Just wondering

And the Trip begins ..........

2010-06-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

Finally I am in New Delhi, The Capital of India. Home to India's parliament and the Supreme court. The city which takes decisions that consequently carves the futures of more than a billion people. Till date all my information about Delhi has only come from history books and friends. For the first time I will get to know for myself if all that I have read and heard is true.

I have come to this city with some preconceived notions. I have been warned by everyone that the Rickshaw drivers and taxi drivers are just waiting for customers like me whom they can rip off easily. I hadn’t booked my hotel till the last minute and was absolutely certain that I would be shelling out about 500 to 700 rupees only to reach the hotel. Every Internet blog put up (especially by foreigners) speaks of how the money divide is huge in Delhi and how crowded and chaotic the markets are here.

Of course the history books are full with all the major events that took place here over the last 2000 years. Not to mention the fact that the capital city of the pandavas, Indraprastha is very close to this very city as well. In a sense Delhi has been the capital of India for about 5000 years now.

Today I will be clearing all these doubts that I have. I will be trying to speak with people to check if what I have heard is true or not. Visiting as many monuments as I can and clicking as many pictures as possible. I need to make this day as fruitful as possible. I also have a lot of shopping to do for Ladakh. Need to buy a card reader (Forgot to pack my data transfer cable  ), An additional batter for my camera (Which I could not buy in Bombay) and of course good sun glasses (Which I did not have and need to protect my eyes from UV radiation in Ladakh  ).

Finding the Hotel was the easiest thing for me. There was always an element of doubt if the room would be good, and I must say I am not disappointed. The Room is big spacious and very comfy. I could spend my time sleeping all day in the room and still it would not be a waste of time. But then again I have a lot of things to do today  . I have not yet had my first brush with the Taxi drivers here. I took a prepaid meru so that don’t get ripped off. I reached my hotel in 300 rs, much less than the estimated amount. However the driver was probably not happy dropping me at Kirti nagar (Quite close to the Airport) and kept complaining about how meru has converted him into a postman from a taxi driver.

The ride was smooth and the hotel quite good. All I could think off after reaching the place was “Sleep”.

I hope today, I am actually able to see the city without any hassles. I am almost through with my tour plan. Don’t see any scope to travel on the Delhi metro. Possibly I will experience it when I am back on the 13th.

One more Reservation bill????

2010-03-10T09:53:00.001-08:00

As an open category student I have been a first hand witness to the way reservations in educational and government institutions are misused. How it is used as a political tool to garner more votes by incompetent politicians and how easily it can fragment Indian society, which by the way is the key to win any elections in India.

I cannot express how angry I was with the Congress when the then human resource minister Mr. Arjun Singh just could not stop ranting about why the reservations for backward castes must exceed the current 51 %. He was visible in every TV news channel giving his opinions and views, managed to get a lot of support from a few and sparked out violent protests in Mumbai and other cities. But I guess all is well that ends well. The Bill never saw the light of day; however the congress managed to present a Dalit/OBC/ST/SC friendly face just before the elections. This could have been one of the reasons as to why they had such a good showing in the hindi heartland.

However when the Women reservation bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha, I was ecstatic. I had what so ever no doubt in my mind that this was history in the making. A day of which I can talk of when I grow old to my children or grand children and say “I was there when this happened”. Finally the right, left and central politicians agreed on something which was for the greater good of the country. Never before have I seen the Indian parliament so very much in tandem about an issue. Of course there were some unruly scenes in parliament, but guess it is not uncommon for the Yadav’s to make such a ruckus.

But then my mind wondered. What was so different about this bill? Why did I support this one when I am in general opposed to all and every reservation system anywhere?

Well as per rules of the Vatican, the process to declare a person as a saint does not start before at least 50 years have gone by after the person’s death. And the rule is for a good reason. Emotions need to be eliminated before you can take a decision or make a point or support a cause. I was not going to wait for 50 years to express my views on this matter or write this blog, but I did wait for a few days just to check out how I feel about it a little later. I am still quite positive about the whole affair. I still believe this will increase credibility of the parliament. Bring in more clean politicians and would by and large sensitize our law makers in terms of women issues.

But then I ask myself, Will this bill really make a difference?
If you ask the detractors of the bill they have the same points to speak of. Women will be little more than puppets in the hands of their Husbands!!! Parties must have self imposed quotas… etc. Countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan have more than 25% women in their parliaments and their lot has hardly improved… And the list goes on and on.

And Again I ask myself, how valid are these objections? Will this Bill really make a difference? I still cannot answer with great confidence. But I do feel, it will bring about a positive change. India should strive not only to be a land of equal opportunity but also a land where every one enjoys equal growth. Women have long been in the fringes of Indian politics. This will surely empower them to change India.

Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope the bill makes its way to the LS this very session.

Right Side of the Brain: Finally Activated ….

2009-08-18T05:05:00.000-07:00

I have always enjoyed drawing. However, drawing and Sports were two things I was never good at in School. I had a Drawing teacher who always insisted on having a black border line for all drawings. Weaither it was made using water colours, poster colours or sketch pens. The medium never mattered. She always insisted on the black lines which would define (or should I say spoil) the features of the drawing. I don’t think I need to say most of my paintings had a poor remark on them. Sports … I was never interested (I am not interested in it even now).

But when in my eighth grade I joined a special class in my school where in a new teacher trained me for a particular government exam (Elementary Drawing Exam). We called him Nadkarni sir (I don’t know his first name), and he was very good with the pencil. I remember he used to ask us to draw a line, any kind of line on the black board and name an animal. Within minutes he would convert the line into the animal we named. I still hold immense respect for him. He was the first guy who actually taught me how to draw and paint. For the first time in my life I got good grades in drawing under him. Not only was it a huge boost to my confidence with regards to drawing, it also inspired me to experiment with unconventional methods of drawing. I could not draw very well after the 3 month training session but my drawing had certainly improved. The examination itself consisted of three papers, Nature drawing (where they would give a flower and ask us to draw it on our drawing sheets), Still life and Scenery. I cleared the exams; Not exactly with flying colours. I got a C Grade overall, but I did manage to pass.

I took those classes for a reason I can’t seem to remember. I guess I just wanted to draw a little better than what I was doing then. Clearing those exams were a bonus. My interest in drawing did not wane away after that, but I never took the next step to learn and draw better after that. Nor did I have teachers like Nadkarni sir teaching me drawing. But the passion to learn and do better was always there.

After completing my engineering, I started to try and build on the base my teacher provided me with. It was not all that easy, although I could draw line diagrams, shadows and shadings were a nightmare. I tried every approach to do better and failed. Until I came across a book called “Drawing from the Right Side of your Brain”. It was literally drawing demystified for me. Many of the things actually came as a revelation to me. I could understand clearly why I could draw profiles better than foreshortened views before I began learning from the book. The author also spends some time building your confidence and convincing that drawing is not all that difficult. I bought the book a year ago. And started building my skills one step at a time or should I say one chapter at a time. I am almost at the fag end of the book where I am actually supposed to draw my own portrait.

I must say I was very skeptical when bought the book. But by now, I feel I can draw much better. The techniques mentioned in the book did work. As I mentioned above, Drawing is de-mystified for me thanks to Dr Betty Edwards. I have still not drawn my portrait, but I tried my hand at drawing my role model and I think I was pretty successful at it. I do not think that I have actually learnt all the techniques mentioned in the book. The Negative spaces concept is still beyond my reach. There is also an exercise wherein you actually draw with a eraser !!!! .

I still have miles to go and a lot more to master. But the journey seems to be much easier now. Drawing from memory will be a totally different ball game and I need to perfect that if I want to improve. I am still using my picture frames to complete my drawings. I hope that by the next year, I will be able to post a much more detailed and precise colour picture of Albert Einstein.

Of Religious Leaders and Directed Democracies.

2009-07-23T03:19:00.001-07:00

My first tryst with voting and democracy was when I was in the 5th Grade. We used to have elections for the for the Student Council members. As a fifth grader I was eligible to vote only for the head boy and the head girl. One week in advance, all the probable candidates would queueup and speak about themselves and explain to us why they felt that they were the best candidates. The whole process was pretty boring. Everyone used the same phrases in their speach and invariably ended it with “Elect and select the best, but do not forget so-n-so”. It was, but a good experience. I somehow felt important on the day of the elections. I felt as if was a part of some important process.

My first brush with democracy was “ideal” if I could put it that way. We never had any candidates who were in the bad books of the teachers, standing for elections. The students who were selected were always “Scholars” (It was a term for studious children in my school). Even the Sports captain was someone who scored marks and did well in sports. Everything about the election was in one word “Perfect”.

And I wondered as to why we had such “Clean” Candidates coming up and occupying top positions in the Student Council of my school, while we have criminals occupying prominent positions in the Indian Parliament. The reason was simple; the system in my school could not be termed just as “Democracy”. “Directed Democracy” was a more appropriate term; something similar to the kind of “Theocracy” that is practiced in Iran. The candidates were handpicked by the Principal, vice Principle and the supervisor. There were always two candidates fighting for a given post in the student council. There were hardly any real issues to be spoken about during these elections let alone debated about. It was as if one candidate was a mirror reflection of the other. And I wondered a bit more…. Is this system better than democracy?

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Freedom is not worth having, If it does not include the freedom to make mistakes”. Iran’s concept of democracy would never allow its people to make “Mistakes” or in others words allow them to have an opinion which differs from the opinion of their Supreme Leader. Whatever the Supreme Religious council says is more like Law and if major issues are to be sacrificed for petty religious matters, it is acceptable. The system could be better termed as “Pseudo Democracy”. The people are given a false sense that they are in control of the government, when the truth simply is that the supreme leaders could change or influence the election results anytime they want too. As a student, I was repulsed by this kind fake show of democracy in my school. In fact it would not be wrong to say I was in very angry with the very fact that my teachers did not trust my judgment in choosing the right candidates for the student council. I started believing that socialism and communism were better alternatives to democracy. I fail to understand what good the common people of Iran see in the system that they have.

What has happened in Iran now has only reinforces my belief. Any protests against the new regime have been struck down with brutal force using militias like the basij. For now, drunk with power, the Iranian leaders believe they have brought down the protests and have started trading charges with the west stating they have instigated and financed it.

For now a dumb tyrant who can do no more than a little lip service to the people of Iran is occupying the top civilian post in Iran. His concept of nationalism is very similar to the hundreds of tyrants who have come before him. His sensational comments and rigid concept of Islam will do no good for the People of Iran.

But I am sure his fate going be similar to that of the previous tyrants. He just needs to pick up the history books of Iran to understand this.

Mumbai’s Lifeline:

2009-05-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

Well, If you ask Euclid what will be the shortest distance between any two points, He would say it will be a straight line, Put the same question to Einstein and he might say, not necessarily a straight line as Space can be bent! Put the same question to a Mumbai commuter and you will get only one answer, “It’s by train”.

Trains have always been the lifelines of Mumbai. They are analogous to the Farcasters in Dan Simmons’s Hyperion trilogy; cheap as hell, amazingly efficient, almost always on time and carrying at least 200 thousand people every day to various destinations. Mumbai would certainly not have been the economic capital of India without them. It’s also a place of sorts for people of different faiths, ideologies, and political convictions to come together to discuss and deliberate upon issues. These discussions are generally more intelligent, smart and to the point than the debates we have in the Indian Parliament. In fact I have got to hear many interesting points of views and opinions without being a part of these discussions.

However, the most interesting people I have met in trains are the hawkers who get on trains to sell their wares. These range from Pens, chocolates, Wallets to books, fruits and even electric shavers. They can come up with the most interesting pitches and could put the sales representatives of the most reputed companies to shame. I suspect they also have a proper time sharing mechanism in place. Till date I have not seen two guys hawking the same product in the same train.

I was traveling to Church-gate yesterday. As usual, the hawkers were all around selling things like wallets and Folders. But what did catch my attention was a sales pitch given by a guy who was trying to sell perfumes. He started off with explaining the science of Perfumes and how alcoholic perfumers loose their “flavor” within a couple of hours. The perfume he was selling was supposedly non alcoholic, so it could retain its “flavor” for the entire day. He went on to explain how we spend our hard earned money away on expensive perfumes when his product costs just 10 bucks and gives them much more. And to add to it, the perfumes were supposed to be of Denim, Charlie and Havoc.

By far the most interesting sales pitch I ever heard, was from a guy who started off by saying, that the world was full of cribbers; Right from our bosses to co workers to friends and relatives. But as per him the worst cribbers were wives. And for cribbing wives he had the best solution.

I was attending college back then. But even I was drawn to this pitch. Almost everyone in the compartment was looking towards him. He looked like a Godman who was going reveal some divine secret . He put his hand inside his bag and pulled out needles, threads and buttons. For a moment I thought he was going to say, “Stitch their mouths with these”. But the guy was a progressive thinker. He recommended to all the husbands in the train that they do they own stitching. The Kit he was selling had everything in it, including a device which could help them put the thread through the needle. By doing that he said; they could prove to their wives that they were loving and caring husbands. I am sure that would be giving the exact opposite pitch in the ladies compartment.

The second category of non commuting people in trains are the Performers (or more aptly beggars). They would come in with their harmonium or flute or sometimes with just two slices of Rock and start singing and playing their instruments. Most of them would just irritate you into paying them some money so that they would leave. But some are particularly gifted. I particularly enjoyed listing to a blind musician who used to play old Bollywood songs on his flute when I used to travel to national college. The music was always soothing to hear.

The railways would always be there in Mumbai. And No matter how rich we become, or how many new flyovers are built, and how many Nano’s we buy. Trains would still be the preferred way to travel in this city. When the trains were targeted on 11th of July serial bombings, this lifeline got affected for a mere 2 hours. Something which even the London civic atrocities could not accomplish when their subway faced a similar threat.

Nothing can stop a Mumbai train on its tracks (except of course for the rains). And with the Mumbai metro all set to open next year, I can’t help wondering what lies ahead for this lifeline of Mumbai.

Finally !!!! Indian Democracy comes off age.

2009-05-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

The signs of change was always there. But every one looked in the wrong direction.
The Indian electorate was waking up from a long and deep slumber. People were getting more restless and impatient. Everyone ignored this "people resurgence" in 2004. But After the 2009 elections every one will have to take notice.

Caste, Religion and Regionality were hugely influencing the electorate in India. People were always taken for granted. Fake and unconstitutional promises were always made and forgotten. Secularism was seen as a tool to get votes rather than as a fundamental tenet of Indian democracy. Spreading hatred and inciting fear were key elements to gathering votes.

It was all true till the 2009 General elections.
I have been watching election coverage’s since the 1996 general elections. And my mood after every election has always been that of despair; People discussing about horse trading and corruption within the Indian political establishment; Criminals winning by huge margins; Open and shameless negotiations by parties which held as low as 3 Lok Sabha seats and Unworthy people grabbing top jobs in the parliament.
But this time my mood was positive and upbeat.

In fact when Kalyan Singh swore in 95 members of his coalition as ministers in the UP government, it was seen as a necessary evil for stability in UP. Not long ago in the 2007 Assembly elections both the SP and BSP boasted of along list of convicted criminals who contested elections under their banner and won.

But, it all changes in 2009. Most of the criminals were either denied contesting elections by the supreme court or lost them. Mayawati’s Caste politics took a huge beating. The Shiv Senas communal agendas got a thumps down and MNS’s rationalistic politics hardly got them a single seat. Even the Tamil Ultra nationalist Leader Vaiko, failed in the elections miserably.
All of them had failed to interpret the signs of change.

There was but only one mantra to win these elections; “Development”. The BJP’s manifesto did contain a lot of positives, but was highlighted very poorly by the Party leadership. The only message which was delivered to the common man was, “We will build a Ram Temple”, “We will not allow the setu samudram project to take off”. On the other hand the Congress manifesto highlighted the schemes such as NREGS which they implemented during their rule and promised economic reforms after the elections. This time, Probably the BJP lost the elections even before the votes were cast.

Of course Narendra Modi won more seats than the 2004elections. But the BJP will be totally wrong if they attribute this to the hard line Hindutva policy he follows. He won solely on a development platform. Even the muslims were keen on seeing him in Gujrat. The BJP got more seats in Bihar, where Nitish Kumar was the face of the party, and he spoke only of Infrastructure Development, elimination of criminals from his state and a more responsible and transparent government. Yes !!! Varun Gandhi won in Philibit , But that was based on his mothers reputation. The price for supporting Varun Gandhi was paid for by the BJP at the state level. The BJP did win the kandhamal seat, but lost face and partners in Orissa and were demolished. The Left paid the price for not supporting the Nuclear deal and for all the atrocities they committed on the people of Bengal.

In the coming elections, every party will have to keep development high in their agenda. They will have to put religion and region on the back burner. Even the Congress will have to stop harping about “Secularism”. Their strategy as far as projecting a secular image to gain votes failed miserably in Gujarat, Orissa and Bihar. They will have to focus on delivering their promises to the people of India now that they are in the center. If they tread on the path of minority appeasement and Vote bank politics the will meet the fate of the BJP in the next elections.

Today as the counting winded up and the process of government formation started, I wonder; Where do we go from here. Will the VHP start a new campaign in Mathura or Kasi for creating a situation similar to Ayodhya? Will the congress attribute their success to Vote bank politics and intensify their efforts in that direction. As Always, I can think of only one thing. “Time will tell”.

In the company of strangers:

2009-03-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

I recently read Ramanujan’s biography (The man who knew infinity). The book was very well written and focused on Ramanujan as mush as it focused on others with whom Ramanujan interacted with. The book speaks about his isolation in Brittan and his tragic death in India. It has also in a way compared the two cultures in which he lived (Indian and British that is).

It started the comparison, describing how a Hindu temple would have a gopuram (the Temple Gate) which would be the tallest structure of the entire complex, then came the temple building it self which would be a moderate structure full of ornate pillars and beautifully carved statues and finally the main praying area where the deity was kept, would be a small room where only a single individual (or probably two) could stand at a time; Whereas the Churches of Britain were completely different. The gate would be quit normal; the church building itself majestic and the altar with its dome spell binding.

But the section which did catch my fascination was how he described Ramanujan’s isolation in Britain. Indians the author believes are more open and welcoming then the British who keep a stiff upper lip and are very reserved when it came to interacting with others. And to add to it Ramanujan himself was a reclusive individual. He seldom made the effort to familiarize himself even with Hardy who was his mentor. Indians the author says are so communicative that if you chat with them for even half an hour, you could know everything about them. Whether they were married or not? What work they did. What kind of dreams they had? What was their town or village of origin? Practically every thing there is to know about him.

And I wondered……. How true was that in the present day? I myself am an introvert. The only people I can communicate easily and with trust are my parents and my sister. But how about the others? Well just like the Joker (From the Dark Knight), I decided to carry out a small “Social Experiment” of my own and try to communicate with as many unknown Indians as I possibly could. And I had the perfect place for it. I was flying back to India soon and I had a 6 hour stopover at Ataturk Airport.

My first challenge was to understand how to begin a conversation with a complete stranger. I assumed smiling at someone was the easiest way. Of course I did not anticipate much success by this method. But none the less, I had no other Ideas.

My “Experiment” almost immediately began, when I was standing in the queue for getting my boarding pass, I tired smiling at the Indian who was standing ahead of me and it worked. He asked if I was an Indian and was traveling to Bombay. When I answered in the affirmative his instant reaction was “Great… Now we are four of us. We can certainly kill time at Istanbul”. I was a bit surprised by how easily assumed that I be willing to spend time chatting with him. After I got my boarding pass, he introduced me to the others he knew. One of them was his colleague from IBM; the other guy was a fruit exporter from Pune. We all proceeded to the main terminal. We still had 2 hours before boarding and the topic they were discussing was what to shop for in the duty free stores. I already had a list of Dead Sea “Beauty Products” which my friend had asked me to buy. As they went to the Electronics stores, I quietly slipped into the cosmetics store making a small excuse. I wasn’t sure if they would take any kind of offense because of it; but anyway, I proceeded to buy those “beauty” products. Once done I went back to the electronic store, not to meet my new found friends but to actually check out if some new electronic gizmo was available. A one terabyte external hard drive caught my attention. But it was prized at 150$ which I thought was a bit expensive. I moved on and in sometime spotted two of the guys I had met sitting near a coffee shop. They started to wave their hands the moment they saw me. They even pulled out a chair for me to sit and started inquiring as to what I had bought. I showed them the Avaha products I had got for my friend, the fruit exporter (Well sorry, I do not remember any of their names.) was visibly disappointed that he did not know what his wife wanted and the other was analyzing if it would be worth spending so much on his girlfriend, but soon the topic changed to about what they had seen around the airport duty free, and then the IBM guy started discussing the policies in IBM as far as foreign travel was concerned. Next they discussed how the taxi drivers in Israel are constantly taking on speaker phones, when the other IBM guy arrived and suddenly they were back to the discussing the duty free shops. The IBM guy was lamenting about how much he wanted to buy a diamond ring that he saw in one of the stores for his wife, but could not buy as it was priced at around 12000$. At this point something surprising happened. The exporter waved his hand towards someone. And a minute later someone new joined us, pulling one more chair towards the table. I was amused to know that he was actually a diamond merchant, who was in Tel Aviv to buy raw diamonds. And now the topic was diamonds. The new guy actually described in detail how diamonds were valued. He also advised the guy to buy diamonds from India itself as they were much cheaper. I couldn’t help but notice that he was clinging to his hand bag very tightly when discussing. He probably had a few in his bag. I could have made a fortune running away with it, I guess. We all just did not realize how time flew by and the boarding announced for the Istanbul flight.

I did not have much of a conversation in the flight itself. The flight to Istanbul was just about three hours. After alighting from the plane, I made a conscious effort to avoid my new friends for sometime. I had planned to read a book on my precious Iliad. I quietly started reading my book away from them for another 4 hours or so. But I soon joined them again to spend my remaining time. They had already discussed a plethora of subjects by the time I joined in. But the moment I arrived the IBM guy who had joined us a little later at the coffee table immediately started inquiring about the Avaha products I had bought. His wife and mother were suffering from joint pains and wanted to know if some product would be useful to them.

However now they possibly realized that I was not very comfortable around them. They asked me as to what I did and the company I worked for. The moment said I was a telecomm engineer; they started discussing mobile phones and other related stuff. Probably, just to involve me in their discussion. When I mentioned about the 1 terabyte Hard disk which I liked, the exporter offered to help me buy it in India at much lower price through his son, who knew a few shops in Delhi which sold them.

A little later the exporter started explaining how fruits were exported from India to Europe and Israel. He spoke of the different packaging systems used in it. He even spoke of how exports of exotic fruits like Pomegranates were increasing and how recent awareness in health foods, had driven the sales in Europe. He also joked how lazy the Europeans were as they had to literally export only peeled pomegranates. Unpeeled pomegranates had no market over there. The discussion never seemed to end and we literally “killed” time as my friend wanted to.

The flight was delayed by around 40 minutes and that much time was enough for them to make one more friend. This Indian was some sort of a big short in aviation. He had come to Istanbul to understand the functioning of huge airports. Like the others he was also more than willing to share his experiences. When the Diamond merchant asked him as to why Mukesh Ambani was not allowed to have a new helipad in his new house (Actually he almost sounded as if he had been denied the permission and wanted an explanation for it). The guy coolly explained how messy the whole process of giving permission for new helipads were. He went on to give a detailed analysis of what problems might occur if helipads started cropping up unchecked all around the city. When my exporter friend asked him if they were anytime lines for the new Bombay airport, the guy stated in a matter of fact way that the Land mafia over there would ensure that the project would never takeoff. He went on to list areas which were bought by builders at a cost of around sixteen lacks per hectare and were demanding about a core for selling their land for the airport. I actually have many friends who actually believe that new Bombay is the next hep and happening place and how the new airport was going to shift the focus from Bombay to new Bombay. Guess this will be news for them.

Soon boarding was announced. The two IBM guys had got a seat behind me. And it did not take much time for them to befriend the Indian who was sitting next to me. They guy was actually traveling from Skopje. I had never heard of a city by that name in Europe. He explained that it was the capital of Macedonia. The only city I knew in Macedonia was Pella; Or so I thought. He explained that Pella, the birthplace of Alexander was now in Greece.

As the flight took off, my neighbor (who was a charted accountant) spoke of everything, right from his family his work and his experiences meting different people across Europe. He also very humorously disclosed that the flight was delayed because of him as it was snowing very heavily in Skopje and all flights were delayed there.

I had always believed that Wikipedia and goggle were the two tools enough to gain all knowledge. I still believe the same, but I have come to realize one other thing. There is only one way of gaining insight into people and that is though direct contact. No social networking site will help us with that. No amount of bogging will connect us to others. We need to reach out to them in person. That is one thing technology cannot change. My “Social Experiment” was certainly an eye opener for me. It has in a way changed how I look at things. I came back a little enlightened that day.

I could possibly go on writing about what all I discussed with the different people I met. But to cut the long story short, I realized that we Indians are different and unique. Not because of the distinct culture we have, that is something that every civilization has. But because there is something that binds us all; something which breaks the barriers of Caste, creed, status and region. I now firmly believe that it is not just the love we show to our fellow citizens but also the trust that we show to each other which makes us different and it is this trust, above all that defines our Indian ness. Trusting others is something I still need to learn.

And the war rages on ….

2009-03-03T01:10:00.000-08:00

As a kid I have heard stories from my mother about the 3 great wars that India faced (before I was born that is). She used to talk about the disastrous Indo China war, which not only left the Indian economy in shambles but also dented the sprit of Indians to large extent. She used to describe how they were trained in school to hide under desks in the event of an aerial attack on her city. How they faced an acute shortage of essential commodities after it and how the government rationed it. She often spoke of the death of Lal bahadur Shastri, one of India most loved Prime ministers after the 63 war and the crushing defeat the Pakistanis faced in the 71 war.

And I wonder … What kind of stories will I tell my kids.. What will be the legacy of my generation? What is the single most important event that I would recall when I grow Old?

Of course the first thing that strikes me is the collapse of the twin towers and the subsequent declaration of war by the United States. The attack on the twin towers was touted as the 21st century Pearl Harbor by the Indian media.

But that was not always the case. I remember believing that the babri masjid demolition would be the darkest chapter in the history India. I was proved wrong within 6 months when there was a serial blast in Bombay. The 93 blasts bought terrorism from the Kashmir valley to our doorstep. The incident was recalled with horror for a long time by all Indians. The next significant incident for me was the Kargil war. The Indian Media covered every bit of it (almost live) and reporters like barkha Dutt become role models for many. Kargil was seen as a huge victory over pak sponsored terrorism and the vajpayee government was re elected on those grounds. The war also triggered the fall of a democratically elected government in Pakistan and the rise of general Pravez Musharaff. I can still recollect very clearly images of Pakistani army men taking over all the Television stations in Pakistan and general Parvez Musharaff giving his first speech as the new leader (well I must actually say “Dictator”) of Pakistan.

I am sure these incidents would have made very good stories for my children and grand children, But they were not nearly as horrific as the incidents which followed it. The attack on the twin towers proved without doubt that even the most powerful nation was not immune to this new plague called terrorism. No nation could claim to be safe from its affects. I was hopeful that this will lead to a conclusive war on terror which will prompt all modern nations to unite and at least at a bare minimum restrict nations like Pakistan from supporting terrorist outfits. But nothing positive came out of it. We are now living in a much more dangerous world.

The London bombing was the first of its kind for Brittan. The Madrid bombings were as horrific as the 93 blasts in Bombay. Bombay also suffered two more terror attacks after the 93 blasts. The attack on the Taj was probably the worst kind of terrorism we have seen in recent days. The kind which destroys the way of life of a city; the kind which arouses all sorts of suspicions and tries to divide communities.

The Lankan Cricket team was attacked in Lahore today .The media is reporting that one of the Lankan an players has been hit on his chest. Rumors are all afloat. Today’s audacious attack on the Sri Lankan players goes on to prove that terror is far from over. In fact we have greater challenges ahead of us. India borders are burning. The surrender of the Pak armed forces in Swat , the attempted military coup in Bangladesh, the aerial attack by the LTTE on Colombo are just pre cursors of something more disastrous we are about to face.

In Jaffa when French army fell prey to an unknown kind of plague, Napoleon boldly entered the tent where the sick soldieries were being treated and declared that the cause of the plague was nothing but fear and the remedy was moral courage. Terrorism is surely the plague of the 21st century. One which has consumed many and is forever spreading to new parts. And the only remedy for it is moral courage which has to be shown by us.

I hope by the time I am old this war on Terror is nothing more than history, just like World War II is to me. I hope the generations after us do not have to face this kind of war ever again.

Freedom is a Disease....

2009-02-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I saw the movie, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”…
It was a by and large a simple movie and depicted the most common storyline of movies all over the world. It had an oppressor and an oppressed. And in the climax the oppressed rise against the strong and invincible evil forces to emerge as victors. However what caught my attention was one specific line spoken by one of the vampire council members… He said “Freedom is a disease; If one has it, all will have it”.
And my mind wandered away.. It wandered of to understand how important freedom is to us. China does not provide freedom to its people but still the Chinese people are happy and contend with the government. During the Beijing Olympics the Chinese proved more than sufficiently that they were as great nation; A force to be reckoned with. Not only China, but also Pakistan was more stable under the dictator ship of General Parvez Musharaff than it is now under a civilian government. We could say the year of the emergency was one of India golden years. Indira Gandhi’s 20 point program put India’s financial state back on track. The Agricultural produce increased and all rioting between Hindus and Muslims ceased during the period. And I continue to Wonder... Is freedom nothing more than a disease... Do we as individuals’ deserve it? Can freedom for people actually work??
My mind wandered off to a story I had heard when I was a kid. The story of “The Wolf and the Dog”. The story speaks of a wolf that lived in a dense forest. He had to toil hard to get his food and would have to go on for days without it sometimes. He had to struggle even to get a small drink of water at the pond. He was always covered with fleas and hardly got a good bath each day. To add to all this; his cave was small and cold. His thick fur wouldn’t protect him at all times from the cold winter nights. His life went on like this, Miserable and uninterrupted until one day he met his long lost cousin the Dog.
He was shocked to see that he had shed most of his fur. The Dog replied calmly that he had met Man, who considered him his best friend and allowed him to share his cozy house which had fire to keep him warm. When the Wolf complained to him about the fleas, the Dog told him how man gave him a nice worm bath everyday so as to keep the fleas at bay. And finally when the Dog told him the kinds of food he was treated with for just barking at strangers, The Wolf was all too eager to join him.
As they both made way to the Man’s house the wolf saw that the Dogs neck had a ring like area without fur. When the Wolf enquired about it, The Dog yet again calmly replied, “Oh!! That’s because Man keeps me on a leash!!!!”. The Wolf refused to go any further with the Dog.
Obviously the Dog would never understand why the Wolf preferred a life of hardships to a life of Luxury. He would never understand why the wolf would prefer to live shabbily when he can get a good bath every day and enjoy the loving care of his master showered upon him.
In a way most of the people living in democracies are very much like the Wolf. We understand the need for freedom and can’t do without it. We accept the hardships and responsibilities which come along with it. But we will never be able to explain to others why it is so. Why is it that we cannot trade our freedom for a life of luxury? Why we prefer to work our way up painstakingly and slowly when we can get all of it for minor barter. Freedom is addictive. It is like marijuana. The more you have the more you need and we are all addicted to freedom. And soon this addiction or disease will spread to nations where people have never known the joys of this addiction through a new medium.
Freedom has always demanded a price from us. While we see the achievements of a dictator ship or a communist regime, we often fail to see the kind a damage it causes to a nation in the long run. The positive effects of the emergency were almost immediately lost once democracy was restored back. Democracy took time, but now India is not only stable financially but is one major economic powers in the world. Its agricultural produce exceeds its own needs a lot of it is also exported. George W Bush manipulated the Americans for eight years with the tools democracy provided; but even then America has its chance to do away with the Flawed Foreign policy which it adopted during the bush regime and start anew. USSR was much more powerful than china during its hay days and had achieved greater technological feats. Yet finally it fell. It won’t before the Chinese have a taste of this freedom drug and the communist regime meets a similar fate.

What tears may bring.

2009-02-02T10:56:00.001-08:00

Yesterday after Fedrer lost his match to Nadal, he reacted in the most amusing way…..
He cried !! Not that it is new for a sportsman to cry on field because of failure.. But none the less I was surprised. I have seen Agassi cry many a times after losing a grad slam final. Vinod Kambli cried once he knew the 96 world cup dream was all over. It doesn’t take much for a football player to cry once his team has lost in a penalty shoot out. And who can forget Sampras crying and playing at the same time when his coach had collapsed during his match.

I read an article in an Australian website … It said Fedrer crying on the field was understandable and that it was a touching response by an individual who had hardly known defeat for the last 5 five years.

But my mind did wander a bit ……
It wandered to understand why a great player like Fedrer who had won so many titles would break down because he lost a single match. Was it his frustration at not being able to regain his number one spot or was it deeper than that

What does it tell about an athlete’s character when he weeps after a loss?
When he sees tears as a solution to the huge disappointment he has just faced?
Can tears actually fix things which have gone wrong.. Can it change the past? Or is it just that a persons grief be reduced to some extent if he weeps.

Grief!!!! I guess is the most common emotion we all have. We grieve more than we rejoice as we think we toil more than we rest and we suffer more than we enjoy in our lives. This is something we all feel. But how justified are we in assuming this. Buddha in his teachings of the four noble truths tells us that we should understand “Dukham” or Suffering as a reality in life and we must understand that desire is the root cause of all our suffering .Of course he also preaches that there is a way to escape “Dhukam”, to be free of pain. It is a path which only a few understand and only a small fraction of those who understand take that path. He also says that men are bound by their Karma. And the cycle is forever, so would it mean that suffering is also for ever?

The Bhagwad Gita also offers a solution to get out of this cycle which is very close to what the Buddha preached. It tells us to the solution to escape Karma which means nothing but Action, is not Inaction but the execution of action as sacrifice, to toil hard for our goals, to be steadfast in our beliefs and never deviate from the path of dharma. This I believe is most certainly the best way to keep grief at bay. The path we take to reach our destination determines the joy we feel on completing the journey. Our character is not determined by weather we lost or won, but by how we won or lost.

For some defeat is just the beginning of a long and very successful life. For others it is a slide which puts to in the deepest pit, where they loose hope of gaining your ground again.

Tears certainly are not a sign of weakness, but it certainly defines your character. Sampras weeping at the sight of his mentor being taken to a hospital is very different than Agassi or Fedrer crying for the loss of one match. Fedrer should relish the fact that he was on top for five long years. He dominated the tennis world like no one has done before. He has most certainly left an indelible mark on world tennis. One small defeat like this should not have moved him to tears.

But Maybe, Just maybe I am wrong and have spoken too early.
I once heard a story about a Roman senator. It is said that when this senator was in his mid thirties, he saw a statue of “Alexander The great” and wept in font of it. He wept because by the age of 27 Alexander had conquered much of the known world, whereas he who was much older than him now, was just another Roman senator. How much of this affected him and in what way we do not know. But we know this. He went on to become Julius Caesar. The greatest and the most loved General Rome had ever seen.

We never know. Fedrer might just become Caesar in the world of tennis after this defeat.

The Third Generation Company:

2008-09-23T21:28:00.001-07:00

Years ago when I was working for reliance I read a book written by John Scully. The book was called Odyssey: From Pepsi to Apple. John Scully has written about his personal journey from being the youngest vice president of Pepsi to becoming the CEO of Apple. He describes the Cola wars, how team meetings and board meetings were conducted in Pepsi, The stress that he had to handle there and how eventually Pepsi got a better market share than Coca Cola based on these policies. Further down the book he describes his meetings with Steve jobs and Steve Wozniak and his experiences in Apple as the company’s CEO.

But the point which did capture my imagination was his description of First generation, Second generation and third generation companies. The first generation companies are as per him like the Coal mines which operated during the late ninetieth century. Places where the employees receive little respect and even little salary. Where the employees are treated more like animals of burden. A second generation company was something like Pepsi Co. Here the employees were treated with a respect and given good salaries, but were considered nothing more than accessories for the growth of the organization. The personal growth of the employee and the growth of the Organization were two different things. It was a place where the manager’s cabin was made of glass, but the company policies were hardly transparent. Employees got to know management decisions at the last minute and were expected to wear a tie in the office. But then in the 1970’s a new generation of companies rose in the US. This group he put under the third generation companies.

A third generation company has more open poliies and treat their employees like assets rather than accessories. Give them the freedom to learn and work the way they wanted. Allow them to have plans for their own betterment and assist them for it. Unlike a 2G organization which had many filters were each filter could say no to a particular decision, here decisions could be taken up by the individual. Of course the individual has more responsibilities, but he is also given the authority to execute them well. Apple as per him belonged to this category. It was an Organization were many employees spoke freely about dreams of opening their own companies without fear and resignations were never a problem for managers. As the company’s growth and success was linked to the individuals growth Apple became a fortune 500 company in a very short period.

And my mind I wondered during that time as to what it would be like to work in an organization like that. I was employed at Reliance during that time. A company which could hardly be called a Second generation Organization. It was more like a 1.5G organization. I felt stagnated and my growth was impeded. Bootlickers and Sycophants were in abundance. I was fortunate that my Boss much better than the rest of the senior management but none the less I felt frustrated by my work. But luck has its way. Based on the experience and knowledge I gathered at Reliance I got a job in ECI. Now I know at least how it is to work for an 2.5G organization. Just like Apple, ECI India’s growth has also been phenomenal. From a meager 5 million dollars in 2002 to 125 Million in 2008. It has grown more than 20 times in 6 years. In ECI individuals do feel free to take decisions and growth is not impeded by concepts like work experience and seniority. Everyone knows their role in the organization and aspires to do better. Employees are taken for annual meetings (or should I say annual holidays) to exotic places and given five star treatment. Team bonding is very high and discussions are always fruitful.

This radical shift in they way people are managed was probably always inevitable. The world is becoming a more and more competitive place and for a organization to succeed the employees have a huge role to play. Second generation concepts no longer hold good if a organization wants to grow at a rapid pace. Individual cannot be treated as mere accessories. My only hope is that Indian comapnies would learn from organizations like Apple or Google or for that matter ECI before it is too late.

The Story of India:

2008-09-12T23:44:00.001-07:00

Today As I gaze outside my window on a fine Saturday morning I see a small child being taken care of by the maid server. The child seldom seems to go inside and it appears as though he is waiting for his parents to return. I believe both of them work leaving the kid under the care of the maid servant. And My mind wonders yet again; Is this the story of India ???

Well I don’t think that the story of India is that of the mother who has to leave the kid in the hands of someone else against all her wishes and instincts for the betterment of her family. Nor is it the story of the father, who slogs day and night to give his family a better life. Nor is it the story of the kid who is perennially waiting for a glimpse of his parents outside the window. A wait that will go on for another five years before he is accepts the fact they will be home only for dinner. The Story of India is the story of the pre teen maid servant who has to take care of the kid. Do all the household chores. Give up on education and commit herself to a life wherein she might never get a chance to become a doctor or an engineer or a nurse. India’s story is the story of the little girl who has to work for some unknown reason, whose childhood is full of challenges and difficulties which I have still not faced in my life. It is the story of a Childhood lost in the quest of survival or possibly for the betterment of her siblings or even worse a greedy father who wants money for alcohol. Whatever it may be the real culprits in this case are the parents who employed her.

Nothing can justify employing a small girl for work other than the fact they are too selfish to shell some extra money and employ a mid aged woman who can truly take care of the kid. This act of employing a pre teen girl is as bad for the kid as it is for the little girl. The India government provides for free education for kids. For girls it is free up to college. They also provide midday meals to students who attend government schools. A meal which is balanced well enough for the mental and physical development of the child. There are organizations like CRY whose entire focus is on betterment of the poor by educating the young. Bharati has launched a new campaign to educate the girl child.

I have always felt that a country’s development depends on the number of educated people and not the percentage of literates. A literate is the one who can just read a news paper while an educated man will be able to act on what he reads. See beyond the obvious and distinguish the right from wrong. The parents of the child probably feel that they are doing a great service to the family of the girl by employing her and giving her money and food. They probably feel no remorse for the destruction of the girls childhood. These uneducated people who have employed the girl should be treated as criminals and nothing less. Their crime is comparable to that of murder and other grave offences.

My belief that India will be a prosperous country with equal opportunities for all diminishes when I see such atrocities. However I hope one day I will also proudly call myself an educated individual and do something to stop this rather then just close my curtains and look the other way killing all hopes for a better life for the girl.

The illuminated Iliad ! ! !

2008-08-18T01:37:00.000-07:00

A week ago I got my iLiad ….

I have been vying for this for the last six months. It arrived on Tuesday and ever since I have not been able to keep it down. One sad thing about it was that it does not support PPPoE. I have not yet connected it to the iDS. But all said and done it is a great device.

I have been reading “Moonseed”, a science fiction book written by Stephen Baxter on my iLiad . I can’t help wondering that the iliad it self is something of out science fiction for me. I got my first Computer when I was 20 years old. Till then I was working on my college PC and building 16 bit applications in Pascal and turbo C. Eight years down the line I own my own e-book reader with a touch screen. Astonishingly it is faster and cheaper than the fist PC I bought. I guess as long as Moore’s Law remains valid, I will very soon own a colour tablet PC of that size with a lot more features within the next five years. I am a die hard fan of the Star Trek series. I never imagined that one day I will be carrying a digital pad like Captain Jean luke Picard or Geordi La Forge did. Guess the next thing to expect is a communicator like the one they have in the series (or may be it already is available for a huge cost).

It’s been fun using the iLiad. I can write notes, keep a personalized dairy and make annotations on the PDF. The last one week has been very amusing for me exploring the different features in the iLiad and reading books in it. I went though some technical docs which described how E-ink technology works. Guess the technology is still in its nascent stage and a lot of work needs to be done in that direction. I am a little disappointed as the iLiad takes some time open books in html format and annotations are only enabled for PDF files and not other formats. Also the page flip speed is not up to the mark. But I find the reading experience better than paper backs. The internal memory is only 256MB out of which only 128MB can be accessed by the user. A CF card or a MMC card is a must if you want to keep a lot of online books on it. One really amazing feature of the iLiad is zoom for PDF files. Most of the PDF files are formatted in A4 size and the iLiad is roughly A5 size.

As time goes by I may face problems with the contrast and other stuff which users have written about in iLiad Forums. But for now, my new toy is keeping me quite busy.

Of Indomania and Indophillia ………

2008-06-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

Today I was watching “The Last King Of Scotland”. The movie did show the historic extradition of all Asians from Uganda. There were around 50000 South Asians living in Uganda at that time. And my Mind wandered off thinking as to how many times Indians faced such problems. I had but one way of knowing, by searching for it in the Internet.

I was not particularly thinking of how many Hindus have been prosecuted in India or abroad because of their faith. There are many such instances. Of course there is Aurangazeb who was possibly the worst ruler any country ever had. His religious prosecution saw no limits. There were the Portuguese who have even cut hands of people worshiping Hindu gods. However I was more interested in finding out how many Indians irrespective of their religion have been a target of ethnic cleansing abroad.

I work for an Israeli company and have seen how strongly the Jews feel not just about the holocaust but also about the event where there were expelled from their homeland by the Romans in the 1^st century and had to face innumerable difficulties up to the 20^th century because of it. Even now in the 21st century Antisemitism does not seem to die. Did the Indian Diaspora ever suffer like this? I searched the Internet for Answers. Of course other than the few exceptions in Uganda or the Fiji Islands, the Indians living abroad have faced fewer problems. The latest concern for us is Malaysia. It has been reported that around 4000 temples have been brought down and the Indians living there face discrimination in every day life. These are however unconfirmed.

Indophillia is by and large a more recent thing. It started when the British captured Bengal and everything Bering the name of India became a fad in Britain. People tried to find out more about India’s history and culture. They also visited India to understand and see for themselves what they were reading so much about. It is this impression of British India that the rest of the world still believes in. Hindu Philosophy did gain a high level of acceptance when Swami Vivekananda went to the USA. Oppenheimer quoted from the Bhagwad Gita after the Manhattan project was a success. Bollywood movies have made in roads in possibly every European and American country. But the notions about India still refuse to disappear.

The image of India remains that of a land of snake charmers and extreme poverty in the west. With a population of around 1.2 billion and about 23 % of them living below the poverty line this perception is not completely false. However it is not the complete truth. Four of the top ten richest People are Indians. India has the largest Middle class, it is the largest democracy, it speaks around 25000 languages and it has more than 200 different Religions and cultures. I see India more as a mini encyclopedia of the world. India is possibly the only county which has shown against all odds that Secularism and democracy do work in chorus. Mark twain once remarked about India that, “The one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the world combined.”

The perception of the world about India maybe changing, but I guess it will take another 100 years for them to come in terms with reality.

Here come the Rains ……….

2008-06-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

The monsoons have arrived in Mumbai, It has hit Mumbai around 3 to 4 days in advance, but certainly are a welcome relief to me.

The monsoon is certainly my favorite season. I wouldn’t miss the sweet smell of the soil after the first rains for anything on earth. The rains bring in with them the most pleasant memories of my life. My mind wanders of to my childhood days. I always enjoyed getting wet and dirty in the first rains as a kid. In fact it was one of the customs followed by me and my friends every year. Rains certainly meant going back to school and an end to the summer vacations. But I do not remember even a single year when I was dismayed about the rains hitting Mumbai and having to go back to school.

In his Poem “The Rainy Day”, Rabindranath Tagore mirrors the feeling of every parent when he says …

Sullen clouds are gathering fast over the black fringe of the forest.
O child, do not go out!

But I guess children are not the ones to adhere to all these rules and regulations. Yesterday when it was drizzling a bit in the evening, I could clearly hear the children playing outside yelling with joy. One look outside the window and I saw almost all the kids in my locality, jumping around the garden. Some were just enjoying the rains while others were showing off their brightly coloured umbrellas to their friends.

Today when the first heavy rains hit Bombay, the first thing I and my colleagues did was to leave our work at the desk to go down and have look at it. There were no shouts and shrieks of joy like the kids, nor did we go outside to get fully drenched. But the joy was evident in every ones eyes. There was nothing but positive and happy thoughts in our minds.

Bombay has had its share of problems with the rains. I will probably never be able to forget 26^th July. I was working in Navi Mumbai back then. The long trek back to Andheri was probably the most challenging thing I have done in the last 3 years. Mumbai did come to a halt for two days and I was down for another two days on account of high fever. However these rains seldom bring back those memories. I do hope I don’t face such problems this season and get to enjoy every minute of it.

A Myth called GOD ?????

2008-06-05T10:52:00.000-07:00

Today I was debating with a close friend the Concepts of Advaita and Dvaita Vedantic Philosophy. I have always been inspired by Shri Adi Shankara‘s version of GOD and my friend is an ardent follower of Shri Madhavacharya. But later in the day my mind did wander a bit… It wandered off to a book which I had read some time back and which challenged my concept of GOD through logic and science.

“Myth” has it etymological origins in the word “Mythya”. The word means False or untrue in Sanskrit. The search for truth in Hinduism is akin to the search for GOD. As Per Hinduism the one and only truth is GOD. Richard Dawkins in his Book “The GOD Delusion” certainly questions this so called fundamental truth to a huge extent. His reasoning is clear and his logic is flawless. Questioning your faith in GOD is the most difficult thing to do. When I discussed this book with my friends most of them were shocked that one book could make me challenge my beliefs. When I asked them to read the book for themselves, one of them was not even willing to touch the book fearing reprisal from GOD. The book converted me from a normal non fanatical believer in GOD to an agonistic. But being an agonistic was never simple. I was not able to accept the fact that my life had no purpose and that I would account to nothing after death and that no part of me would survive once I am burnt in the pyre. It was at this time that as more forcefully drawn to the Advaita philosophy.

I do think I am at peace with GOD for now. I probably have a few answers to the questions raised by Richard Dawkins. However I am still far off from convincing myself beyond doubt that GOD is not just a Myth invented by Man. My own introspection convinces me that there will never come a time in human history when the belief in God is done away with. Many Science fiction writers do imagine a world were the GOD delusion is abandoned once and for all. But I find this hard to accept. Man has always sought GOD in some form or the other. He has sacrificed himself and killed others in his quest for seeking him. Now I would like to point out that the gender of God is another totally different debate. But that is a question I will ask myself once I am convinced of the existence of GOD.

Religion still plays an important part in the legal system of every country. It can have a positive or a negative impact on the people of the country. There are nations where in you can be hanged for questioning and not believing in a particular type of GOD prescribed by the Government. The surprising thing is that the same is true in Communist countries like China where the government promotes the abandonment of the concept of GOD. Of course in their Case GOD is General Mao Zedong. Criticize him at your own peril. They are no more rational than fanatical countries like Iran.

GOD has always been the corner stone of Culture and tradition. Religion the bane of all evils we face in society. These two have always existed and will continue to exist. Our quest to find the purpose of life, if there is one will finally end with GOD. But will we ever be able to distinguish between Truth and Myth? Will we ever get a definitive answer to the question “Does GOD Exist”? I am sure I will not get an answer for this question in my lifetime.

Re-Igniting Blogs

2008-06-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

Its been a very long time since I actually wrote a blog (not that 2 was a large number to begin with), But Recent events seem to inspire (or should I say Instigate) me to write again.

A Lot has changed since I wrote my last blog. I see more and more of my friends writing something every day. Pouring their hearts out and being much more honest about their feelings in blogs. I get to see a different person whenever I read a blog written by my friend. I read AB’s Interview in which he has said that writing Blogs is like opening my doors to everyone. I believe that was one of the reasons why I did stop writing. I did receive a lot of flak for the first two I wrote. People laughing and pointing the futility of bringing out petty issues like media not being responsible and letting people known how successful the T20 World Cup was, When they already knew it J . But I must add here that Amir Khan and AB are also not spared for writing their thoughts in blogs.

So I sat again today to gather my thoughts (messy thoughts). Which wander without purpose; which has no need to stay in one place for more than a minute, which can travel huge distances in seconds and look into the minds and hearts of people…..

Bowl(ed) Out byTwenty-20…….

2007-09-15T00:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we witnessed a great Twenty-20 match between India And Pakistan.

It had all the ingredients of a typical Hollywood thriller… The ups and Downs of fortunes for the two teams, the Hope and anguish of the players and in the end a stunning surprise result when all was supposed to be over. The final bowl out was a fitting finale to this game.

Very Few ODI Games have turned up to be so exciting in recent times. The last match which was this exciting was the World cup semi final between Australia and South Africa. As usual many News channels in India were discussing weather or not the bowl out was fair. Well the Cricketing greats alwayscompare Cricket to life and life is not always fair. However I do not see a better option than this. It was equally unfair when South Africa had to return home after a splendid performance in the semifinal, as they had lost to Australia during the super six stage.

The Twenty-20 World cup has been an absolute success till now. Chris Gayle’s Classic century, Zimbabwe defeating the world champions, Bangladesh ensuring that the West Indies go home packing even before India, Australia and Sri Lanka played their first match. Twenty-20 Cricket is here to stay. Navjot Singh Siddhu may call it ”Chaddi Cricket”, but what ever be the counter argument for the Twenty-20 World cup, this has been the most exciting tournament ever organized by the ICC.

It would be very interesting to see how many games in Twenty-20 actually end in a draw. There have been 20 odd games in the one day version and 2 games in the test version of the game which have ended in a draw, but the probability of a draw is very remote in the Test and one day versions. We might probably be seeing a lot more of the bowl outs in the coming world cup matches with all the good test playing nations with the exception of West Indies making it to the super 8 stage.

But what happens to the Test matches?? Do they just fade off into the darkness or is there still hope for it. Test cricket may be the longest version of the game but it is also the finest form of Cricket. Even if Twenty-20 becomes the norm of cricket in the coming years, it will be in Test Cricket that a player will have to prove his metal if he wants be recognized as a good player. I guess Test cricket is still not Bowl(ed) out by Twenty-20.

A matter of Pride for ISRO or great shame for the Indian media.

2007-09-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday exactly at 6:10 PM India launched the INSAT 4CR, its most advanced satellite till date. The satellite is 2130 kg and is similar to the INSAT-4C which was lost 13 seconds after its launch in July 2006. The mission had its problems with the launch being aborted at 4:30 PM and rescheduled to 6:10 PM. But at the end it was a text book launch will the satellite being placed in a geo-stationary orbit 17 minutes after liftoff.

INSAT-4CR is the third satellite in INSAT-4 series. It carries 12 high-power Ku-band transponders designed to provide Direct-To-home (DTH) television services, Video Picture Transmission (VPT) and Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG).

The Real surprise however was the fact that none of the 24 hour news channels bothered to report the successful launch let alone cover it live or speak to the scientists who achieved this remarkable feat. CNN-IBN Live was covering a case where a Child was separated from his parents due to the dictate of the Panchayat. Barkha Dutt was busy conducting a Talk show discussing weather Prostitution should be made legal or not, NDTV showing a interview with Benazir Butto on her plans to return to Pakistan. The worst of the lot were the regional news channels which were giving minute by minute updates on Sanjay Dutt’s visit to Vaishanav Devi. One channel was claiming that the congress government has gone to the dogs as Sanjay Dutt visited the temple in a car meant for MP’s and MLA’s. And Of course all channels had tickers showing the latest score of the India England 5th One day international. The only saving grace, NDTV 24-7 did have a ticker which displayed the fact that the launch was a success.

One cannot help wondering what is wrong with the Indian Media? In other Asian countries the private broadcasters play a more active role in Democracy by reporting the failures of the government and by keeping a tab on all the politicians. The National Media is generally a puppet in the hands of the Government. I guess India is the only exception. The DD News channel does cover all events which are generally of national importance impartially which other Private news channels don’t even bother about. The Lok sabha proceedings are not even mentioned by them unless and until a small battle does not break out between the Government and the opposition.

But probably there is a silver lining to this. In a press statement ISRO Officials claimed that, “The successful launch of GSLV-F04 today has demonstrated the operational reliability of GSLV as well as reiterated the end-to-end capability of ISRO to not only build state-of-the-art communication satellites, but also to launch them using the indigenously” . They couldn’t have had a better vindication of their statement. Probably Satellite launches are no longer a matter of national pride as they have become common place these days in India. My only hope is that the news channels give more importance to ISRO when they Launch “Chandrayan”. India’s first unmanned mission to the moon scheduled takeoff in April 2008 as compared to Sanjay Dutt.