost contact with his world and "wakes up" only after everything is gone ! ( I wonder if its only me who sees this meaning in this old fable)

The Balancers:
Thought rare .. but i have seen few people who can balance the act of Present vs Future ! The observations is that they seemed more contented than the other 2 kinds. They lived in a sense of harmony with their own selves. I would like to believe that i am one of them.

However these can also tend to be phases in life rather than types of personalities. For eg: when you are young and reckless .. one can afford to be the first type ... or rather has to be !

We have to invest in the future ( if we are not the ones born with a silver / platinum spoon) and slog it off now . This is also reflected in Malcolm Gladwell's latest book on "The Outliers"
One needs to out in 10,000 hours of concentrated and continous efforts to become succesful !
And ... we can also be happy n satisfied .. if we make a concious choice of what we do !

Enough gyaan for a day ! Cheers - KK

Manage your online presence!

2009-02-28T15:49:00.000+05:30

Nothing is a secret these days! The word privacy has taken a new meaning all together. While we are still brooding over the dilemma of whether to give our mobile number for office purposes an entirely new problem has raised its hood. Its omnipresent, its dark and its scary!! Your Virtual life is CRITICAL to your real life!

My manager used to say “International exposure doesn’t necessarily mean going abroad and working there. Dealing with the clients based abroad and interacting with them over phone, teleconferencing, client visits also amounts to exposure “. While I was dealing with them on numerous occasions I had to take their number for communication. None of them were willing to give their mobile numbers. Their plain response was ‘Call me on my extension’.

I was surprised, as giving our mobile numbers was a Sine-qua-non in India! But they were willing to give their mobile numbers only when the issue was critical and they had to receive their calls while at home. A World of difference would you say!

The simple fact I want to emphasise wit this anecdote is how much we value our privacy!

Nowadays every one has their profiles created on Facebook or Orkut. (Though some are saying that Facebook is already outdated !) We all have websites, blogs, and some of us also live a ‘Second Life’ ;)

Though blogs were started with an intention to express one’s opinions and view without any apprehensions. People were hooked onto Orkut and other networking sites to find their old friends and keep in touch with distant ones. There was an air of casualness and it was more fun.

Google began commercialising it by scanning our mails and posting ‘relevant’ ads. Then other marketing companies started using networking sites for their Viral marketing campaigns. Every one started impinging on our personal spaces and everything is commercialised these days!

The most recent development is that Prospective employers and companies started monitoring their employees via Internet. They started tracking their blogs and accounts and what they say and what could their future plans be!!

Two glaring instances:

1. A teenager was fired just for her remark that her work is boring. We tend to say casual things when on net. But imagine being fired because you scrapped your friend saying I am getting bored t my office. People talk to freedom of speech! Does it cover Facebook?? (The report)

2. My friend was a student form a prestigious engineering college in Delhi. His classmate was hired at a plush salary by a manufacturing major. The company HR apparently found his profile on Orkut and saw that he had joined GRE forums and was planning to go abroad for his PG. He was sent a regret letter within a week of his placement !

Go figure!!

One thing we can do is to be exceptionally careful about what we write/ post online. Another simple solution is to use the greatest advantage of internet – Anonymity!

Use different login names and create mail accounts completely unrelated to you. Are we getting closer to living a Second life – It’s time to keep Mr Anderson away from Mr NEO

Harsha Bhogle @ SPJIMR, Mumbai

2009-02-18T12:38:00.000+05:30

This was one of the defining moments during the annual Biz fest: OJAS '09 @ SPJIMR.
The audi was packed and everyone waited anxiously to be listen to Harsha Bhogle. As he strode in it took few moments to register that its him, due to the drastic change in appearance - he looked leaner, and much younger :)

He took his seat on the stage and instantly struck a chord with the audience, who greeted him with a huge round of applause. What struck me were his manners and calm and composed answers and of course his razor sharp wit and humour.
Though some of the points he made were general, they were profound. The manner in which they were delivered, left us all with a happy feeling at the end of the talk.

• Real world vs virtual world: People are getting too attached to their virtual existence. They have presence over the web and are party to thousands of communities. But in real life their only companion is their laptop! When we go to work, we have to deal with real people and they have real problems which can’t be avoided. He quoted a person “Good coaches coach players, Great coaches coach people”.

• Don’t run behind salaries: Since most of the MBA students are early in their career, they should focus more on building their careers and look forward for roles which will help them in getting a great opportunity later.

• There will be sunshine soon: Everyone is worrying about the downturn and are worried day in and day out. It’s more psychological than actual. Though there are few sweeping changes occurring in the world, it’s a necessary change as it acts as a speed breaker and restore normalcy in the world. The salaries may be a little on the lower side, but once things pick up, it will prove that we are actually lucky to have this skill set in such times. It will also harden us going through a downturn early in the career.

• Don’t go looking for shortcuts: If there’s a shortcut and no one’s taking it, we should pause and think why.

• Work your backside off! : Harsha said that every successful person he met had worked very hard at some point of time. Nothing comes on a platter these days. We have to find our passions and go after them. It’s heartening to see some people mention entrepreneurship these days and not looking for a run of the mill jobs. But one thing’s for sure : Hard work is irreplaceable.

• Don’t look for coaches: We tend to look for solutions to our problems. We expect that someone will come and solve our problems. Sadly, that doesn’t happen in real life. We ought to fight our own battle. In Australian cricket there was a common practice that no one was allowed to go to their coach with a problem. They can go to him only when they also have a solution to the problem. We try to blame people / circumstances for our problems, but in the end WE have to look for the solutions.

• Luck by chance?: In response to a query he said that though luck is a part of life. It’s more to do with our efforts and planning. Some people are working while the world is sleeping, so when the opportunity arrives, the person is ready! It reflects a famous quote “It takes 20 years of perseverance to become an overnight success”!

The talk ended with a crisp vote of thanks by Prof Suranjan Das and was met with a resounding applause. He said "when I was in IIM A in 1991, I was jealous of a professor who addressed Harsha on the stage. It took 20 years for me to get on the same platform! “

Since my coming to SPJIMR I have heard a lot of executive, CEO’s and a lot of great people. But his talk was heart warming and left me with a good feeling.

In 2009 I had my Valentine ’s Day dinner with HARSHA BHOGLE. A night to remember ;)

- K K Kishore

Is Israel doing to Gaza what Hitler did to them ?

2009-01-05T10:16:00.000+05:30

Few radical islamists fire ineffective rockets into Israeli cities and they retaliate by pounding their buildings with 1 ton bombs !! Now whom do we support and whom do we don't ?

Though i am an Indian citizen, i have been following the whole issue of Israel - Palestine. I have neutral views and have no incentive in being biased towards any community. If we look without pre knowledge at the two pics above, we can't distinguish which pic belongs to Israel and which to Gaza. Human suffering knows no boundaries, nor religion.

Palestine problem:

If the poverty levels are high, if people have no incentive to work, or engage in economically productive activities, if they have no food to eat, if they cant secure the lives of their families, if they are dominated and bullied by powerful countries ....

They are bound to retaliate in the means they can, they would risk their lives to inflict maximum damage to their enemies.... simply because they have nothing else to do . Because their lives are worth 100 gms of lead or one explosion. When they know that they are going to die anyway ... why will they not risk their lives . This is the prime reason which drives people to suicide squads!

Israel Problem:
The suffering Jews went through in holocaust, their identity crisis and not having a country of their own gives strong enough reason for people to keep fighting. David Ben Gurion had once said " Hang on to Jerusalem with the tip of your teeth ! ". The ideology still persists and will always.
When their cities are pounded with enemy rockets, when their very right to existence is denied, when unexpecting citizens waiting for a bus are blown away by a mindless fidayeen , they are bound to use all their military might to secure the lives of their citizens.

It is foolish on Palestine's part to deny the existence of Israel, and to hope tp drive out all the Jews from Palestine. 'They are here to stay ! '.

It is equally foolish on part of Israel to think that they can continue killing palestinians every time there are attacks on their cities. They would simply be re-doing what Adolf Hitler did to them in Holocaust - "Killing innocent people just because he had the power and might to do so"

Solution:

Most of the problems in the world have either religious or political motives. But the solution can be economic.

Israel should help a democratic government setup in Palestine. They should create employment opportunities for the young men and take their attention away from Jihad. They should be able to provide for their families. First signal Israel can send, is by helping food supplies reach Palestine and help reconstruct all the buildings they have blown up.

Go the Gandhi way - answer with peace and respond unilaterally to Hamas i.e with no pre-conditions.

It is said in Ramayana that " The greatness of Lord Rama is not in his strength or prowess in using arms, but in his restraint in not using them". It will take some sacrifice on some one's part, and SOME ONE must make it. For lasting peace. It is always better is the stronger one does it.

Hamas / Fatah / PLO whould respond to these moves with honest motives. This is one historic opportunity and they would be betraying future generations of peaceful life if they don't do so.
They should not use this chance to pile up arms but better their economy and pave way for eternal peace.

I will end with a Gandhian quote " An eye for an eye, makes the whole world blind !".

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti hi !

ROOTS - about Indian Born Confused Desi's

2008-05-28T13:55:00.000+05:30

When anyone asks me "where do you belong to ?" I just reply .. oh I’m from a lot of places .My dad having a transferable job .. we have to move lock, stock and barrel every 3 years!! Though the good part was that I got to see a major part of India including its major travel destinations … I got to meet different kinds of people .Though I had to leave my old friends behind .. I made new ones every now n then …
In my travels around the country .. I was one day wondering: where do I actually belong to ?

If around the country , there evolve xenophobic idiots like Raj Thackeray ...Then which is the one place I would run to .. and I was trying to remember the places I stayed at :

I went back to Agra where I learnt that the North Indians feel that
1 > Entire south India is made up of a single city : MADRAS .. and all the south Indians are madrasi’s ..
2> There is only one language in south and that too is called madrasi.. few enlightened ones knew the name of Tamil .
3> All south Indians wear only lungis and eat only idly sambar .
It was fine considering the fact the ppl down south thought that all north Indians are thugs n cheaters.
Then I went to Vizag for a period of 5 years … where I had some identity considering the fact that I was born there.. But since I hardly knew anything about the place, I felt like a stranger in that city too ..

For my engineering I went to BIT- Ranchi and I was scared by the Domicile policy of Jharkhand .. that anyone who is not from Jharkhand, including bihari’s are foreigners.
The fact that as soon I first landed in Ranchi there was a curfew and I had to reach my college with police protection had scared my parents back in Vizag … ;) . I had stayed in Ranchi for 4 years .. then I slowly realized that people there were the most friendly ones I met across India … and the situation in Jharkhand-Bihar is not as bad as people in rest of India feel and.. though it is quite bad actually .. my parents loved the climate of Ranchi and were happy to stay there for 3 yrs .. ;)
I was happy when after 2 months of training in Noida , my posting was given as Hyderabad .. "Back home !" .. I thought- after 4 years … But the real surprise came when the Telengana movement claimed that I was not supposed to stay in Hyderabad .. and that they were demanding for a new state and wanted all its resources to be available to them only – Hyderabad included.

My dreams of a better career inspired me to take part in the Indian graduates' annual event – CAT … after narrowly missing some big names I finally managed to sneak into SPJIMR which meant that I was now supposed to travel to BOMBAY ..oops MUMBAI .. (I hope shiv sainiks forgive me. ) Though it is a megapolis with a population rivaling that of a small nation , notwithstanding an exotic mix of people from all over the country … I am doomed to be an outsider yet again ! ...Thanks to a politician trying to revive his flailing career- Raj Thackarey n his MNS hooligans.

They reserved 80 % of the govt jobs for Marathas .. that’s fine becoz local people should reap benefits of their area’s abundance and opportunities ..
But his outrageous threats to kill the north Indians and call to drive out the outsiders, remind us of the Holocaust .. I hope history will not repeat itself atleast this time ..
The socialist sovereign democratic republic that India is .. Don’t we have the freedom or more rightly - Is it not our fundamental right to work or live freely anywhere within the territorial limits of my country ?
Till now we have heard of ABCD’s – Indian origin people born in the US ,who are confused about their loyalties , culture etc … now it’s the beginning of a new generation of Indian born confused desi’s ..
Mr Thackeray : Do we Indians , need a visa to live/work in MUMBAI now ???

LEADERSHIP ...

2008-05-14T16:42:00.000+05:30

Leadership : what's it about ....

...

I sometime back read a quote that :

The world is run by top 2-3 % ..

and it is pulled down by the bottom 2-3 % ..

the rest contribute to global warming !!

Though i do not believe in that exaggerated nonsense .. its an interesting perspective to understand why the success and failure of an event depends so much on the leaders. I first time came to appreciate that while watching the movie Gladiator ( one of favorites of almost everyone i met)... and while reading the war stories .. it s quite evident .

Similarly .. even in the corporate scenario and even in the case of country's leadership . One book i read which is entirely about leadership is ART OF WAR - by Sun Tzu . a 1000 Yrs old booko but an interesting read.

I'm no Sun Tzu .. but here are what i feel are Telltale signs of a leader.. or how a leader should be .. I personally belive that though some people are born leaders .. one can always train himself to be one ..

1> The leader has to be assertive. It is not enough to issue clear orders .. you have to be assertive in doing them .. and for the first few times … if u can crosscheck if it’s been done well .. nothing like it .

2> The Leader should have something extra – it can be a quality , a talent or even something tangible which rest of the pack doesn’t have. Unless this is there it is difficult to invoke respect from rest of the pack . Or the leader must have the ability to do something which others do not have. EG: the US had the BOMB and more or less it was one of the reasons why post world war it emerged as an undisputed leader. To be admired or hated .. there has to be this extra thing.

3> People respect Authority – in one form or the other .. the leader should exert his authority.

4> He should lead by example . The leader should never back off from doing things which he expects others to do or follow . Eg : Its very easy for a brave general to inspire his soldiers to risk their life for the country than it is for a weakling who isssues orders from the security of a fortress. So be there.. right in the frontlines of battlefield and lead by example.

5> Compassion: If the people you are leading do not connect with you on a personal level , it is difficult to inspire them to give their best for you , sacrificing their personal space . Though it is not feasible some of the times .. it should be done whenever possible. The guy should never have a feeling that he is simply being –used.

6> It is easy to lead them if you happen to invoke the pride in themselves. If ppl feel they are doing something really useful / important then people can be made to work real hard.

The list is by no means comprehensive not exhaustive .. i'll keep updating them as and when i come across more situations.. ppl are free to add few as well ... in COMMENTS !!

2008-05-14T16:41:00.000+05:30

This space is for the question i asked below .. im still trying to comprehend why .. till then ..

:)

“Why are we like that only? “- the story of india !

2008-03-11T11:40:00.000+05:30

Why is it that :

While driving on the roads we see people who do not free the left lane .. we curse people who do not stop where required….people who do not give way to ambulances…. and yet do the same when we have a choice of not to ...

We see people jumping across the railway track .. just to save 2 mins … we see overloaded buses ..people again who want to save 10 mins by not waiting for next bus…

at cinema halls .. there is a war at the snacks counter … where a simple queue would do .. We prove that we live in land of Mahabharata!

We switch jobs like we are on a merry go around in a fair….
Exams like CAT and IIT JEE are like annual Olympics..Most eagerly waited for events.. and every one who is legally eligible .. at least fills up the form - like Engineering + MBA is our national profession ...

We speak the most in places where silence is respected .. and are shy where it matters the most ..
We complain that no one comes forward to change the country.. While we are busy making more money.. Looking for better jobs.. Or foreign work permits.

Its confusing .. Are we most amicable race or are we most selfish … are we the most tolerant people or are we most riot mongering … are we easily satisfied … or are we most aggressive .. At times we want the short cuts for everything.. At times we are most hardworking among the nationalities…If anyone tries to sum up us Indians in one mentality … or one attitude .. that would lead to a miserable failure…

Why are we like that only?

Will there be a recession ?

2008-01-21T23:20:00.000+05:30

How the future could possibly be ?

wrt US , INDIA , CHINA ...

There are talks of recession going around... there is speculation of what wonders will India and china achieve … the American universities are sending their groups to conduct studies on India… the British prime is visiting India to improve ties with it, the Chinese premier breaks protocol to display warmth to Dr.Manmohan Singh during his china visit…. The rising rupee is hurting the IT firms and the small exporters alike…the stock market is volatile and people are wary about putting their life’s earnings into it…

Among all this hoopla.. I think there will be a drastic changes in the world economies in the coming few years :

The recession and the sub-prime crisis will hit the American badly and the dollar will freewheel downwards leading to the countries pulling out their dollar reserves to buy other stable currencies like the euro… which will further wreck havoc with dollar’s exchange rate. The Americans will take huge debts from china and Japan to plug their deficits in the budget. Still The US will remain one of he strongest economies and few correct policies by the federal bank and the new president in office might stop the free fall.. as a strong dollar benefits not only the US but also the world on the whole.

The Chinese will continue to grow at the present amazing pace.. so will India for the present at least.. the world will see the rise of euro as the stable currency ..

How will this affect the Indian economy … to take a bird’s eye view … the IT companies which have their business modeled on the cost cutting and off shoring will take a major hit …due to the rising rupee and the falling dollar. But still it would be cheaper to get stuff done in India… so the overall worth might decrease.. Yet India will still get business till South America and china come up as competition.

On the other front the world will see the rise and consolidation of the Indian companies on the international arena . after Corus and Novelis and a spate of other acquisitions by Indian companies .., the Jaguar and land rover are being eyed by the Tata's themselves..the international competition will force the Indian industries to become better and enhance their quality.The Indian pharma and automobile companies will get stronger both in India and also abroad.

Even other areas like the exporters will take a hit in their business due to the changed scenario…the falling dollar will hurt the economy for few years till the situation is stabilized again … it will not be entirely fun to watch it happening but the end result might be !

The writing is on the wall: Indian companies will have to become better to face the competition, India has to move up on the value chain rather than jt providing the most cost effective solutions like in IT and BPO’s and other arena’s….we have to make a few sacrifices and build up the infrastructure else it will be difficult to sustain the rate of current growth.

___________________ INDIA and the development indices ____________________

India will still feature at the bottom of the most of the human development indices : the reason being the denominator is still HUGE .. i.e our population … how much ever we might increase our GDP and net output … the per capita will still languish … we must come up with a parameter which will be a better indicator of the scenario.. like we could build an index which shows our current situation as compared to 20 year back or 40 years back .. whether we have made progress on few fronts or have we stayed put.

Another index might be based on the rate of ‘rate of growth ‘ .. that is are we growing at same pace or faster or have we any hurdles…and one other parameter could be exploitation of potential… are we utilizing our resources well.. or is there any scope of improvement further … or that how scenario will change if we have better infrastructure compared to the one we have now …

we need able administrators.. we need infrastructure..we need better education for the young .. we need reforms ...we need SEZ's ... we need to ease the setting of business and we need a stronger foreign policy.. we need to shed the fear of international competition.. and ...we need to just keep the faith .. and keep running !

We sure do have a long way to go before we accomplish the dream of APJ !

A promise is a Promise ... TATA NANO!

2008-01-11T11:36:00.000+05:30

The Tata’s deliver .. yet again .

some are saying that the whole idea is as innovative as the Ford’s T-line itself.
Ratan Tata unveiled the Nano! With these memorable words “The production costs have spiraled up ,in past few years , but a promise is a promise “ !
That’s what I call leadership.Despite the opposition he is said to have received from all quarters .. the tata’s have pushed on and have kept their promise. Many people have said that producing a lakh rupee car ..( 2500 $ !! ) is impossible and they are the ones who are queing up to congratulate now. Ratan Tata traveled into the realms where the angels feared to tread.

Though its revolutionary , we should wait for the initial euphoria to die down and see how the markets accept the car and how the automobile dynamics are altered by this.
I expect it to be an instant hit among the developing nations esp the south asian tiger economies and of course BRIC countries. Since the design is cute and the emissions conform to the world standards it could garner strength among the developed countries too .. including the eastern Europe … This could start a clamor among the automobile companies to deliver a competitively priced car. This can also alter radically the dynamics of the second hand car segment .. as a similar priced car is available now.

Yet, there are few problems with the car as it obviously lacks the power (623 CC engine ) ….hence it might not be a hit with the young crowds .. and the leg room problem and also the lack of AC and push back seats and other things put together will obviously dissuade the upper middle class from buying it … hence it might not draw away the customers from the small car segment too… rather it will create a new segment all together of people who would not have bought a car otherwise. Yet it can derive its profits from the sales volumes.. which can be radically higher .. not only in India but other countries too.

And I think they should target the rural segments too instead of only urban segments .. an aggressive marketing in the rural areas could notch up the sales in India .

Another problem I had was that of the incessant traffic on the Indian roads.. already the roads of the Indian metropolis are choking with jams round the clock. The addition of such cars will make the condition only worse as it opened the flood gates to the people who would otherwise use the public transport. Of exactly how the markets would behave towards this recent development – only time will tell!

Nevertheless its worth a thundering applause!!

Racism … what’s this all about !

2007-12-02T00:03:00.000+05:30

What has been puzzling me since the times I have read about the theory of evolution is that how did various the races come into existence … whether the evolution happened independently on various continents thus giving different physical and psychological traits to the people... Or whether homo sapiens were evolved from same.. The ones we call Adam and Eve and due to the various geographical and climatic factors have evolved differently.. As we can see.. As we go closer to the equator the height decreases and the skin color darkens … and various other changes …

But the reason I am discussing this is to analyze the various reasons which are causing tensions and strife among the different races … for e.g.: the recent furore in Malaysia where the govt is being alleged to being racial and mistreating the Indians there.. or case of the Tamils being ill treated in sri lanka .. tensions between Serbs and Croats .. the tensions between the northerners and southerners in Belgium which is threatening to split the country.. and the Muslims and the Russians in Chechnya … or the ever green one between the fair skinned westerners and the African American and the Asians… in Europe , and the US .

Naturally when any one of foreign descent settles down in a country there are reasons they might be ill treated or some cases even threatened of life …
In some cases because of the colonialism and the slave trade .. resulted in the transport of the Asians and the Africans across the continents which lead to a sizable minority population in the western country, and also in some of the south Asian countries like Fiji and Malaysia….in such cases the people deserve treatment equal to that of the locals .

But im puzzled by the behavior of the people who emigrate from their native countries to western countries in hope of better living style and money... they struggle to get there and some times even use unfair means and methods to achieve that end .. and finally try hard to settle down …

Searching for a better life is agreeable, but how can the minority population dictate the majority when they have , by their own choice , migrated to the country .. the locals have never invited them ! When the minority travels to settle down in foreign nations they should be ready to adopt the customs and lifestyles of the people native to that place .
In case they are unable to do so, they should find means to live in their own country where they would given the first preference....

I’m not justifying the racist attitude.. but I’m just saying that people- if u r not comfortable in foreign countries .. Why are you desperate to live there leaving behind your friends and relations back home ? In case you prefer the better lifestyle over all that , you should be ready to adapt to the conditions there - unquestionably .. becoz after all “u gotta be a roman if u wanna live in rome !”

If we try to list the reasons people fight over …
Religion
Races
Creed
Nationality
Caste (that’s an additional reasons to fight if u stay in India)
Gender (sometimes)

it all boils down to two things

Its all about money honey!

And Domination … power they say is the most powerful aphrodisiac.. who does not love to rule over others .. Citing any of the above reasons as an alibi !

With the human population increasing at an exponential rate … and the resources decreasing at a faster rate if not equal …The fights are bound to get bitter as the resources get scarce … some optimistic stasticians claim that the populations will stabilize around 2025 or 2050 ….i hope that is true, if there has to be any chance of humanity surviving this Millenium !

Mukesh ambani - we all are Proud of U !

2007-10-30T22:23:00.000+05:30

Well whole world stand upright and take a bow!! The richest man on the earth is an Indian!!!! A citizen of the so called developing 3rd world country …… Dhirubhai forged an empire which made an indian family the richest one to be so in the world.These 2 sons have surely made their dad proud . Dhirubai .. i salute you for having created so much wealth for urself and for the investors and stock holders! fwe more like u in india and soon we wont be flocking to the DevelopED countries !

Who would have dreamed as recently as 2 years back that the richest man would be an Indian .. even to the most fantastically optimistic people it would have seemed improbable .. with Carlos slim helu and Ambani now among the richest 3 … the developing countries have arrived on the international arena of business.. well for those who argue that it is driven by stock market .... so are Bill gates and Walmart guys !

It is a different fact that if MS share price drops by 1 $ wealth of bill will drop by 2 billion $ .. but thats an accepted way of how stock markets work .I have never been able to digest the fact that so much money seems to have been generated without nothing actually have been produced . (it should ideally be a zero sum game in the lonnng run , but then the share prices will never drop to their face value ... atleast in most of cases ;) .. )eg : so is real estate .. nothing is produced still prices keep rocking .That's the game of suply and demand !

With the acquisitions made by the Tatas and the Birlas not to forget the great Mittal of arcelor –mittal … the Indian businessman surely means business now– in his own way !

To those doomsayers who question about whether you can say that India is rising, shining et al – my answer is that -for a so bizarrely diverse and immensely populated India ,it will take an infinitely long time before you can say that every Indian is reaping the benefits and securities of a zooming economy. The closest we can get to that state is in slow but sustained steps .

But is the BSE sensex is a true indicator of the development of the country - ?

In a way it is. It shows that Indian countries are doing well and are expanding their businesses and are giving good returns to the investors. Thus all the foreign investors are pulling their money out of other markets and pushing them to India ,which is so promising. The sensex being based on only 30 listed shares might not in totality depict the correct economic picture but it surely gives a feel good factor which mite in turn drive our economy by attracting investment ! so keep up the good job sensex and congrats for being the 20th index to cross the magical 20K figure .

We have come a great distance. But the woods are still too dark and deep
And we have a billion promises to keep!
We have miles to go and we should certainly never sleep!

The Metamorphosis a review – by Franz Kafka.

2007-10-29T00:55:00.000+05:30

My interpretation of kafka's The Metamorphosis !

"Some books are like an axe which cut the frozen exterior of human emotions, such are the books of Kafka" – this was the first description I read about Franz Kafka. Naturally I became curious and bought a copy of his book The Metamorphosis. The word metamorphosis actually means “a complete change of physical form or substance especially as by magic or witchcraft”, and thus in short explains the entire story of the book.

The opening line of the book is like the climax and this kind of story writing is said to be Aristotelian. It begins with what sounds like the climax and then winds down actually. Such other example was the love story – by Erich Segal, in which in the beginning he describes the death of the heroine, the fact that in spite of this the book is gripping enough is another matter.

Gregor samsa, who is the protagonist wakes one morning to find that he has been transformed into a vermin, and is neither able to get up from his bed nor able to reply back to his parents when they ask him about when he would be going for work. Gregor is as a traveling salesman and works at odd hours and spends most of his time traveling and changing trains, which has taken a toll on his health.
Initially he thinks that the transformation is only an illusion and that it will be gone when he wakes up. But unfortunately it is real and when he steps out of his room ends up terrifying his parents and his manager. His parents and his sister though are terrified, feed him and clean his room. Gradually they fall into financial difficulties as Gregor was the sole bread winner. They rent their apartments and take up jobs. All this takes a toll on their patience and even Gregor’s sister becomes impatient, and one day she breaks up and says that it would be good for them if they get rid of him or if he left them of his free will. Gregor overhears this and slowly starves himself to death.

There have been many interpretation of this story, and it is rated as one the most influential and intriguing stories of this century.

My take on the story is:

There is a possibility that Gregor is still a human and that he became a vermin is only his illusion.
Probably his incessant traveling has taken a toll on his mental and physical strength.
The story depicts how Gregor’s father admitted defeat after his failed business and how he still is capable of earning which he does after Gregor’s transformation.
It shows how the family grows weary and irritable with Gregor even though they loved him, his sister who took care of him with the belief that he will be alright soon, feels exhausted at all the never ending troubles. The way she cries out saying if he was Gregor he would have left them of their own.

It’s also a reflection of the shame and guilt of a person who was supposed to be the bread winner and how it affects the family and how he becomes a burden on them.
But he does not answer the question of what someone in Gregor’s position should do. It’s fault of neither but all are suffering, and whether death is the only solution for such a problem.
The story ends sadly but with a relief to the family. It could be the story of some one who is the sole bread winner of the family, but meets with an accident and is incapable of earning anymore.

It could be the story about how a young man takes up all the responsibilities of the family, but is shattered mentally and physically while his father though still capable of sharing the burden shuns the responsibilities.

EVOLVE OR GET ERASED!!!

2007-10-29T00:50:00.000+05:30

one fine day i woke up and said this to myself ....

"either get ahead with technology or be left far behind.
in 21st century the most dangerous thing you could do is to ignore technology, there maybe a million comanies giving out either their services or manufacturing products , but the only way to get ahead the competetion is either by delivering products or services which are far superior in comparision in terms of quality or by making your prices unbeatable.
For doing either of the two you need better technlogy. for cutting costs u need it and also you need it inevitably for improving your product or for enhancing the features.
There were times when i used to think that that this field is not my cup of tea and also there were occasions when i told my friends that im gonna get out of it .
but wherever you go u have to keep urself updated on th most recent developments, becoz in this flat world information is available to everyone and it's upto u whether u get updated or deleted .
the google success story has been by far the most interesting one i have read and im only lefft in shock and awe when i think about it . im an engineer and since now i m working with a sw company the only field that i can think about when i want to startup someting iis in the filed of technology and then i have to acquire a new skill and then come out with an idea that 's both presentable and can make money and practicable.
even if i can get into some other field i have to learn latest methods and invest big time in r&d . love it hate it the only thing u can not afford to do it is to ignore it. "

i have seen it in most of my friends and since all of them were engineers .. it was a bit sad to note that most of them are ruing their current jobs in technical lane .. myself included ...

but even if you want to get of that field .. u need to keep urself updated .. coz in this age of cut-throat competetion .. u need to differentiate yourself from the crowd !

Terror strikes Hyderabad – at its heart!!

2007-08-26T23:39:00.000+05:30

TERRORIST BOMBINGS IN HYDERABAD , INDIA.
---------------------------

On a cool Saturday evening... As People were relaxing after the weekdays.. Terror strikes Hyderabad – at its heart!!

Lumbini park is a park located at the heart of the city..at a stones throw from the Government secretariat situated beside the picturesque Hussein Sager lake … as people were enjoying the laser show at the park a place which is frequented by the kids and families … there was an explosion which ripped apart the bodies of the victims ..

Neo gel90 they say has been used by the terrorists for the bombs.. But what the hell matters…
Who in their sane minds would harm the innocent families strolling in the park on a weekend … and what purpose does it serve …!! There was a reign of terror as everyone was at a loss of what had happened … ironically as the statue of Lord Buddha – a symbol of peace , was overseeing the park

And it's been less than 100 days since the outrageous bombing of the Mecca Masjid in the old city .. and as usual the police have been unsuccessful in nailing the culprits and well here are they .. blowing up weekend crowds .

Hyderabad’s take a delight in the food …and samosas and chat are welcome anyday anytime.. and not surprisingly the Gokul Chat in Koti which is a major marketplace in Hyderabad … is thronged by people on weekdays and weekends alike …
Its heavily crowded with people waiting for their turns... Then exactly at 7:40 PM i.e 10 mins after the Lumbini park blasts .. a bomb exploded killing instantly all the people inside … the cycle ball bearings which were used along with the explosives , are said to travel at speeds of around 8000 miles per hour … they struck a passerby .. Killing him instantly…

Well the deserted roads and closed cinema halls showed that the miscreants have been successful in striking terror …. Even the city buses which are normally overloaded were quite empty … now people will , for some time to come , shudder thinking about a stroll at a park or even to go to a cinema hall where 2 bombs were found and diffused..

Our minister for home -Shivraj Patel remarked that “ours is such a big country that even if we have intelligence then we do not know where and how “ ..
My suggestion to you minister is if YOU do not have the intelligence of how and where.. I suggest you step down and make way for some one more efficient.. it’s the lives of the people which are concerned !! How can you make such an irresponsible statement!.

Tomorrow BJP is organizing a bandh.. As to what purpose.. I do not know and our former CM will organize a bandh day after tomorrow as he was quite busy with the lavish wedding of his son today ..
hmmm well he is busy today but he will take out some time to organize a bandh for us day after tomorrow .. Thank you sir for your concern!

Im not quite optimistic whether these terror attacks will cease.. not only in India … elsewhere too … and I have no idea what will satiate the Islamic fundamentalists ..

But I know only one thing … Allah would never commend these heinous acts neither will Jesus Christ or Lord Shiva. ..and if Prophet Muhammad were alive he would preach peace and not mindless hatred against the innocent .

August - a season for apologies !

2007-08-26T23:21:00.000+05:30

AUGUST

Well it certainly looks like the sorry season …. What this month of august has done I do not know but its certainly making everyone.. Well at least the Europeans apologetic about the past …. It was few weeks back the Danish minister of culture said sorry for the Viking attacks on the coast of Ireland approximately 1200 years ago i.e. around 700 A.D. while he was taking part in the celebrations as part of which few sailors rowed the famous Viking long boats from the Danish port to the coast of Ireland …
Whether it proved that the Danes are now sorry I’m not sure but it did prove that even after 2 millennia the long-boats are darn seaworthy ….

To me this seems far removed from logic but since when have politics, sensationalism have been on the same side as reason ….

------------------------

And in the later half of the august.. The Britons jumped the bandwagon apologizing for the slave trade … London Mayor Ken Livingstone made an emotional apology Thursday for his city's role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade as he was speaking at London's first Annual Slavery Memorial Day ceremony… he said that London is still reaping the benefits of the slave trade and that there must be events organized all over England to mark …

I have one thing to ask the honorable mayor that … if you people are really sorry then there are better things to do than weep in public …

Find out , estimate the amount of money that was made by London during the dark days of slave trade … make a list of things you guys looted from the continent .. as all mineral resources belong to the nation state … and hand them over to the Africans…

Well that might seem like an impossible solution... so at least help the under developed nations by granting them a substantial aid and help them get a hold over their lives as they are battling HIV... Hunger … and so avoidable diseases …. Rather than create a sham all over England by holding press conferences and an “yearly UK wide event each year.”!!!

But then.. Saying sorry is much easier than that isn’t it … and if “The notoriously outspoken Livingstone seldom apologizes for anything “….. Weeps in front of a camera … its world wide news splashed all over newspapers …
well mayor you have done your part and made some of the Britons feel “REDEEMED “ .. by saying -“SORRY GUYS! “

GIFT OF GAFFE !!!!!

2007-05-13T22:32:00.000+05:30

ARE U WONDERING WHICH ONE OF THEM IS MORE STUPID ?? !!!

Dubyaman wins ...he scores with his experience

well its the what-can-you-say-about-him Bush and our very own desi.. i am a GANDHI ... ...RAHUL GANDHI!!

i once read that its not exactly surprising that Bush a home grown Texan who once winked at Blair at a white tie ultra formal party and greeted him with
“YO Blair !! what’s up …. “ and also said to queen herself “ I am the black sheep of my family .. who’s yours” during her previous visit.
Bush has a gift of gaffe and I consider him one hilarious politician who keeps the world amused by his stupidities.. Which include pretending to read from a book holding it upside down ( in a class full of 1st grade students ) and trying to look through a binocular with their cap on … he is supposed to have addressed Greeks as greecians in his first ever presidential address , now what level of understanding can we expect from him about the external affairs and the world . that is one prime reason the war lobbyists were so successful in driving America into one of the bloodiest and unnecessary military campaigns since the WW 2 itself . Lets not debate the way they got into a peaceful country destroyed the fabric of law and order and are planning to quietly move away from there just because their army is having casualties in Iraq …. It was all about the oil politics and the want for control in the oil rich gulf and the Islam dominated Middle East or perhaps to get rid of the piling weapons in the US which worried their manufacturers.

******************* ***************************

One the other side we have our own Rahul Gandhi … who has just begun dabbling in politics and harbors the dream of becoming the PM of India one day..( And that came from the Prime Minister himself that Rahul is your future !!!!…. )
If he hopes to hold the office someday I would rather him to earn it rather than claim it as his birth right the way he is doing it now, by trying to invoke the whatever is left of the Gandhi legacy ..

Two of his most outrageous statements were that Gandhi family was responsible for the split of Pakistan .. it was hushed up because it was not only humiliating for the congress party but for the whole country .. he just rubbished the entire diplomatic efforts of both countries .. its dangerous for ppl like him trying to hold the PMO as long as he keeps giving such irresponsible statements …. Many great wars were waged because of foolish statements from the ruling class . so , the mere thought that Rahul Gandhi is my future gives me a shudder ….
The other being that had his father been alive the demolition of babri would not have happened … !!!! Such a desperate move to woo the minorities …

I ask of Rahul Gandhi …. With all your brilliance ( so they say .. ) and your foreign degree .. all you can do is to dig up the past claim to be our future.. ???? is it that the best you can do is reciting the names of your great grandfather or your grandmother and then your father … ???!!!! let us gauge you by the vision ( if you have any ) and your plans for the future ..

And I can’t but have pity for the congress party .. all they have to offer us after a legacy of around a 100 years now ( ok.. close to 100 yrs now) …. Is an irresponsible young lad with a boyishly cute face but no wisdom (ok he’ s just 30 yrs old .. but he’s a wannabe PRIME !!! )

do you hate studying history .....?

2007-02-04T01:17:00.000+05:30

do you hate studying history .... or did you ever , some lonnnnnnnng time back ....?

The question that whether history is to be studied or not is often debated. Mostly these debates are carried on by the students who are in school and are harried by the long and boring lectures they have to endure. the often long answers they have to memorize including the various details like the dates and the cause- consequence questions. Though I had an inclination towards history in my school days itself, I was irritated by the fact that more than the events that happened in the history …. What was stressed upon was the memory power of the students who naturally memorized them (myself included) and in the process lost the interest to actually spare a thought to what happened and on the long run developing aversion to history itself.

I like researching and reading about history a lot and my best guide has been wikipedia on the internet.

Reading history is very necessary.

It gives us an idea and the understanding about the current world and what has given rise to these situations. it also gives an overall understanding of the situations in the countries all over the world .. More so in the current FLAT WORLD.

Chronicling the events is very important as it is the final answer to the question “who am I “ . it tells u who u are in context to the world and our current standing and also the question “ main aisa kyun hun…”

And most important of all is to properly and correctly chronicle the world events.

We as Indians have in a way failed to communicate and are not very proud of our history …..

Here I would like to include the conversations I had with one of my co-passengers aboard a train ….

During some conversation when I was vehemently arguing on the side of the Jews …. He asked me a question……. “How many people do u think died due to the holocaust…?”

I replied that around five- six millions of them …….

Then he asked me “have u heard about the Bengal famine …..? “ …..

I thought for a second and replied “ yes I have ….” . he asked me how many do u think have died in that …. I replied that I had no idea…..

To that he replied that around 20 millions!!!!! of them perished due to the artificially created famine by the britishers….. it was my turn to be speechless ….
He said that the Jews were actually successful in their propaganda also in tricking the world into backing them in whatever they do in future…. No one denies the holocaust or the miseries the Jews suffered during those years,

But …they still justify all their actions based on the incident ( however heinous and horrible it may be ) that happened sixty years back……..

My point in narrating this incident was not that we should make a hue and cry about eh Bengal famine ….. my point was in highlighting the necessity of knowing one’s history properly and also the importance of the necessity in correct chronicling of the events.

One more interesting thing that he told me was that …..

Mc aulay was one of the early British lords who came to India. He said in one of the speeches he gave in the House of Lords ….. “When I traveled the length and breadth of India …. I was surprised not to find even a single beggar!!! The Indians are so proud of their heritage that they never stretch their hands and ask for alms….. if we want to rule such people … we have to destroy their self- esteem and make them believe that Europeans are superior to them and must rule them .”

I was dumb struck, awed …. And whatever u can say ……. . I still shake my head in disbelief every time I come across a traffic signal….. Thinking what years of oppression can do to us … and how we lost our self confidence and self – reliance.

population of india .....an asset or a liability ?...!...?!!

2006-12-20T15:42:00.000+05:30

One among the recent surveys has shown that the total population in the age group 15-25 in India is 115.5 million!!! This is one of the largest in that particular age groups in the world. China comes second but not close, being at 98.8 million. This certainly gives an unbeatable advantage to these countries , the bric countries in particular enjoy this advantage , well at least till 2050. This age group is largely non-income student group and they more or less act as consumers than contributors to the economy, but they also serve as a large talent pool which can be groomed to suit the particular trends of the global economies of today . That particular survey also projected that the average spending of the total young India is of the tune of a lakh crore rupees!!!

One of the few drawbacks of the “one child” pursued by the Chinese government is that now china is one of the most rapidly aging populations in the world. though china has managed to eliminate around 400 million childbirths by carrot or by stick one of the drawbacks is that by year 2050 china will have more retired people than income earning people. Japan faces one such consequence in near future , because of the greatly increased life expectancy after the rapid industrialization of the post war Japan .

So as the debate goes whether the population of India is a liability or an asset ….. I think its still a liability. Many people are arguing that we have a large skill force and other things, but what’s the point in having a large group of population to which we cant provide basic education or means of employment .
No one addresses these issues. I’m not talking about the large middle class population who are aggressively pursuing professional courses and moving ahead , but I’m talking about the under privileged .

If we are not able to provide them, then the consequences will be quite dire. The unemployed youth will naturally take to arms and underworld due to frustration by large if not due to greed .
Therefore we better start building the employment options and benefit by this advantage rather than neglect it and be victimized. India has to liberalize the setting up of new business ventures and encourage entrepreneurs. I also personally believe that the ultimate answer to the Kashmir issue and the north east problem is development of the regions , when the people are happy and have access to good quality of life why will they rebel …

This clearly shows because the republic of India which is the worlds 4th largest economy and has gdp of over 1 trillion $ and has a growth rate of over 9% consistently has been ranked at 122 in H.D.I by I.M.F . this shows the disparity and the need for improvement.

sound VS sight.....

2006-11-23T14:13:00.000+05:30

sometimes i wonder whether we indians rely more on our hearing senses than our visual senses...

i have generally observed this phenomenon which is of coz quite pronounced on the roads, if not restricted to roads.... both while driving a vehicle myself or as a pedestrian . the sound stimulus it seems causes more sense of alarm than the sight of an onrushing vehicle, atleast in this respect we're quite similar to the animal herds crossing the roads who move out of the way only when u r honking like mad. when u r drivigng on indian roads u better use the horn generously, people move out of ur way immediately if u r honking continiously and if u r not , they dont seem to bother as their safety is the concern of the vehicles moving on the roads, well maybe im not an exception whne im myself crosing the roads, u can blame the condition of hte roads or the incredible bumper 2 bumper traffic in the rush hour .. but in the end if u r too concerned about sound pollution then ...my friend u seem to be in trouble..... so, keep honking!!

deaths due to starvation ...

2006-11-03T11:03:00.000+05:30

death due to undernourishment and starvation are higher in number than deaths due to killer diseases like cancer or aids or any other disease ...

of all the possible reasons hunger is the most cruel and deplorable , more so because it can be easily stopped.
when i was reading an article about hunger death , i was uderstandably getting disturbed about the stark disparity in the rich and desolate divide, esp in the africa and sub saharan countries, the pictures invoke strong feelings and i even feel guilty sometimes when im spending close to a grand or two for a meal for me and my friends.....

it was reported that there were around 800 million people in the world who are suffering due to malnutrition and Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger.... who will not be shocked at those statistics when there are reports going around that countries like america have dumped some million tonnes of wheat into the sea just to keep the prices under control or that the spending on ice-cream alone among teenagers is in order of millions of USD...

when i was reading that article i was agitated and was thinking that why the hell dont the governamets of those countries do something for it ..... then the facts slowly descended upon me .... ONE FOURTH of the malnourished people in the world are in INDIA. that came as a rude shock to me , i was expecting the number to be high but not as high as 25%. even wiht all these NGO 's who create a hue and cry whenver a dam is about to be built or when land is been acquired for any companies .... why dont they do anything about it , but everyones concerned only with hype and the media interest it concernes .....

recent times we've seen all the hollywood stars clobbering for africa all they want is media attention , when is some one going to do anything material and practical to really help them ......

abu salem contesting in u.p !!!!!!

2006-10-27T23:47:00.000+05:30

i cant even believe this even while im typing it ...... abu salem is contesting the u.p elections

those who still cant believe it :
http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?id=95307&template=catchingsalem&callid=1&frmsrch=1&txtsrch=abu%2Csalem

the bugger who was behind the mumbai bomb blasts , who was the cause of death of so many indians ..... who is facing somthing close to death sentence for his anti- national activities is about to contest elections in the u.p .....!!!

i dont know if its ridiculous but its certainly DISGUSTING !!
the very idea of abu salem in gandhi topi and khadi , canvassing in the streets of U.P is revolting.

it seems he already has the backing pf shiv sena and now even mulayam sing h is about to support him . the indian police had a helluva time trying to get him extradited to india from portugal ...and now abu salem must be having quite a laugh , as they will be the ones assigned to protect him once he's sworn in as the m.l.a.....
i can't imagine which way we are going having people like rajju bhaiya and abu salem as our representatives ...

i have only one plea to the supreme court... please save a billion people from embarrassment , and a lot more things and kindly put a stop to this outrageaous idea. hang him before it gets out of the hand and inspires other gangsters

well going by our track record ... we have sent people like phoolan devi, rajju bhaiya and many more to the l.s and r.s .... so perhaps even abu salem !!

so DAWOOD please dont come to india - these people might make you our prime minister .....
then we all have the only option of mass rebellion or mass suicide..

blogger solidarity ...

2006-10-27T23:20:00.001+05:30

amnesty international has asked the bloggers to show their solidarity and support in favour of freedom of speech on the net,

ofcourse its one of the most fundamental rights we are entitled to .....

for more on it please hit the link below:

http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6090448.stm

diwali !!!!

2006-10-23T00:17:00.000+05:30

diwali , deepawali - the indian festival of sounds and lights.

It is celebrated to mark the end of the demon mahishasura in the hands of goddess durga and hence reiterates that good always triumphs , also emphasizes the power of the female form of energy . also goddess lakshmi is prayed to these days ,who is the goddess of fortune and wealth . since diwali is associated with burning of crackers and stuff it has been one of my favourite festivals since child hood.

nasdaq celebrates diwali . i was glad to look at that headline in the newspaper . but on the other hand i was surprised to see that year after year the intensity of celebrations have been on the decreasing note. the reasons can be many like : decreasing interest of the ppl in general , drastically increased prices of the crackers in particular and the inflation in general . since the basic commodities have become high priced the crackers are now perhaps falling under the category of luxury. and surprisingly i have seen more people leaving it on the reasons like pollution - sound and air , and child labour.

yes the pollution issue has always been there , its surprising how people have become so aware of it suddenly . the high decibel crackers are dangerous esp to the elderly and kids. there has been a govt regulation this time about the level of decibels in the crackers but its not easy to implement this kind of regulations.

the issue of child labour is actually two headed . children are employed in places liek sivakasi which are famous for the cracker industry . working under such hazardous conditios can be lethal for kids, and in one way the wide spread rejection of such crackers maybe helpful. but there is the argument that in such conditions atleast the kid is able to earn some money rather than being straved to death and we're snatching the only means of livelihood without showing them a way out . whatever the reasons be, though there must be a restrictio on the kind of crackers and the decibel levels , its fun at the end of the day .. so have a happy n safe diwali !!

or perhaps i've just grown up and people around me too have , and just lost interest in crackers !! ;-)

the RDB phenomenon....

2006-10-16T00:09:00.000+05:30

Rang de basanti ...............

Now its been close to some 8 months since its been released and i think this movie really deserves a mention .... it has rightly been selected for the oscars ..... but.........

Are the oscars overhyped and is it only the media which gives it larger than life image . duz it really deserve this much attention ?

May be in a way its big since its where all the cinema of the world come together on one stage and hence they get a chance to be appreciated and criticised by global audience and ....
also the well deserved publicity which they might not otherwise get. But on the other hand how well can the western audiences appreciate the actual meaning and the emotional content of the movies produced outside the u.s ....

i think in most of the cases they are overlooked.
Since different societies have different triggers .
Different things make them cry and still different things make them laugh , things which are funny in one country may be sacrilage and blasphemy in others ... and since they are supposed to be watched either the translated versions or with subtitles the actual feelings may not be conveyed as effectively....

last but not the least.... the oscars seem to be governed by the general mood and sentiment of the american population , for eg: is there is a major war going on now the anti war movie seems to be bagging all the awards , and if the debate going on is about the gay issue.... broke back mountain is the winner......

so should we crib about not winning an oscar.... while winning one certainly be appreciated.

there s' a gud quote though :
' Nobody says " it's just a game ! " when THEY are on the winning side ..'
; -)

i'll finish by the quote with which RDB starts ....

jo khoon ab khaul na utthe , khoon nahi woh paani hai.
jo desh ke kaam na aaye , bekaar wo jawani hai .

this quote has an electrifying effect , and has for sure made a change in the way i think . lets see if we can really make a difference. wishing the RDB all the best... adios ,amigo.

world politks

2006-10-10T15:59:00.000+05:30

the world politics have interested me , bored me but what they never failed to do was to amuse me. consider the recent nukes test by north korea ....

all the nations which were among the first to condemn the tests are the very nations who sit upon the largest stockpiles of nuclear arsenal . i have never been able understand on what moral grounds does u.s ask for sanctions against other nations when it has conducted the largest number of tests for deadliest weapons.

and the most surprising was the acerbic statement by india- how can they forbid what they themselves did, - start an arms race in the subcontinent even though for its own safety . the only answer possible is - it wants tot please th U.S so tht its nuclear deal is not in jeopardy .

considering other fronts also ....
the U.S carries out the largest researches for environment pollution , it has largest number of environmentalists and yet its the largest producer of greenhouse gases even though it has a smaller %age of the population. here again the bigshot industrialists of the u.s rule.

so in the end who is it that rules the world - ( its not the U.N even kindergarten kids would know tht )

finally it all boils to the U.S voters - and the populist politics in u.s and sometimes dangerously - the whims and fancies of their president . who in an instant can finish a full fledged country and eliminate millions on the grounds that they MAYBE terrorists and a threat to the American population.

Bush said " u r either with us or against us"..... for the rest of the world its a choice worser the choice between the DEVIL and the DEEP BLUE SEA.

incredible india !!

2006-06-17T13:41:00.000+05:30

INCREDIBLE INDIA !! ---- but still undermarketed.

i think its high time we start marketing india on a larger scale to the world, the tourism department of india has never been on the aggressive note and considering there's not much scope for 'income' not many ppl in the cabinet have shown interest for tht portfolio.

we can have a look and get inspired from the asian tigers - malaysia and singapore on how aggresively they have marketed themselves and the results are quite evident the tourism has increased two time over in just two years , this despite that tsunami tragedy in the east asia.

i have been recently to vizag and darjeeling ....and i cant in words dsecribe the beauty of darjeeling and surrounding places.
one can reach darjeling via siliguri or new jalpaiguri by train in west bengal , from there darjeeling is at a 3 hour amazing drive through tthe mountains.

Darjeeling stands at an altitude of over 8000 ft and is aptly called ' queen of hill stations ' . the toy train is the most famous thing of that place which moves slowly from darjeeling to jalpaiguri unravelling the himalayan beauty ...
it is rich with an exotic variety of flora and fauna with some animals like the clouded leopard which can be seen in the zoo ( its closest cousin to the now extinct saber toothed tiger , and its endeangered too ) well u cant see the musk deer there though .....and there were breath taking views while descending the hill to go to gangamaya park and rock garden ........ they are one of the best maitained parks i have ever seen .... ahead of bangalore's brindavan garden and ooty's botanical gardens . the clouds actually go past u , though ppl said that october is the best season to go there , i felt june was ideal.

one can also have a look at the gear which tenzing norgay lived till his end and also the gear which he and sir edmund hillary used during their famous conquest of mt . everest , all this at the himalayan mountaneering institute , whose chairman now is jyoti basu ( he gives the permissions to climb the everest by routes through india, so im told) . the next and last place i visited was lake mirik - it was located in a fairy tale setting , in midst of the mountains and clear water with clouds just passing over your head, one can go boating in this beautiful lake for half an hour.

this trip will remain as one of the best places i have visited, though due to lack of time , we could not visit gangtok .... well maybe next time

quote a quote again!!

2006-05-31T21:51:00.000+05:30

i read this in the fms brochure cover page and (dont laugh) but was one of the main reasons for me to apply for it.now thanx to arjun singh i have no realistic chance of making it with hardly 10 seats for gen category. still the quote now.....

every morning a gazelle wakes up , it knows that it must run faster than the fastest lion
every morning a lion wales up, it knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle
but no matter who you are
when the dawn breaks , you better be running.

may be i read sm inner meaning in it which mite not be there, still it was gr88

holidays.........

2006-05-27T23:29:00.000+05:30

it is good actually once in a while to do nothing .
they say that sm guy called Newton got the idea about a force that sucks ......... ya gravity , when he was enjoying his holidays from the university due to the plague which had suddenly erupted over europe...... im still waiting for any such brilliant idea. after my various sttempts to do any " constructive work " went sour, i settled down to spending my hols in the traditional way.

and one good thing about ranchi is the climate, this time it is amazing with rains almost everyday like the scottish climate, ( dont mind the exaggeration!) and thankfully the rains are a welcome respite to the farmers after the continous famine like conditions.

with some of my frenz already earned the professional tag, im waiting for mine .....

20 constructive things to do in vacation

2006-05-20T21:28:00.000+05:30

well 3 summer vacations have gone by at b.i.t and they were pretty long ........ 2 months
there was always heavy duty palnning, some wanted to learn programming
some hardware.

but two months were rtoo long to do nothing and too short to do anything really. so the days were spent infront of the idiot box or the stupid box. the afternoons were too hot to go out and the evenings too tempting to hangout at theatre or sm shopping mall.
now this is the last vacation probably when i hafta do nothing , really nothing.
just came back home with baggage both emotional and material.last two days were spent at yellow saphire and c.c.d, both time and money seem glide past by you , though the ambience is the only thing ppl go there for, u come out feeling a bit lighter in pocket and mind. what a plce to gossip wid frenz and if u r meeting them for last time..........

today we were searching a place to learn french , we searched ranchi high and low, there was one palce but the course starts when my vacation ends .......... so ruled out

then we went to icici to open a demat account but they need a pan number to open it .......... it takes 15 days to get it .............. so thats on hold now......

gosh luks like this summer 's not gonna be different from the last ones

for next 18 tips call me and ask .

i am an engineer now!!

2006-05-07T00:47:00.000+05:30

it all began six years ago. the dream of becoming an engineer began with the iits, those days were gruelling in 11th and 12th , but on the altar of a secure future the early teens were sacrificed , there was practically nothing but preparing for jee , that was a destiny i had chosen for myself , because i used to fancy engineers as ppl who do hi fi technical stuff.........like inventing something new or designing new processors or something..... after those entrance exams sucked half the life out of me ,

finally got into b.i.t mesra and before i knew four years flied past me , now im looking at the countdown with 1 on it.......... the last step of being an engrr -my project will be done, and i will be gone from b.i.t mesra -alma mater.

everything is fresh in my mind ,
wish life could just rewind,
let's laugh , play, and rejoice,
once again become college guys.

age of empires...

2006-05-04T01:59:00.000+05:30

age of empires is one of the most addictive i have played. we started playing this on lan last month and we have spent countless days and nights on it, usually the game extends hours together depending on the teams or the civilisations they chose.there were instances when we actually forgot to sleep( during holi hols) and instances when we missed having food in the mess, even our end sem exams could not dampen our enthusiasm and we manage to take out time for the game, the completion of the syllabus is but a secondary issue.

the regular warriors are:
manish dhelia aka xenom( mr.enthusiast- he is game for the game anytime of the day)
dharmesh meena aka kratos( baadshah- we r still trying to find ways to defeat him)
shishir tiru aka morgue man( tyro turned virtuoso)
pratik choudhuri aka zion( only one who can challenge meena in a duel)
shabda aka die slowly love(well the king visits but rarely)
prasun aka sabre truth( abhi abhi khelna seekha hai)
swaraj aka sword

and last but certainly not the least k(ami) k(aze) -------- yours truly.

the first game on lan was palyed between me and shabda,but with 12 days left to go from b.i.t , i believe this is one of the last oppurtunities we have, to play this game on lan.

we'll of coz chreish these battles ( the other ppl in lobby will too , they will vouch for it... hehe)

quote a quote.

2006-04-28T11:12:00.000+05:30

: "'Remember that what's right isn't always popular... and
what's popular isn't always right.'"

this is me..

2006-04-25T17:10:00.000+05:30

truly unbelievable !!

2006-04-24T18:12:00.000+05:30

its just about the recent movie i saw " schindlers list" . amazing would rather be an understatement , but that was kinda expected from spielberg..... though it was shot in b& w and is 3 and half hours long, each moment of it is gripping .
i was reading about the jews in encarta about their history , they were probably thrown out of every possible place , well they did a mistake instead of going to poland they mustave fled to india like the parsees , atleast they wudn't have been murdered in millions. but the sheer fact that 60 lakh ppl were killed in a span of just 4 years is staggering .

they were kicked out of their home byt the babylonians first and their city was destroyed ( to remember this tragedy the jews crush a glass object when they marry , to resemble the demolition of their first temple of solomon) . then the roman emperor drove them out , they settled in various places like spain , france etc, but even there they were not in peace and they were banished (!yes!) by the self proclaimed civilised nation - britain. they had somewhat peace in spain before they persecuted there too by king ferdinand and queen isabella. they migrated in large numbers and concentrated in poland . and then .......... started the largest and worst genocide in history of mankind , by adolf hitler.

the way the protagonist of the movie- oskar schindler saves 1100 jews , at his personal risk and cost of millions of duetsche marks was moving .

we need such exmplary people in todays world too , hatred still at large in the balkans , in palestine, and of course in india peninsula.

we ppl claim to be civilised and educated and still dont give a damn for human lives( look at iraq!) . we shud atleast change now and learn to co-exist in peace .

p.s- please leave the jews in peace atleast now . the arabs shud learn to live with them.

a record of its own sort....

2006-04-13T18:39:00.000+05:30

this time in our col (thats b.i.t mesra ) there are probably maximum number of people who got calls from the gr8 and gr8 b schools and many have act converted them . most probably ( one's waitlisted) there will be 2 guys going to iim b and two to f.m.s delhi, and myself im still hanging on a waitlist in x.l.r.i.................

iimb .... perhaps it's what a lakh dream about every year and a lakh dont even dream of , one of my frenz remarked as it being harvard of india , wudnt be an exaggeration considering its only iim with international presence now.

perhaps its thanx to the over the top salaries the ppl got this year in the indian b schools mba is back with a bang louder than ever before , a crore rupees for an year . if it was me i would work like hell for an year and then happily retire and go globe trotting.
the hype has really got intense now , i was in a bus to my col and i heard two guys talking ' yaar ye isb mein admission kaise hota hai' i cudnt help but smile ... now mba has become an obvious destination for young india.

its about me ....

2006-04-09T09:47:00.000+05:30

though i belong to vizag i have been travelling throughout india since my father has a transferable job with canara bank... i spent my initial years of schooling in hyderabad then moved to the city of the taj. staying in agra gave me a chance to visit all the places of mughal influence . funny it seems now that in distant past , a nomadic tribe captured the seat of power in delhi for centuries together only to be dislodged by another foreign power , imperial one this time . indian past is a classic example of "divided we fall" , and divided we fell not once but again and again ... india they say is the only country not to have made an agression on any other country in some 10,000 years or so... the position of our country is so favorable that we never needed to look out for anthing , we had most fertile of the soils and also abundantly blessed with minerals ( not uranium though im talking about past if u have noticed....hehe) . this also sortof explains our population which till recently was considered a liability is now turning into our asset and a liability to other countries population ( in bpo's if u dont get it)

2006-04-04T23:56:00.000+05:30

hello ,

this is about me k.k kishore just penning down my feelings and sortof my story . a good read i promise if u r getting bored with nothing to do.

this being my first blog is only to experiment .......