Blogsarovar

Book Review: "Frontline Pakistan" by Zahid Hussain

2009-02-10T22:41:00.001+05:30

Zahid Hussain is a veteran Pakistani journalist. He is the Pakistani correspondent for The Times (London), The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek. His book "Frontline Pakistan - The struggle with militant Islam" was published in 2007; and covers events up to 2006. It does not mention the end of Pervez Musharraf's rule and the restoration of democracy in Pakistan, nor does it mention the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. It goes without saying that the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai had not taken place at the time this book was published.

You must be wondering why this book review is preceded by this Prologue! Well, because although Frontline Pakistan does not relate directly to 26/11, it gives the reader an astonishingly detailed insight into the history of militancy in Pakistan, the unwillingness of authority to keep it in check; and thereby goes a long way in explaining the current response of Pakistan to the 26/11 attacks.

In its 11 chapters, Frontline Pakistan takes the reader through various turning points in the history of the region, including (not in any particular order)

1947 and Partition
The political history and turmoil that Pakistan went through in its early years
General Ayub Khan and his decade-long rule
Pakistan's 3 wars with India (1948, 1965 and 1971 - the last one resulting in formation of Bangladesh)
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's rule followed by the bloodless coup by Zia-ul-Haq
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan followed by a long Jihad against the Soviets
The withdrawal of Soviets from Afghanistan; followed by rise of religious extremism in Pakistan
The Kashmir deadlock
Pakistan's nuclear program
9/11; followed by Pakistan's alliance in the US War on terror.

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

After reading the book, I have come up with my conclusions on the prime reasons for the instability in the region. These are the opinions that I have formulated and are not necessarily stated per se in the book.

Prime Reason #1: The US-Russia cold war

When the Soviets arrived in Afghanistan in the fag end of 1970's, the CIA jumped in to "help" Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. Of course, the help extended probably had more to do with USA's eagerness to show its one-upmanship in the cold war rather than any genuine concern for Afghanistan. Help it did, but the means were questionable to say the least. USA lifted some of the sanctions which had been imposed on Pakistan when the latter had started its nuclear program in the 70's. CIA teamed up with Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI to help counter the Soviet occupation by Afghanistan. ISI, in turn, whipped up strong religious sentiments amid calls for Jihad. Weaponry was provided in abundance, tribals in the lawless region along Pak's border with Afghanistan were trained and given arms, and thus there were a huge number of volunteers to fight for Afghanistan against the Russians.

This generosity in supplying arms to religious fanatics backfired badly on USA. With the exit of Soviets from Afghanistan came the Taliban rule. For one, the Taliban was right-wing to the extreme. Secondly, the thousands of youth who had answered the call for Jihad had now become trained in arms and ammunition, even in explosives and such. The Taliban sheltered, even sowed the seeds of, terrorist groups in Afghanistan (al-Qaeda for example). The stage had been set for religious fanaticism which had nothing to do with the religion it was supposedly glorifying. This was the beginning of the perversion of the term "Jihad".

Prime Reason #2: Extremist ideology originated from, and financed by, the Arab world

A large number of mujahids who fought in the Afghan war were from the Arab world. Also, petro-dollars had made some elements in the Arab world extremely rich. The fact that some of these "extremely rich elements" also happened to be conservative extremists did not help the cause of stability in the region.

Even after the defeat of Soviets in the Afghan war, the right-wing religious ideology was kept alive by scores of Arab-funded madrasas all over Pakistan. This extremist ideology kept the Jihad flame burning for decades to come. The madrasas became breeding grounds for future mujahids.

Prime Reason #3: Kashmir

After the partition in 1947, the Maharaja of Kashmir requested Indian assistance to ward off attack by armed tribesmen from Pak's NFWP (North-West Frontier Province). A year-long war later, UN had intervened and both India and Pakistan had agreed to hold a referendum in the state of Kashmir. Pakistan's official contention is that this referendum was never held and thus Pakistan disputes India's claim to Kashmir. Two decades later, in 1972, the Shimla agreement was signed which created a Line of Control in Kashmir - thus was born Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK - which is referred to as "Azad Kashmir" in Pakistan).

This still did not seem to satisfy Pakistan - nor the extremists. There were allegations of ill-treatment of Muslims in Kashmir by Indians. In late 1980's and early 1990's, terrorism reared its ugly head in the "paradise on earth" Kashmir valley. Fodder was easily available in form of war-hardened fighters returning from Afghanistan.

The key factor in the Kashmir issue was that the Pakistani administrations (whether during military rule or democratic rule) were openly supportive of the "cause" of Kashmir. This only spelled doom for any effort at peace in the region.

Prime Reason #4: Authoritarian/Administrative failure to contain terrorist acitvities on Pakistani soil (often deliberate)

The rulers in Pakistan have time and again turned a blind eye to the rise of militancy within the country in all its forms - home-grown in the madrasas, armed activities in the lawless tribal belt, or imported militancy in the form of al-Qaeda and others. The reasons have varied.

Ideological - The Paksitani army and ISI have always had several extremist-oriented members among their ranks.
Political - Zahid Hussain points out that Musharraf could have contained terrorism in Pak by casting a net on the activities of various terrorist groups. However, most of Musharraf's actions in the war on terror have been half-hearted - under international pressure. The real agenda was survival. Musharraf feared backlash from within the army and from the Pakistan's citizens had he gone ahead dismantling the terror network. That is the reason that although several top al-Qaeda "leaders" had been captured and handed over to US during Musharraf's rule, he had stopped short of completely wiping out these terrorist groups. In essence, Musharraf failed the world in favor of his self-interest. This, notwithstanding the fact that he had risked his life by supporting the US war on terror (several assassination attempts on him stand testament to this).

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

Frontline Pakistan is a must-read for anyone intending to understand the complex dynamics of the volatility in the SE Asia region; and the so-called "Islamic Terrorism". The author has conducted interviews with several prominent personalities - right from Pervez Musharraf, to several radical leaders (even leaders of groups which were later designated as terrorist groups). This lends the all-important element of credibility to the book.

I must warn the reader that even though the book looks "small" (at 190 pages), it can turn out to be a fairly demanding read - since it takes lot of concentration to grasp the enormity of some of the statements/events which Zahid describes.

The book does refer to religious extremism and Islamic militancy every so often - however, I am disappointed that there is absolutely no attempt to show the reader the moderate or liberal faces of Islam or those of Pakistan. Agreed that this is not at all the objective of the book (after all, the caption says "The struggle with militant Islam"). But, to an uninitiated reader, it might give the wrong impression of the religion as a whole. The book would have been more balanced, had the author described or even referred to in passing mention, the role of moderate or liberal Pakistanis in the fight against terror.

It is for this single lapse that I deduct one star; I rate Frontline Pakistan at 4 stars out of 5 - and of course, designate it as a must-read.

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

The Prime Reason #4 which I have detailed above, explains Pakistan's refusal (or rather, inability) to meet India's demands of eradication of terrorism from Pakistani soil post-26/11. While Musharraf and the military Government had considerable sway over the extremist religious parties, the same cannot be said of the present Government. Any attempt by the current Gilani Government in Pakistan to dig deeper into 26/11 and bring the perpetrators to book, will only meet with vociferous, internal opposition. We can continue to hand over dossiers and Pakistan will continue to deny the involvement of any Pakistani national, in spite of Pakistan being well aware of the attacks having been orchestrated from Pakistani soil by Pakistanis.

Feed(s) For Thought

2008-12-17T18:26:00.007+05:30

Do any of the following lines ring a bell?

"Oh! {xyz} had written up on ____ (fill-in-the-blanks-with-a-topic-of-your-choice) ?? Damn, I missed it. I haven't visited his blog in the past 3 months you know?"
"These days I'm going a bit slow on blogsurfing. I've been wasting lot of time visiting all my favorite blogs every morning .. just to find out there have been no updates."
"Whoa! The list of blogs I follow is bloating. Its gonna be difficult to manage!"

Then Feed-Reader is the magic wand which will solve all your problems.

Web feeds have been around for quite some time (i've been using feed readers for three-plus years now). But it seems that the technology has not been publicized properly - a majority of my friends are not aware of such a thing. Whats more surprising is that most of them are techies themselves! Reason enough for me to write up a post on the topic.

So, how does this feed technology work?

Pretty simple actually:
1. You subscribe to a particular blog/forum/what-have-you - basically any website which provides a feed. You do this using a feed reader.
2. Your feed reader periodically checks whether there has been any new activity on that site. Of course, your feed reader does this automatically, without your intervention.
3. If there has been any new activity (for example a new blog post), then your feed reader fetches only this "new content" and stores it.
4. Next time you login to your feed reader, you have that new blog post ready for you to read!

The easiest way to see this in action is to use Google Reader. All you need is a Google account. Go Ahead. Try it out. It only takes a couple of minutes.

As an example, follow these steps:
1. Go to Google Reader and log in using your Google account.
2. Click on "Add a subscription".
3. Type a feed URL to which you want to subscribe. The feed URL can be found on the site to which you want to subscribe. It is normally marked by the Orange "Feed" Icon -. For this example, enter the following feed url in the text box: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Blogsarovar
4. Click on "Add".

Thats it! Next time a new post is added on BlogSarovar, it will show up in your Google Reader.

So, what did I gain by using a feed reader?

Well, to start with - suppose there are a dozen websites you follow regularly. If you subscribe to all of them using a feed reader; all you need to do is login to your feed-reader to know who's updating what. You do not need to open one dozen websites every morning!

There are other advantages. If you are behind a firewall and do not have access to certain news/blog sites; but you do have access to Google Reader. Then you get the updates from the sites without having access to them!

What Next?

Start using web feeds NOW and save time and energy; not to mention preserve your patience :D. The list of feeds one has subscribed to can be exchanged between various users, so one does not need to start from scratch and manually subscribe to each and every feed! In Google Reader; this can be done under Settings-> Import/Export

Advanced Topics

There are various forms feed readers take. Google Reader is a web-based one. The advantage of this is that you can read your feeds from anywhere - all you need is a computer with an internet connection.

Then there are desktop feed-readers. An example of this is Omea Reader. The advantage of desktop readers is that they can access feeds within the corporate firewalls. For example, if you want to subscribe to a blog hosted on your company intranet; then Google Reader might not be a good choice - How will the Google Reader server access your company intranet? The other advantage of desktop feed-readers is that you do not need to be online to read your feeds. Many desktop readers pull the data and store it offline for you to read whenever you are free. (Semi-connected technologies like Google Gears are blurring this line between web-based and offline readers).

Other than this, feed readers could also be integrated into your other day-to-day applications - your email client, IM client, Office suite, browser, media player ... the list goes on ...

One point to remember is that the authors of the feeds have control over the amount of information published as a feed. For example, Blogger allows you to specify whether the entire post should be included in the feed, or only a summary. If the author chooses to publish only a summary, then you would still need to visit the original site to read the full post. However, your feed-reader is still useful in the sense that it still informs you when a new post has been published on the blog. You do not need to keep "polling" to find if a new post has been added.

One final consideration while using feed-readers is that of authentication. Some feeds might not be public - an example is feeds from a private blog on Blogger. Reading posts on this blog would require you to login with a username/password. The same applies to feeds from such a site. Feed-readers have a feature wherein you can save the credentials for a particular feed - so that the reader automatically signs in and fetches the feed for you.

I'l conclude by saying that I hope to see you on the Feed bandwagon!

The debsoc experience

2008-08-31T22:40:00.003+05:30

There is something called as debsoc. For people who don’t know, this sophisticated abbreviation stands for-debate society. There had been meets in our college during the 2nd sem. But it lasted only for sometime, because we had our end sem exams coming up.
Anyway, it resumed in the holidays and I missed a few meets. I wanted to join debsoc, cause I thought I had a flair for it. I had done some debates in school before--- but then they were pathetic kind of debates---unlike the ones in professional colleges.

Anyway, coming back to the meet, I decided on a Friday that I would attend it. I went there just in time. I saw many new faces, acquaintances and also two of my friends whom I knew very well. We all started arranging benches, desks…..on the top floor of our LHC-lecture hall complex, and people were randomly deciding on who would be what, and stuff like that….
I was confused…
Finally someone in some corner of the room declared that I would be the “ADJUDICATOR”.
I was shocked. I wasn’t prepared for it… I was only mentally prepared to speak either for,
“FOR” or, for “AGAINST”, like I did in school…
I just knew, that, an adjudicator gives judgments, based on the evidences-- technically speaking.
After all this, I realized that they had decided on doing a PD- parliamentary debate and that’s why I became an adjudicator…
Some three members sat on one side, and three other members, ran right across the hall to decide on a topic.
After some 20- odd minutes, they made a grand appearance and took their seats.
One girl came and told “THIS HOUSE WILL GAG YOU” …..
Something which made absolutely no sense to me..
I was even more confused. Have I been sleeping too much, or all what she had said, just made any sense?????
Moving on………………
She gave another statement which sounded rhetoric-“THE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS”……..BLAH….BLAH….. “U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS”……
Honestly this is all what I heard…
Trying to make sense out of it……..hmmm……lemme see……………………………...
It didn’t make any sense at all!!!!
How on earth, are university students, related to the u.s. presidential elections???
Even if it had a relation ……..what has it got to do with “THIS HOUSE WILL GAG YOU”????? It was becoming more and more convoluted. And I didn't have the faintest idea of what she was talking about.
She gave some, 7-8 minutes of long speech……..of which I could understand very little..
The other three members, were busy cramming some notes, into a sheet of paper…….fighting over a pen to write…….Honestly, don’t these people get all their accessories???
All of a sudden, a member from the other team, stands up in front of us and tells something….
He made some sense to me, because, he and his team, also hadn’t understood what the girl spoke…as in…. what the girl spoke, was not very clear to them…
AH!! WHAT A RELIEF!!! I wasn’t alone in this dire situation…
But still, they did continue to debate –although I felt, there was nothing more left to debate on.
Alternately, members from each team, made an appearance and told the same things over and over again---just to kill time---I suppose.
I felt like, I was amidst a fleet of BMW’s……… and there I was sitting ……………
like a CRAMMY OLD STATION WAGON.
Amidst this wilderness, I heard some loud banging noises on the benches and desks.
HEY PEOPLE, CAN U KEEP IT DOWN?? I AM TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE FINER NUANCES…
When I thought, that a person was making sense, and that, the next sentence, he would speak , would make things a little clearer- people thumped on those benches as loudly as possible-I still don’t know, in appreciation or otherwise.- and I lost it again. Things came back to square one, and I was as confused as ever...
All six members finished their turn alternately, and it was the turn, of the adjudicators to give in their final decision.
In such chaos…….I had forgotten to do one thing….
TURNING TO MY RIGHT, where my co-adjudicators were sitting. I saw that they had their notes ready, scribbled in some illegible writing ---god knows what. And they were ready with a decision.
I then realized, I had to make some notes too---just scribbled the last few words, the last member had said.
And in the whilst of making my notes, I heard my co-adjudicator saying “ IN MY OPINION, THE PROPOSITION TEAM SHOULD WIN, BY A FAIRLY LARGE MARGIN………” BLAH…BLAH…
DAMN!! I didn’t even know, that the team was called the “proposition”. I had named them
team -1 and team-2, according to my convenience.
Before I could realize, it was my turn. And I heard myself saying,
“THIS TEAM SHOULD WIN”,
pointing my finger, at team-2, whom I thought should win…
And THAT’S IT!! . THAT IS ALL, WHAT I SAID.
I ended up, making a fool out of myself. And I had sunk into an abyss of embarrassment.

After all this, one thing I realized, is that, even if you think, you are good at something, there will always be a person, better than you, in the same job...
But you should never be intimidated by them…
There is always a time, when, you will have to exorcise your daemons.

Secondly, a commendable job by the debaters –who made me realize, that, they were capable of debating on anything and everything---no matter how abstract or ridiculous it may sound.

Thirdly, I learnt that, just by listening to them speak, I had gained so much knowledge…
I realized, how people can think, in so many different ways—their views, their whole new perspective…….
I got a panoramic view of what a PD actually is…

I might have learnt all this from this experience…

But what I know better is……….. It gave me something to write in my blog……….. which I had abandoned for quite sometime…….and I regret having done that………
CHEERS!!!

Happy independence Day!

2008-08-15T14:25:00.001+05:30

I don't know the reason, but somehow this day each year spurs me to write something. I feel the strong urge to let my beloved friends know of my dreams and thoughts about our great country.

Before I go any further - Wish you all a very happy Independence Day! India turns 61 today.

Today, we get a chance to bow in reverence to the thousands of freedom fighters who put their homeland before everything else and fought the British oppressors. Their struggle finally bore fruit and we got our Independence 61 years back on this day.

Today, we also get a chance to look back and evaluate ourselves. Have we fulfilled the dreams and visions of our freedom fighters? Would our freedom fighters feel proud about the state of our country today? Or would they feel sad that their supreme sacrifice went in vain?

It is but natural to say that the feeling would be mixed.

They would be extremely happy and proud of a number of things that our country has achieved. India has become an economic superpower. Our business houses are expanding their footprint all over the globe. We have several great people who have made a mark on the global front. Our forex reserves are overflowing. India has become the global technology hub which engages in cutting edge R&D activities. We will shortly have the world's biggest refinery for crude oil. We also got a major break at the Olympics - Abhinav Bindra won India's 1st ever individual gold medal at Olympics. Yes, one gold for a billion people may still be bad - However, a beginning has been made and hopefully this will have a cascading effect to produce more medals.

Sadly, the story does not end here - Our freedom fighters would feel extremely sad and ashamed to know that their country is still suffering from a number of ills.

Poverty is the biggest problem facing our nation today. About 30% of the people in the country earn less than Rs 10 per day. These people are in a dire situation. Many of them are homeless. They don't have even one proper meal a day. Their health is fragile and the conditions they live in is pathetic.

Education is the next big problem. India is projected to be a country with the most number of youth by 2020. This is a huge advantage which will be squandered if we dont educate this large pool of young people. Though the situation is improving, India still has one of the highest number of illiterate people. We also have a high number of school dropouts. There are several reasons behind this - The most important one is the poverty at home which forces parents to look for additional income.

Corruption is something which we should all be ashamed of. Transparency International ranks India at a paltry 72 out of 180 countries. Our politicians are one of the most corrupt in the whole world. Each one of us is to be blamed for the pathetic state of affairs. We always seek the easy way out of any government work by paying bribe. This emboldens the corrupt officials who don't do any work without taking a bribe. Corruption has the potential to bring the progress of our country to a stand still. We have taken a few good steps towards eradication corruption - Like the RTI act. However, more needs to be done. Most importantly, we need to empower our Lok Ayuktha to prosecute corrupt officials.

I have deliberately omitted terrorism out of the list above. I strongly believe that if we eradicate poverty and educate people, terrorism will automatically disappear from our country.

All this makes me wonder how we - the citizens of this country - can contribute to make the dreams our great freedom fighters come true. There are a number of little things which we are capable of doing -

Firstly, we all should vote without fail. Voting is the most powerful way to influence our country's future. By consciously voting for good candidates we can ensure that this country is run by those who really care for it.

We (by we, I mean the people who are lucky enough to read/write this post), are the beneficiaries of the economic growth of our country. Yes, we are very talented people who made our own destiny by working hard. However, I would urge each one of us to spare a thought for the rest of our society. Economic inclusiveness is extremely important for a society to exist in harmony. The communal tension, crime and violence all around us is because all the sections of the society have not benefited from development.

No, I am not telling that we must donate our salary or our car to someone poor - Instead, I am asking us to empower the poorer sections of our society to raise their standard of living. Each one of us can ensure that our maid servant's children are attending school. We can also make sure that she has an investment plan for the future. We can ensure that the security guard at our apartment is adequatly insured so that his family does not suffer in case something untoward happens to him. We can spare some time to serve at an NGO and make a difference to some people.

I have little doubt that if at least some of us come together for this noble endeavour, our country would be able to overcome most its problems. We owe at least this much to the brave hearts of our Independence struggle.

Jai Hind.

N(orth)-E(ast)-glected

2008-08-09T12:19:00.005+05:30

Update: This post been cross-posted at YouthKiAwaaz

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

This is something which I have been thinking about for quite some time now. How much do we Indians really know and care about the North-East? I personally feel that the seven sisters and Sikkim (maybe with the exception of Assam), have been a neglected lot in our country. This goes not only from development point of view, but from other aspects as well like sports, culture, entertainment – Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh – are pretty much obscure as far as the rest of the country is concerned.

Lets start with the example of Television. All movies, serials, news channels concentrate on “mainland” India. Its all set in Delhi, Mumbai or Punjab. These days even South India is figuring in movies and television. But, what about the north-east? The consequence of this is not limited to entertainment alone. Thanks to TV, your average Indian aam admi in the Rest Of India (ROI - I call it that for a want of a better term – no intention of “dividing” NE from the ROI) has a fair idea of what life might be in Mumbai, Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat etc. This is true even if that average Indian has never been to any of these places. But, do we have even a remote idea of what its like in the NE? The only TV program where I have seen extensive coverage of the NE is the travel show called Exotica, on StarOne.

Now come to sports. Other then Baichung Bhutia, the football star of India who hails from Sikkim, there's hardly any mainstream sportsperson from the NE. I cannot recall any cricketer or tennis player or even hockey player from NE (again, that might be due to my ignorance too). I suppose there are a few names from NE in the athletic and sports meets who get us medals at SAARC games etc (for example in sports like archery) – but hey don't u know that in India, “sports” equals “CRICKET+Tennis+hockey+f1” ?? The rest of them dont qualify – their achievements are not counted. Anyways – that's not the topic of this post!

I am unaware about how ROI is perceived in NE. Is the influence of Bollywood present in NE? Does the aam aadmi in NE have a fair idea about life in ROI? Do they follow cricket and national politics just as we in ROI do?

Successive governments at the Centre have been announcing special economic packages for the development of NE. I am not aware of how much of this has really translated to results. Maybe the one aspect that stands out in this regard would be the road infrastructure development projects (NHDP) – these seem to have made a positive impact during the last few years.

The encouraging trend is the good representation of NE in reality shows. Remember Amit Paul from Meghalaya who was the runner up in Indian Idol 3? Remember the host of singers from Assam (Debojit, Kalpana, Prakriti to name a few)?

The reasons for the negligence about NE in ROI could be many. For one, the North-Eastern states are geographically isolated from ROI. They are “connected” with ROI through a narrow strip which is just 20-odd kms wide (this is called the chicken's neck and is situated in Siliguri in West Bengal with Nepal in the North and Bangladesh in the South). Secondly, the NE states are culturally very different from the ROI – the culture here has elements of South-East Asia and China (Tibet in particular).

Nevertheless, the NE states are part of India; NE contributes to a sizable chunk of the India - area-wise, population-wise and culturally. Thus it is imperative for ROI to start viewing NE as they would Rajasthan or Punjab or Tamil Nadu. And also for people in NE to get a feel of what life is like in ROI. Only then would it be possible to foster a sense of unity and oneness. And, in my opinion, the media plays the most important role in increasing awareness .

ROI needs to know that just like elsewhere in India, NE too has a diverse culture. That there are several languages spoken here. That the climate, vegetation, topography, flora and fauna are as varied here as in ROI.

ROI needs to know about Assam's natural beauty, the tea gardebns, about Kazhiranga and the rhinos, about the ULFA's, about the political scenario and about the issues facing the nation along its border with Bangladesh.

ROI needs to know about the Chinese Government's claim to Arunachal Pradesh and about how the Army is on its toes there to prevent China from making mischief. About the sixth Dalai Lama being born here in AP. That there exist places in India where your constitutional “right to freedom of movement anywhere within the country” is restricted – that one needs a permit to enter some places in AP.

ROI needs to know about the mostly Himalayan state of Sikkim, the second smallest State in India by size and the least populated. ROI needs to know the history of the Nathula pass, the flourishing trade route which passed through here, and not to forget the Kanchenjunga, the third-highest peak in the world.

ROI needs to know about the WW-II battles fought in Manipur which stalled Japan's progress and which had a major impact on the outcome of the war. About the history of the princely state of Manipur (just like many more in ROI) before it was integrated into the republic of India. About the UNLF, its demands and its activities in Manipur. About the troubles along the border with Myanmar.

ROI needs to know about the history of the mountainous state of Nagaland, about the Naga tribe, about how Nagaland was part of Assam and underwent lot of unrest before being declared a state in early '60s. About the present-day culture which still revolves around the tribes and their shawl-weaving tradition. About the 90+% Christian population. About the Nagamese language – which is not the mother tongue of any of the tribes in Nagaland, but is the common language spoken everywhere in the state.

ROI needs to know about the plateau of Meghalaya, the Garo and Khasi hills. About the matriarch system followed by many of the more populous tribes in the state. About Cherrapunji, which was once the wettest spot in the world.

ROI needs to know about Tripura, the second-most populous among the NE states (even though it is relatively small in area). About the Bengali-dominant culture of the state (Tripura is surrounded on three sides by Bangladesh and is around the same latitude as West Bengal); about its festivals, indigenous dance forms and music. About its millenia-old history (Tripura is said to have had mention in Mahabharata).

ROI needs to know about Mizoram, the Indian state with the highest literacy rate. About the events which led to the formation of the state (famine, insurgency, bombing by the Indian Air Force to quell this insurgency); about the largely unexplored bamboo forests which covers about one-third of the state.

I think that Indians need to take a keener interest in the North-East. Probably if a few people from NE broke into the scene in some mainstream field, then that would function as a catalyst to increase the visibility of the NE states among ROI. This does not mean that they have to deviate from their culture and adopt cricket as a religion or get Bollywood-crazy. The NE is rich in dance and music. It would help if the media and entertainment industry took the initiative to showcase this cultural diversity to the rest of the world.

With the spurt in domestic tourism, more Indians are exploring “far-flung” regions within the country, including the NE. So also more people from the NE states are flocking to the mainland, be it for tourism, education, business or jobs. This exchange will only be for the benefit of either side.

I am hopeful that there will be more cultural, economic exchange between the NE and the ROI in the near future. Looking forward to an India where there is tighter bond between North-East and the Rest of India. JAI BHARATH.

The Call of Duty

2008-01-28T10:06:00.000+05:30

Cross-posted from Kiran's blog.

This is a very interesting (and disturbing) story. It is a true life story about a guy I know. We are talking about a professional who has spent the most of the last five months abroad on business. He occasionally comes home and one would be forgiven for mistaking him for a guest at his home! Read on ….

In the past five months, his father has been doing all his “official work” for him – right from paying phone bills to doing paperwork for their property. At an age when he should be serving his father; his father is serving him!!! But, he says his hands are bound – “Duty Beckons”, he says.

In the past five months, he has never taken his mother shopping. “I don’t have time to go shopping with you – why don’t you go on your own? I will give you my card”, he says. Upon being told that it’s not his money that his mom wants; but his company; he retorts saying he’s “busy” – The Call of Duty is his excuse.

He has not visited his village for more than a year now. Why should he? After all, he’s this big shot who’s flying around the world, living out of a suitcase. Don’t you know his profession, his Duty, demands more of his time? Village and relatives can wait.

In the past five months, he has missed every single important occasion in his dearest friends’ lives – weddings, engagements – everything, without the slightest hint of guilt. He has never been there when his friends needed him. “Sorry buddy, I’m too busy with my profession.”

In the recent past, he has completely ignored his resolution of doing something for under privileged children. The last time he did anything for them was more than eight months ago. He has all but forgotten about his responsibility towards his motherland, his country. Why would he? He’s touring the world on the pretext of his professional Duty. Country, society, underprivileged children – they all are not as important as his Duty, are they?

In the past few months, he has put his hobbies on the backburner. He has not posted a blog in the past 4 months; and he hasn’t done any serious photography for as long as he can remember. But hey, who’s got time for some dumb hobbies? He’s a professional. His Duty takes precedence over all these irrelevant things.

Well, well. Our professional sure does sound like a villain doesn’t he? I think I need to admonish this guy – or at the very least, ask him a question or two.

Mr. Professional, here are some questions for you.

Isn’t taking care of your parents and keeping them happy your first and foremost duty?
Don’t you know your business, profession is temporary, but your relatives will be there forever?
Don’t you think it is your duty as a friend to be with your friends on the most important days of their lives? Don't you know the only way to have true friends is BE ONE?
How can you forget your responsibility towards your country? You, the youth of the country, MUST play an important role in shaping its future. What happened to all the commitment you made towards the children who are the future of the country?
Is it not your duty, too, to set aside time for your hobbies, interests and passions? Especially since some of your passions have the potential to make a difference in others’ lives?

Mr. Professional, it is high time you get your priorities right. You have to decide which duty comes first – the duty that pays, feeds and clothes you; or your duty and responsibility towards family, friends, country and society. Signing off with the hope that you choose sensibly.

Trek above the clouds at Kodachadri

2008-01-06T22:41:00.000+05:30

We finally embarked on our long-aspired & planned-for, but never-materializing trip to Kodachadri hills - a peak in the Western Ghats ranges standing tall at a height of 1813 metres above sea level near the famed Mookambika Temple at Kollur. Me (Rakshith), Mithun, Gaurav, Sushruth and Safwan boarded a bus to Udupi at around 12.30 on the 5th of Jan 2008. We were joined at Udupi by experienced trekkers - Dr Sachin Pai and Dr Ananth Pai. From Udupi, we boarded a bus to Kundapur and took another bus to Kollur from there, finally reaching Kollur at 5.15pm. This delay of more than an hour from our scheduled time meant that we would not make it in time to catch the magnificent view of the sun setting from the peaks. For your information, there are a few 'direct' buses to Kollur from Mangalore at various times of the day, but, we couldn't take them cos of our plan to meet up with the Docs at Udupi.

We continued on our journey on a hired jeep which taking the route leading to Shimoga from Kollur. After picking up a few necessary items at a town called Nittur, we finally took the right-turn to Kodachadri. (This takes about 45 mins from Kollur). This turn took us into what seemed like unmotorable roads - unmotorable, except for our very own All-Terrain Vehicles, ie Mahindra Jeeps & also few bikes, under the hands of an experienced and daring rider. I say unmotorable cos there are huge crevices running in between the roads at some parts & it is dotted with huge boulders over which the jeep jumps along. This must give you an idea about the ride comfort of the occupants & that too in a jeep. We went through a highly Topsy-turvy ride that would have loosened quite a few of our dental fillings!!! After motoring along on this hairpin curve infested narrow "road" for close to 14 km & passing through a no of valleys, catching glimpses of the neighbouring hills, we finally reached the "Bhattra mane", ie (the pooja pundit's house) & the Government-run Inspection Bungalows at 7.30 pm.

Both the above mentioned places were pretty crowded with other groups of people preparing to spend their night there. Having said that, the pundit will usually try and make arrangements for the people at neighbouring houses also, in case of capacity crowd. We, however, weren't thinking of using that privilege, as we were planning to spend our night at the peak, battling the darkness, cold & loneliness which were to be expected there. When we told the Bhatta this, they asked us to be cautious, cos not many groups do so, but assured that we can stay up there, if we were ready to face the challenges that the place had to offer. We were game to it, cos our leaders - Dr Sachin & Ananth had both braved the night at the peak during their last visit here.

So, our proper trek to Kodachadri began at 7.45 pm in the pitch darkness. For most of us, it was a first experience of trekking at night. And to add to it, we were a little short of torchlights, having to make do with only a couple of torches & the brilliant flashlight of 2 Sony Ericcson phones, used economically, so as to last us the night. We just walked on on the used-path which our lights showed us, hoping that it would take us to the peak. At certain areas, the light shed outside the cleared area failed to hit any solid object, cautioning us never to even dare venture outside that path!!! After one such heart-stopping incident, we finally reached our desired destination at around 8.30 pm after trekking for about 3 km.

The Saint Adi Shankaracharya is said to have meditated at the Kodachadri peak & the Sarvajna Peeta established by him can be seen here, housing an idol of the revered saint. After offering our prayers at the Peeta, we spread out in search of wood, twigs, shoots, grass & any other material which would help us to set up & maintain the campfire-which was our main hope for cooked food, light and warmth.

The peak is a cleared area, where many inflammable articles cannot be found. We had to trek down along unknown routes around the peak to fetch wood. Having started a small fire, we cooked noodles in the utensil which we carried, which was very tasty. The eggeterians feasted on the egg-bhurgie, while everyone played their part in finishing off the other eateries.

All this time, the weather was turning cooler & the air windier. As time passed, the winds started posing too much of a problem for us, chilling us down & making us draw closer to the Campfire. But we were in a dilemma because of the challenges the campfire had to offer. Our eyes started stinging badly because of the smoke, while our noses started 'running'. The pitch darkness allowed us to treat our eyes to the splendor of the starry sky. Many of us were off the opinion that we hadn't seen so many stars & planets in the sky & so clearly ever before. After star-gazing, photo-clicking & playing detectives in an analytical game by Dr Sachin, we started humming some of our favourite songs around the campfire. Not only did we enjoy spending time this way, we might have inadvertently ensured that any uninvited animal would run away from us!!!

We finally got down to taking a short 1-hr nap in two shifts at 4 am. On waking up, not only did we find that the added dew had further chilled the region, but, the much-awaited colourful sky caused by the rising sun was taking shape brilliantly, with a small, crescent-shaped moon showing up for a couple of hrs. The sky was at its photogenic best between 5.45 & 6.45 when finally the sun made itself visible in a royal manner. The view from the peak with the fogs & clouds below you, is to be seen to be believed.

We next set out to go to an area of Kodachadri which not many are aware of. The route is steep, with inclinations of upto 70-80 degrees at some stretches. The route starts off behind the Sarvajna Peeta & goes downhill for about a KM and half, finally revealing us a small stream of fresh water amidst the crevices in the rocks at a place called Chitrakoota. These rocks are home to a few Sadhoos who come there to sit and meditate. The climb uphill back to Sarvajna Peeta is very tiring, but, we reached by 8 am. Bidding our goodbyes to the peak, we started on our trek downhill back to Bhatra mane, where we had asked him to keep a breakfast ready for the 7 of us. This route is actually very scenic, taking us along the top & sides of many hills around the peak. The view offered along this route is breathtaking, with the bright blue of the morning sky forming an excellent background to the Golden brown grass.

After the breakfast, we returned back to our waiting jeep & came downhill experiencing the Topsy turvy ride all over again. There are people who take a bus from Kollur, which will drop them off at Nittur & after that its a trek on those 'unmotorable' roads, but taking short cuts through many of the bends on the way. The jeep journey saved us a lot of time, though at an expense of Rs 1500 for the 7 of us, which we found quite reasonable. Another trekking route for the hard-core trekkers is straight from Kollur, through the forests, which is a 20 km long trek.

Anyway, our final leg of the journey was our 'direct' return bus from Kollur to Mangalore which was spent in catching some shut-eye.

In all, the Kodachadri trek was AWESOME where we enjoyed to the max & also gained valuable experience in survival skills while being audience to the spectacle of the Kodachadri region.

World Save Myanmar

2007-10-08T06:23:00.000+05:30

The events in Myanmar in the past few weeks have greatly disturbed me. And it has only partly to do with the brutal junta and its violent crackdown against peaceful monks. It also has to do with the indifference shown by my own “people” towards the incident.

For the uninitiated, here’s the gist of the situation (wikipedia is likely to have more details). Myanmar, (formerly called Burma, and the eastern neighbour of India), has been ruled by the military generals, also called the “junta”, with more or less an iron fist for the last 45 years. In 1988, there had been a popular uprising against the junta, which apparently been silenced by using force – 3 thousand plus people had been cold-bloodedly shot and killed. At that time I was too young to remember any of this, or of the global outcry that ensued.

Sometime during the early 90’s, the famous political leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party NLD had won landslide elections in the country. However, the junta disregarded the results, charged Suu Kyi with various “crimes” and she has been under house arrest ever since.

Coming back to present - Last month, the junta effected a five-fold hike in fuel prices, which sparked small pro-democracy protests initially. 2 weeks back, monks in huge numbers lent their support to this largely peaceful protest. This is supposedly the largest protest of its kind in the past 20 years (since the bloodbath of 1988), with the strength reaching almost one hundred thousand at its peak. Myanmar is a principally Buddhist country and the monks’ support is a huge moral support for the pro-democracy public.

However, once again Tan Shwe (the leader of the military regime) and his soldiers have responded to the protests with force. Add to this, the blatant human rights abuse and curbs on freedom (of movement and of media). The junta has attempted to hide the atrocities from the world by trying to block international calls, cut internet lines etc (kill foreign journalists – as happened with a Japanese photographer who was shot dead from point blank range). This time, although the number of deaths has been less, it wont be long before the situation disintegrates to the 1988-like one. Unless there is global pressure on the junta. Which brings us to the “indifference shown by my own people” comment.

From what little I know about the whole issue, I have come up with this list of countries/organizations who are in a position to intervene; and stop the horrific human rights abuses taking place in Myanmar.

India:

India is one of the major trade “partners” of Myanmar. We Indians also have interests in the resource-rich Myanmar in terms of minerals, oil and power. Some Indian companies have (quite profitable?) operations in Myanmar. Is that why we are looking the other way when peace-loving monks are being shot at and monasteries are being ransacked? The statements given by the Indian Government regarding this issue have been ridiculous. It took almost 2 weeks and tremendous international pressure on India, for us to finally “demand” the release of Aung San Suu Kyi!

The world is looking at India to bring some semblance of sense to the junta, because India is in a unique position to wield influence on the Burmese junta. But, we do nothing about it. Reason? That’s not clear. But it is our moral responsibility as the largest democracy in the world to speak up against the atrocities of the Myanmar military generals.

China:

China is another one of Myanmar’s “giant neighbours”. Again, China is in a position to influence the junta. Although China has reacted strongly to the shooting of the monks, and has called for peaceful resolution of the issue, they have stopped short of employing any effective measure at all. In fact, China is exercising its veto power at the UN to prevent the UN from “interfering” against the brutal crackdown.

China has interests in Myanmar for minerals and power – both central to China’s growing status as an industrialized nation. Furthermore, China supplies the arms to the military generals! Would this have anything to do with China’s soft approach on the junta?

Finally don’t forget that China itself is wary of democratic uprising within their own country, not to mention the already sensitive issues of Taiwan and Tibet.

Japan:

Japan is the largest provider of aid to the impoverished Myanmar. So Japan can take action if the violence continues. However, they have to be careful in what aid they withdraw. They don’t want to further aggravate the poverty of the public. Any decision with respect to withdrawal of economic aid has to be designed to hit the military generals and not the public.

US, UN and the West:

US and the West are again providers of aid to Myanmar. In typical un-thoughtful style, the Bush government has imposed economic sanctions against Myanmar. I doubt they have even considered the repercussions of this act of theirs. The economic sanctions will hit the general public of Myanmar the hardest; while the junta continues with its human rights abuse campaign.

The so-called developed countries have to look at other ways of controlling the Myanmar junta. They have to come up with something that handicaps the ruling generals and not the poor people of Myanmar. This brings us full circle, back to India and China. These are the only countries which are capable of stifling the junta. Until they do something about it, the bloodshed will only continue, and military dictatorship will reign in Myanmar.

The next question is what really is the “solution”? It would be stupid to expect that the junta will bow to pressure and install democracy in Myanmar right under their noses. It has been demonstrated time and again that the junta is ruthless and cold-blooded. They will not hesitate to massacre their own people if it comes to that. So all this talk of “discussions” or “talks” between the junta and the NLD seems to be too hollow.

But that brings up the other option, which although is an “option that should be the absolute last resort”, is the only option left – and that is the international community using force against the junta.

Are we headed towards another Iraq or Vietnam? Who knows? I hope so and I hope not! I hope that democracy finds its way into Myanmar sooner or later. And I hope that the manner in which this is achieved is not a repeat of Vietnam.

Things holding India back from being a developed nation - 2

2007-09-25T14:17:00.000+05:30

Before I continue with my next post, I must apologize for making you wait for such a long time. The problem is that my computer has conked off and I am yet to get replacement for the parts which have gone bad.

Today, I continue my effort to explain my take on why India has not yet crossed the line, though it is standing on it for years.

My next grievance is - Poverty and Illiteracy.

Yes, both are mammoth problems. But I feel they are interlinked. If illiteracy is eliminated, I feel poverty will be eliminated automatically. Even after 60 years of independence, there are more than a third of uneducated people in India. This is a shame - given the amount of (supposed) interest every government shows to this sector. Crores of rupees are allocated every year for education - both primary and higher. However, this money is not always translated to results on the ground. We still have schools functioning under trees, without benches and tables, without toilets and with only one teacher for the entire school

Given these facts, it is not surprising that the drop out rate is very high. Parents who see that such schools don’t add any value to their living, often put their children to work. What is going wrong? Why are we not able to convince parents that education is the only panacea for eliminating poverty? The government, which is in the best possible position to help, is least interested. It's ministries are busy passing the buck - you ask the education minister and he tells that there is a lack of funds; you ask the finance minister and he tells that he is ready to release more funds only when he is satisfied that the money already given is put to good use and so on. Ultimately, the grand schemes announced just remain on paper with no one taking the onus of taking it forward. The best these politicians can do is divide us among the lines we don’t want them to (read - reservations based on castes in education) for their votes.

With this being the reality, expecting our children to compete on the global scene in this globalised world is just out of question. This is the primary reason why we often keep hearing that there is a demand-supply gap for skilled workers in all professions. Unless we achieve significant levels of literacy, it will be impossible for us to become a developed nation. All the gains we have made so far, say in science, IT or telecom domains will dwindle and go to our competitors if we don’t have a steady supply of talented professionals.

I feel that we citizens can make a huge difference in this particular aspect. There are hundreds of schools which are in need of teachers, infrastructure, books etc. It would be great if we can help these schools, and it doesn’t take much - some amount of time and maybe a small amount of money. We must know that every drop counts.

The next one in my list is Poverty - arguably the biggest pain for most of the people in this country. Even after 60 years of independence, it is a shame that more than a third of our population is living below the poverty line. Lakhs of people don’t have enough food, clothing and absolutely nothing to make a living. Their lives are filled with miseries; lack of education and large families have made them so. Often they suffer from some or the other disease and with little medical help, their life expectancy is low. True, India's life expectancy as a whole has increased - but when we break it down, we see that for BPL (Below Poverty Line) people, there is hardly any change.

Here again, the government has done a pathetic job. Most of the schemes it announces remain on paper. No one knows the whereabouts of the crores of rupees allocated to these schemes. Best example was the recent Vidharba episode. The PM himself visited the area after a spate of farmer suicides and announced a 2000+ crore package. He later toured it again only to find that there was absolutely no change in their lives!! As a result, the suicides continue. There is no one to help these poor farmers.

The people who suffers the most from poverty are the children. The parents, who cannot support themselves, let alone their children, often use their kids for some additional income. Hence, for the child, education is a distant dream.

I am hard pressed for a solution in this aspect - the investment needed is enormous. The change has to be sweeping and radical. Only the government with its massive reach and money can make the difference.

God knows when the people ruling us will wake up! Right now, they remember the poor only when there is some election round the corner - And even during these times, they don’t contribute anything concrete. They lure them by giving money (which they don’t know how to manage) and liquor (which ruins them even more). So, until these politicians do something concrete, you will find many people like me who keep cribbing :)

However, I have a request to make - recently, I met a person (in fact, he is a software engineer) who is doing a lot of social work and is running an initiative called Youth for Seva. Please visit their web site - youthforseva.org. I leave it to you, as to how you can contribute.

My birthday 6th august

2007-09-24T19:48:00.000+05:30

My birthday 6th August
Yes, at last, today is 6th august 2007. For some, this might be a black letter day because it was on this day 62 years ago that the disastrous Hiroshima and Nagasaki bomb blasts took place.
But for me, it is a red-letter day, because it is my birthday. Don’t mind me if I get a little retrospective .I thought I was old enough to pen down my thoughts. I am officially 18 years old now. How I wish I could just be born and relive the happy moments in life!!! Since that is impossible I have to stick with being an adult now.
Since I am an adult now, I have a lot of privileges. I can find my name on the voters list and help India get a better administration. Wow! That’s too much too much for a kid like me.! I can get my drivers license and help my country by becoming a good rider and by avoiding accidents.
I can find myself in places like discothecs, which any next-door teenage girl like me would love to go.
I can even get married or elope! Which is awful because I hate even the m of marriage.
I might have grown older but I have become wise too. I am not cherubic like I was before. I have learnt to start appreciating even the un- noticeable things in life. I have become more sensitive when it comes to certain personal issues like friends, family etc.
I have been in the good books of most of my teachers (I have got into deep trouble with some) and many of my friends. I have got myself in the bad books with some of my friends in the past. It is a pretty dramatic story, that which cannot be revealed.
But I have never regretted that incident. Infact I have learnt from it. I have realized that I cannot expect all my friends to be of the same mentality I am.
Then after, a few years later, I have made new friends and understood them better. I have also not remained the same anymore . I have improved on my behavior, made new friends and many acquaintances also. I have learnt from my mistakes and I am very much ready to make new ones.
This birthday is special, not just because of the gifts and phone calls from my well wishers. It is because I have a lot of memories, which I have lived and cherished unlike other birthdays.
This year I have gone through a lot of personal problems. Lost hope, lost self-confidence. But as I learnt to battle them one by one, things seemed to be a lot better. When I look back, I see that it was not the worst problem I have faced after all!!!
In spite of my difficulties, I have done pretty well in my board exams. I managed to score 96%, a centum in maths, which felt like a cherry on top of a pie. I received a lot of appreciation from my family and friends for achieving this feat.
Guess what,“sphurti is a child prodigy” well, how does that sound? No, I am just saying that. One need’nt have to be a child prodigy to prove that they are intelligent. I am proud of myself, as I have been academically very good in my entire life. I have won many school awards for my academic excellence. I have won a scholarship of national level general knowledge competition. I am good in sports too. Besides that, I love to dance. I have received a lot of appreciation for the stage show I had performed once amongst many other competitors.
I have never done any pretentious act of valor. My family has never told me that they are proud of me. But, somewhere in my heart, I feel that they are already proud of me and of what I have achieved so far!!!
I guess we all grow up pretty soon eh!? Now, I can never go back to being born again and reliving the happiest moments of my life so far.
I can never go back to being a kid again. Ah!!! How much I miss those days!
Nevertheless, life goes on and we have to learn to live with it. We have to accept everything that comes in our way as we don’t know what we are destined to become.
Always show unconventional love and passion towards what you are doing. Don’t ever get intimidated by others success. I encourage myself to become envious of others because it helps me improve myself by acquiring the qualities, which I lack. By doing this it helps me become a better person.
I have a lot of responsibilities. High hopes are pinned on my back. It becomes my responsibility to live up to their expectations.
I have learnt that no matter where life takes me, I shall always be strong. I hope to become someone someday and be more useful than what I am now.
CHEERS TO LIFE!!!

Things holding India back from being a developed nation

2007-09-02T12:44:00.001+05:30

In a series of posts, I intend to present my take on why India is unable to take the next big step and announce its entry into the world's elitest nations; Why are we in a situation which is very alike to "So near, yet So far"; Your comments, criticism, encouragement are most welcome!!

1. Corruption - Corruption is, by far the biggest ill that our country faces. From a college peon to a minister, only money makes them sing. Taking bribe has become a part of a government official's duty. There are instances where bribe was taken and deadly criminals were let off; Crores of rupees worth of items are illegally siphoned off after paying bribes; Drugs which are intended to be given freely to the poor are being sold in open markets; The food grains which are intended to be rationed among the BPL people is being sold in open markets; And not paying bribes resulted in gross neglect and inaction in hospitals which have taken poor peoples' lives.

These and hundreds of other instances show that corruption is our biggest enemy.

My heart bleeds. It asks, Why is corruption such a big menace? Cant something be done about it? Isnt there someone who can put in some basic moral values into these people?

The answer is a flat NO. Noone has the courage to do it. The mafia behind them is so strong that no person who has the power to punish is ready to take the risk. This was evident when Justice Venkatachala was the Lok Ayuktha of Karnataka. He caught hundreds of corrupt officers red handed. Unfortunately not even 1% of them were punished. The government was clearly unwilling to play ball and invite the ire of govt officials who form an important vote bank. Justice Venkatachala was promised suo moto powers to prosecute by 3 CM's. But the promise remained on paper. They knew they had made a mistake by placing a man who wanted to bring a change at the top. This was evident when they didnt want to give him a second term.

Most of us must have realised by now that we can take the next big step towards being a developed nation only when this ill called corruption is nipped from the root. My eyes are eager to see someone come in - one who is not afraid to do the right things; One who doesnt care to lose his position by doing the right thing; One who takes stern action against those who hold this country at ransom and are preventing it from becoming a true superpower.

(This series will continue; Please stay tuned for my following posts)

I have applied for the TOI's lead India campaign. I urge my readers to apply also. We should want to be this someone. For long, we have waited to witness change. Now that it is not happening, we must take the lead. The future is in our hands.

Absolute Reality - Is there any such thing?

2007-08-13T14:14:00.000+05:30

Most of the children have imaginary characters for their friends. They play with them, enjoy with them and even talk to them. If you ask them anything about those characters, they will reply in a way, which will convince any body that those characters actually exist or they are “real”. But for us those characters are just figments of the children’s imagination. They are not “real”. Just because we cannot see hear or even sense those characters how can we deny their existence? We experience thoughts, dreams, emotions and feelings. Are these not real?

We may feel that anything we perceive using our five senses is real. So we believe and understand that all the objects that we can touch, see, feel, hear, taste are real. Well, in that case think of those myriad stars twinkling in the night sky. What we are seeing could be what was the state of the stars many years ago because as everyone knows light takes several years to reach us from the distant stars. It could be possible that some of the stars do not exist any more. We believe that they exist because we see them twinkling. The assumption here is that “Time” is absolute that is one is simultaneously able to see the stars as they are now and as they are seen from the Earth. Does that mean reality is something beyond our fives senses of perception? Probably. Any thing “real” can or should probably be defined relative to the space in which we live.

Consider the example of a seed that has grown into a tree. From our knowledge of science we know that this tree has grown from a seed. But just try to view the tree in the absolute sense. We do not call it a seed anymore. The “reality” of the tree being a seed was the past. The “reality” now is that the seed is a tree. What was “real” in the past is not “real” any more as we cannot perceive the “seed” using our five sense organs. Here the assumption is that space is absolute i.e. it is the same space where the seed was planted and now the tree is standing. This implies that “Time” needs to be incorporated in our understanding of reality.

Consider this. I understand that if I am shown the color red, it is red because I have been taught that the color is red and now I understand and believe that the color shown to me is red. But if some one is taught that the color red is green, that person will understand and believe that the color is green and not red. Here what is “real” depends on what we have defined the terms “red” and “green” to mean. Humans have written a language and created words and associated meanings with it and have laid down a universal understanding that a specific reality is associated with each word that represents anything that is tangible. So reality includes those things, which we have been taught to believe and understand as representative of a specific thing.

If you noticed, whatever we defined to be “real” was relative to some element – either time or space or a person’s understanding of what is real. If “real” is defined relative to something how can it remain “real”? We associate “truth” with “reality”. When we think of “truth” we think of it in the absolute sense. If reality is relative, then so is truth.. We have based all our knowledge of science, scientific discoveries and inventions on assumptions- assumptions some of which we believe are true and others we just intuitively know are true (the ones we call axioms). So if this fundamental understanding of truth changes can we then say that our knowledge of science if fallacious? Is it right to base our understanding of anything based on truth which by its very innate nature is relative because of its dependency on factors like time, space, beliefs? This brings me to my question – Is there something which we can call “the absolute truth” or “the absolute reality”?

Fading Identity

2007-08-06T13:37:00.001+05:30

Recently, our team shifted to a new building far away from home and finally i am beginning to feel the pinch. Today morning when i reached our new campus(hate associating the word "office" with myself), i was reminded of the many things that i wanted to do by the time i finished college. I wanted to be an entrepreneur with the "youngest achiever" award, giving loads of interviews on the TV. But unfortunately none has been accomplished or even started...

OK, fine i am applying to b-schools and all that. So what? I am still far away from what i wanted to do. B-school is definitely not my destination. In high school i was so overwhelmed by people such as Alexander and Cleopatra that i wanted to actually rule the world someday so that my name gets etched in the history of the world and not lost once i perish. Over the due course of time that fantasy matured into the want to be an entrepreneur and own a building as huge as our new campus.

After high school i got carried away by the usual competition stuff and here i am sitting in my cube debugging code. Which competition you say? Well, the usual marks saga. I am not sure how can competition land a person into something that she doesn't want. But sadly that's the truth and that will be, till our system and values change.

This is not the future that i dreamt of nor would many "dream" of in childhood. Then why am i not going ahead and ditching my job and starting off with my dream? Probably i am not the risk taker kind. Am i the only person who is doing what she DOES NOT want to do or are there other people too?

Hats off to people like Bill Gates who had guts to ditch the "competition" saga and realize their dreams. As far as people like us, i don't even know why do we keep reading things about these achievers. I don't see us (atleast me) putting it into practice. Oh OK... Our system has taught us how to do theory not practicals right? Then how can we realize it in reality.

I don't think its too late. Probably we all still have time to live our dreams. But how many of us actually know what we want? Probably a flashback to our childhood days will help.

I just hope you and I realize what we actually want and go ahead with that, instead of sucuumbing to the situation. Else we will end up spending 15 hours a day doing something that we never dreamt of or do not actually enjoy doing, till we are 60 and then retire and wonder what happened the whole time in our lives.
-
A girl losing identity in her cube

Safety Last in Motown!

2007-07-15T21:40:00.000+05:30

Its sad, but “safety last” seems to be the attitude of all players in the Indian automotive industry – be it manufacturers, consumers, Govt., transport companies – everyone. Seems too harsh, doesn’t it? Lets analyze why this conclusion was reached in the first place.

Automobile Manufacturers:

Road conditions in the country have improved tremendously in the past few years, more so the inter-city highway infrastructure. This has resulted in increasingly large number of people preferring their own cars for long distance transport. This improvement has also bred high-speed driving patterns. Obviously, this calls for higher safety expectations from the cars. But, have these expectations been met? Not really.

The bare minimum safety features one can expect when one thinks of high speed highway driving are – airbags and ABS. And what are the cars offering these features? Since small cars form the overwhelming majority of all cars sold in India, we’l take a look at small cars first.

Chevrolet Spark offers ABS as an option; on the top-end variant only. Airbags are not offered, even as an option.
Suzuki Zen Estilo offers ABS and driver-side airbag only as an option; on top-end variant only.
Fiat Palio Stile doesn’t offer either ABS or airbags, even as an option! (Either that, or their website design is so poor that I wasn’t able to locate these features).
Maruti WagonR offers ABS and airbag as option, on top-end variant only.

You’d notice that the real volume-sellers – Maruti 800, Hyundai Santro, Maruti Alto, Tata Indica do not even feature in this list. Reason- these cars offer neither airbags, nor ABS; even as option! I wonder whether these cars would even be road-legal in many of the developed countries. And I shudder to think about the upcoming Tata’s OLRC (One Lakh Rupees car), or similar ultra low-price cars being developed by other manufacturers (Kinetic??)

Now lets step up the ladder – and analyze the “premium hatch” segment.

Chevrolet U-VA offers ABS only on top-end variant. I could not find any reference to airbags on their site.
Maruti Swift offers dual front airbags and ABS as standard on top-end Zxi variant; and ABS as option on the middle Vxi variant.
Hyundai Getz has ABS on the to-end variant.

The above list is indicative. The point I’m trying to make is that the automobile manufacturers are trying to play a game here – if safety is what you want, go out and buy our top-end variants. What if I want a “basic” car, but with safety features? After all, since I don’t smoke, what use is a cigarette lighter and ash tray for me? What if I don’t care about body-colored door-handles and leather-wrapped gear-knob? Answer is – there is no such “basic-but-safe” car out there in the market.

And oh! If you thought that only small cars are the target of this safety-discrimination, think again. The same pattern of offering essential safety features on top-end variants is carried over all the way to the Chevy Aveos and Maruti SX4’s and Ford Fiesta’s etc.

I think it is high time manufacturers started offering ABS and Airbags as option across all variants. This is all the more relevant as the roads improve by the day, speeds increase, and more and more people start traveling by road.

General Public:

Its not only manufacturers who disregard safety. We "aam janta" care hardly 2 cents about it. How often have you seen well-educated people speaking on the mobile phone while driving a 2-wheeler? Its almost arrogance personified! “I don’t care about safety and rules. I have a cell phone and I shall use it while driving” kind of attitude only magnifies the safety problem on our roads.

Coming to the topic of rash driving – of course it is “subjective”. Still, just look around when you are driving. Chances are you’l see not only the “brat” cabbies driving as if there's no tomorrow; but the well-dressed, educated professional as well.

Transport companies:

People who regularly travel by the long-distance luxury bus services would identify with this. We have all kinds of luxury buses flooding the market. Volvos, sleeper coaches, semi-sleepers and what not. How many of these have proper safety features?

To quote an example, I regularly undertake overnight journeys by VRL, a private bus service provider in Karnataka. These buses are popular for their comfort. However, I have noticed time and again, that even though seat-belts exist, the seats are laid out in such a way that it is not possible to engage the seat-belts! One can imagine the effect of even sudden braking when one is asleep. This problem is even more pronounced in case of sleeper coaches. The upper berth in the sleeper coach buses are an example of how things should not be.

In spite of being so unsafe, these buses are immensely popular with the passengers. This shows how much the general public cares about safety! Or is it the case that transport companies dont give a damn about the passengers' concerns? Whatever be the case, it needs to be set right.

Government:

If the manufacturers are not forthcoming in offering safety features on basic cars, then the Government should mandate it. Of course, the ideal case would be that it should be made compulsory for ALL cars to feature ABS and airbags. However, this is not a practical solution. But, surely, the government can make it compulsory for all manufacturers to offer these safety features at least as an option on all variants?

The same goes for buses as well. The government should regulate safety features on all long distance buses.

Regarding rash driving and using cell phones while driving; well there are a whole bunch of laws regarding these. Only if all laws as they are on paper, were implemented!

Conclusion:

Its still not too late. Either the manufacturers, transport companies and general public should act voluntarily, or the government should take matters in its hands. It only takes resolve on part of the authorities to brush aside resentment from lobbies.

Its delightful news that consumerism is becoming a way of life in India. Lets also inject an element of responsibility into the whole business! Looking forward to an India where safety gets its due credit. JAI BHARAT.

Pirates Of Caribbean: At World's End

2007-06-07T14:34:00.001+05:30

I feel sad for Jack Sparrow. Not because the third part of Pirates of the Caribbean is dull, uninteresting and confusing. I feel sad because, Johnny Depp is wasted in the movie. If only he had more screen time, things would have been drastically different.

Frankly, I was looking forward to the 3rd edition of the Pirates (At World's End) with a lot of curiosity and eagerness. After an awesome 2nd part (Dead Man's Chest), who wouldn't?

Unfortunately, At World's End does not live up to the expectation. Yes, it is breaking all records in terms of collection. But the movie in itself is totally confusing from the word go. A new character is added every ten minutes and this contributes a lot to the chaos.

The movie starts from where the 2nd part ended. The party (Gibbs, William, his love Swann, Calypso and the crew) goes in search of Jack (who has been killed and imprisoned by Davy Jones, the captain of the Dutchmen) in the leadership of captain Barbosa. For this, they seek the help of another Pirate Lord (I don't remember his name).

After rescuing Jack, it is time to face both the enemies. The East India Trading Company with Beckett as its commander and Davy Jones. Now, Beckett is in possession of Davy Jones' heart and he holds the latter at ransom.

The movie interspersed with some utterly unrelated sequences of the ship wreck code. The 9 pirate lords meet to discuss what the next course of action is. In a bizzare turn of events, Elizabeth Swann is elected as the 'King' of the pirates and she decides that they must fight the East India Company.

Captain Barbosa in the meantime frees Calypso, she disappears after that. The war is one of the few saving graces in the movie. It is really a rib tickler and also the action sequences are quite breathtaking. One of the few moments where Depp shows what he is capable of. You would, however, be reminded of some bollywood movie when William and Elizabeth exchange marriage vows even when they are wielding the sword.

At the end, Jack manages to get Davy Jones' heart. Jones, unafraid, stabs William. Jack in turn makes William pierce Jones' heart. Jones dies and William becomes the next captain of the flying Dutchmen. Swann gives him company. Jack sets off on a new voyage in search of the most desirable thing.

Camera work and Depp are the only attractions, though Depp gets a little fraction of the 2 hour long screen time. The sequences where he talks to himself; asks Gibbs to throw his hat upon winning the war, only asking to get it back are just amazing.

The trilogy has finally come to an end. Sad that it doesn't get a fitting tribute.

Holiday with Mr. Bean

2007-04-23T00:20:00.001+05:30

Watching the antics of Mr. Bean is always fun & as soon as I heard that a new iteration of the series, i.e. Mr. Bean's Holiday, is ready for release, I was looking forward to it. Finally, i got a chance to watch the movie & I can say it was a laugh-riot, alright.

The movie is about the Mr. Bean’s (Rowan Atkinson) journey from London to Cannes as part of his holiday. As can be expected when Bean is around, anything which can go wrong, goes wrong as he gets lost and into trouble many times over, with just his Sony Camcoder for company.

The movie has its typical Mr. Bean moments, which only Rowan Atkinson can perform. His expressions are simply amazing (& at times, disgusting) What seems to have been done, though, is that, with few comedy sequences in mind, the rest of the plot of the movie, seems to have been written. That is probably the reason why the story takes so many turns. The movie is a little slow-moving at times.

The music collection is apt & suits the mood of the movie. Cinematography is a lot modern when compared with the Bean of 1997. I, however, felt that the Camcoder inlays in the movie was a bit too long, especially early on, although, it plays a pivotal role in taking the story forward.

The support actors are par for the course. The boy, Max Baldry has done a very good job. William Dafoe doesn’t have too much of screen time. But, the movie belongs completely to Rowan Atkinson. His uninhibited portrayal of the absent-minded, fun-loving & idiotic Mr. Bean is what we have loved him for.

In short, it is a movie which will make you laugh, at times, clutching your stomach. Your experience is likely to be similar to watching a couple of episodes of Mr. Bean on TV, but, who cares, its still Mr. Bean. Kids will have an even better time watching this movie. I give it a more-than-decent 7.5/10.

Pursuing HappYness

2007-03-27T10:41:00.000+05:30

The Pursuit of Happyness' is an inspirational story of a struggling salesman bringing up his son in suburban San Fransisco in the mid 80s. This movie is based on the actual life story of a rags to riches entrepreneur and stock broker Chris Gardner as he struggles through abject poverty and destitution on his way to break into the stock brokerage business as an intern.

The movie follows the life of Christoper Gardner (played by Will Smith) who sells little-needed medical bone density scanners for a living. Supporting his child (played by his biological son Jaden Smith) after his wife's departure, he is forced to relocate to a smaller house, loose his car and even spend time in jail for not paying parking tickets. His life takes a turn when he gets a break in to the world of finance and investments as an intern. He reluctantly takes up this non-paying, no job guarantee offer though the odds of getting a job after internship was next to nil. Between toiling hard to make a mark in his internship and trying to sell the left over bone density scanners over the weekends, he also needs to stand in a queue for rehabilitation everyday!! They become homeless, living in hotels, homeless shelters, and even a cruddy subway bathroom! But Chris holds on to his ultimate dream of being happy and giving him and his son the life they truly deserve.

Will Smith plays the role of his lifetime. His comic timing is very evident in the lighter moments, but his sincerity to the role is best brought out playing a man with no options, no family, no help and little hope. Special praise must be reserved for his son who plays his part to the tee. He has portrayed the innocence and sweetness of the tender age, while being able to hold his own in the more serious of circumstances. The father and son share an awesome chemistry which is very apparent right from the first scene.

Every scene and emotion portrayed on screen is heart warming and touching making this movie a truly worthwhile experience. What touched me most was the way Chris never gave up fighting even when faced with the most dire of circumstances. This movie stands as a testimonial to the cliché, success and more importantly happiness follows those who pursue it. In Chris's own words we experience happiness in eye blinks. The rest of the time we are chasing after it.

I rate this movie a must see for the sheer tenacity of emotions and thought process the movie puts the audience into.

"Wise and Otherwise" by Sudha Murthy - Book Review

2007-03-20T15:09:00.000+05:30

I just finished reading "Wise and Otherwise" by Sudha Murthy. And I must say I am mighty impressed and moved by the book. This book is a collection of 51 short stories, every one of them being a gem. Whats more, majority of the "stories" are in fact real life experiences of Sudha Murthy.

The first and foremost aspect of the book which I fell in love with is its simplicity. The incidents are narrated by the author in simple words, without any attempt at glamour or extravagance. The language is simple - you dont need a dictionary to understand it. The opinions put forth are direct. Its almost as if the author does not want to attract attention; this is the most attractive feature of the book.

No "story" is more than 5 or 6 pages long. However, each and every story is a lesson in life! Thats not to say that every story paints a rosy picture of life. Sudha Murthy gives some instances which clearly portray the vagaries of life. Some of these incidents are so moving, you are forced to reflect on how unfair life really is. For example, the author recollects the encounter with a gharwali, who was initiated into the "profession" at an age of 12, by her younger brother whom she adored, that too on Rakhi day! Similarly, there is the example of a man who branded his aged father as "homeless" so that he would be admitted into an old-aged home.

The moral of the stories varies from humility to humanity to equality to social issues. Another feature of these stories is that they are all realistic. The masses would relate to these stories. Its not about the "rich and famous", but about everyday people. The "heroes" in the stories are for the most part, simple "persons next door". For instance, the author shares her experience of how one of her friends learnt to have a positive outlook towards life, after being inspired by a beggar dancing in the rain! Likewise, Sudha Murthy describes how a woman did not forget to express gratitude to the author even on her death-bed.

Finally, another highlight of the book is the experience factor. The way the stories are written, you can clearly see the feelings, the emotions and the experiences that has gone into each of the anecdotes. It is obvious that the author has travelled far and wide - from the extremely poor villages in Orissa to the flashy environs abroad. The tiny tidbits that the author gathers in each of these encounters aggregate to form enormous experience. It is this personal insight and experience that injects life into every single story.

Now for the verdict - There's no two ways about it. Irrespective of one's demographic classification, this book is definitely worth a read. I conclude by rating "Wise and Otherwise" as a must-read; and hope to take a leaf out of it myself.

WC - The Game of Unity & Love

2007-03-07T22:05:00.000+05:30

Come the 13^th of March, 2007, everyone’s attention will turn towards the tiny countries in Central America, collectively called, the West Indies, to follow the progress of the biggest & most-awaited event in any cricket enthusiasts’s schedule – the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Although the opening ceremony will be held on the 11^th of march at Jamaica, the matches do not start off until West Indies play Pakistan on the 13^th. Both of these teams belong to the Group D; Zimbabwe & Ireland being the other two teams. West Indies are having a decent build-up to the WC, hampered a little bit by their 3-1 series loss to India. But, they do play well in WI, with the backing by their jovial crowd. Brian Lara, playing in what-should-be-his last WC would want to make this 1 a memorable 1. His leadership skills has improved a lot in this captaincy stint.

Pakistan, on the other hand, are an unpredictable outfit, being wounded by their 4-1 away loss to South Africa. But, as we have seen time & again, on their day, they are capable of beating the best. Pakistanis would be looking up to their old warhorses – Inzamam & the tremendous Mohd. Yousuf to fire consistently. Absence of Shoiab Akthar & Mohd. Asif will definately be felt in the bowling department.

Moving over to the Group A, there is a mouth-watering clash between the current No.1 & No.2 ODI teams in the world, namely, South Africa & Australia respectively. Although, Australia have been outclassed in their previous 5 encounters, it wouldn’t be wise to rule them out of WC contention, especially with the return of their Captain Consistent – Ricky Ponting & the wicketkeeper-batsman, Adam Gilchrist. They, however, are bound to miss the services of the in-form but injured, Brett Lee, who has been gradually developing into a deadly fast-bowler.

South Africa is a team which has been performing consistently in the past few months, easily beating India & Pakistan in the home series. Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis & Shaun Pollock are their proven players. They will also rely on the services of Makaya Ntini & Mark Boucher to come-up with a clinical performance.

Group C includes two teams which must have gained immense amount of confidence after recently beating the World Champions Australia, ie. New Zealand & England. New Zealanders have a nice team, packed with all-rounders, because of which they bat deep. But, they might have a little problem in the middle order, which lacks experience. Their greatest strength is their fielding & their team-work…many players chip in with runs & wickets in most games.

England played wonderfully well to win both the finals of the Commonwealth Series against Australia, but, their form in the matches before that isnt very encouraging. Apart from those two gritty games, they have been struggling in Australia. Andrew Flintoff & Kevin Peterson alongwith Paul Collingwood, are bound to be their players to watch.

Group B is where our primary interest lies, with sub-continent teams like Sri Lanka & India battling it out here. Sri Lanka might have looked a bit out of sorts in their last ODI series against neighbours India in India, but, their team will be boosted by the return of the tremendous bowling war-horses, Muttiah Murlitharan & Chaminda Vaas. Batting line up appears strong, but, they will require players like Sanath Jayasuriya, Sangakkara & Jayawardane to fire consistently.

Indian team, after its terrible outing in SA, has managed to recover its confidence, beating both WI & SL at home. Their main concern will be the batting. Although, most batsmen were among runs in the past two home ODI series, but, its while playing away that they manage to falter. Captain Dravid has made a courageous, but, right move by picking Sehwag in the team; because, he is the kind of batsman who can murder any kind of bowling attack, if he stays in the wicket for a while. In the 3 practise matches & agaisnt minnows, if he gets close to a hundred, then, that’s what will get him going. Sourav Ganguly, who has looked very good since his comeback, should hold the top order together. In my opinion, Sachin Tendulkar should still be opening; but, in order to fill in the lacuna in the middle order, he has had to drop down the order. He should have a good WC campaign, if India are to do well in this WC.

Bowling prospects are in the hands of Zaheer Khan & Agarkar, with new comers like Sreesanth & Munaf Patel fully raring to go. If Irfan Pathan gets back to his earlier wicket-taking ways, it is going to help the team a lot, as India will get a decent all-rounder as well.

Among the minnows, if any upsets can be expected, it should come from Bangladesh or Kenya. Zimbabwe have had very few matches in the last couple of years & most of the seniors are also gone. Canada, Holland & Scotland would be aiming at improving on their past performances & giving more of a fight to the test playing nations, all the while hoping for an upset. Ireland and Bermuda will be be feeling ecstatic, just being part of the major cricketing event.

All said and done, the league matches might not draw in too many audiences, save for the 1 or 2 matches in most groups between the test playing nations. The party really gets started on March 27^th, when the Super 8 matches begin. It’ll make for some good TV viewing!!!

Reacting a Tad Too Late

2007-03-01T22:39:00.000+05:30

There is a Kannada saying which roughly translates to "He started digging a well after the fire broke out" (pardon the messy translation). Well, thats exactly what applies to every untoward incident that happens in India.

Two days after the Samjhauta Express blasts, the Delhi-Lahore bus departed "amidst heightened security", as one newspaper put it. Oh great! So by doing this, the events will be reversed and the 65 (and counting) people who perished in the blasts will be brought back to life! And you see, these criminals are seriously running out of ideas. Thats why they are sure to plant bombs in the Delhi-Lahore bus barely days after they pulled off the Samjhauta Express blasts. Right?

Excuse the sarcasm, but the administration must be made up of a bunch of jokers. I am not saying that there shouldn't have been heavy security for the Delhi-Lahore bus. I am just saying that there should have been similar rigor for the Samjhauta Express as well. I just cannot imagine how the security could have been so lax that passengers were able to excuse themselves from the security routine of the train by paying 50 rupees!

But this incident is just an example. Such inaction on part of the authorities has become the norm. What is worse is the pretence of concern and "action" after such incidents take place. From mobs/riots to boat capsizes which kill scores of children to wedding hall blazes to train accidents - the story is always the same. A very avoidable tragedy occurs (often because of official apathy/administrative inefficiency in the first place), then there is the finger-pointing between various agencies, committees set up to "probe the incident and submit a report". The sleepy authorities, given a rude awakening from their year-long siesta, are desperate to save face. All of a sudden, they become very concerned about the people, the public, the country.

The big question is .. why not be a little more cautious in the first place so that the tragedy would have been averted? Had these authorities excercised that oh-so-little extra caution right from the beginning, they would not have had to struggle to save face today. By the way, if you are thinking why I am repeatedly referring to officials "saving face" and not about the officials' concern or country and the people.. well the answer is "What people?" "What country?"

The most shameful aspect of such incidents is the way politicians utilize these unfortunate incidents for political (read vote bank) gains. I have written before about this here. There were reports in the newspaper about how, after the Samjhauta Express blasts, the relatives of the injured had a tough time reaching out to their near and dear ones at the hospital. Reason: There was a constant flow of (competing) politicians at the hospital. Politicians must give a thought to the struggle that hapless relatives will go through if they visit the hopsitals. But, hey, since when did politicians start thinking about people?

I do not know what scale of tragedy is required to really wake up the authorities. I hope they adopt the policy of "Be Prepared" sooner than later and save those thousands of innocent lives. And this policy should not be restricted to the authorities alone. We "aam janta" have as much a role to play in this as the administration. Simple practices like a little more honesty, a little more patience and a lot more principle in life; can do a lot to bring down such extremely undesirable incidents. We can do with a lot less of these, especially now that we are on the right path of nation-building.

Looking forward to an India where more value is placed on the human life! JAI BHARAT.

Professionalism in politics is the need of the hour

2007-02-20T15:41:00.000+05:30

Politics has always been dominated by the babhus who have a ad hock way of reacting to the circumstances. Most of them seldom think about the big picture, concerning themselves in petty vote bank politics. Politics is as much science as it is an art. It involves as much careful planning and analysis as taking quick and dirty decisions to resolve issues.

Politicians in India have always been judged by the aam junta during the elections, and those who fool the public gets away with poor performance. instead, politics should be treated like just another job, where an official review should be conducted once or twice in a year and the minister (and his office) should be commended or criticized based on his performance. This will bring a layer of credibility.

Transparency of operation is a very key issue towards making politics a clean profession. Any citizen should have the right to question the workings of a bureaucratic system without too many hassles. In this regard, the RTI (Right to Information Act) passed in 15 June 2005 is a step in the right direction. Any person may request information from a "public authority" (a body of Government or instrumentality of State) which is expected to reply expeditiously or within thirty days. The Act also requires every public authority to computerise their records for wide dissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally. Though this act is good in principle, there are many grey areas that need to be addressed before this act starts serving the intended purpose.

The ruling government should come up with a set of action points that are planned to be achieved in their tenure at the office, similar to the common minimum program (CMP) proposed by the ruling UPA government.

Also important is the role played by bodies like Lokayukta in probing the corrupt officials and bringing them under the purview of law. But, for this to be effective one needs a dynamic leader like former Lokayukta head Mr. Justice N. Venkatachala who was instrumental in busting scams to the tune of 270 crores in Karnataka, leading from the front.

The role of media in this endeavour cannot be undermined. Their role is not just in exposing the scams and criticizing the political policies, but also to applaud constructive and pragmatic decisions taken by the politicians, without leaning towards any political ideology or principles.

Politics is a game where the rules are set by the players themselves! Unlike a corporation, most of the times, there will not be a quantifiable and achievable goal set. Hence it becomes imperative to define a professional framework, to get people to not only believe in, but also to actively participate in the political system.

Defining Moment: Tata acquires Corus.

2007-02-14T19:59:00.000+05:30

India has finally arrived on the global scene. And this was signified in a big way. Last week, Tata Steel acquired Corus- a British company, almost thrice as big as itself- in a bidding war with Brazil's CSN. The money that the Tatas will pay for the deal is a mind boggling $11.5 bil, making it by far the biggest acquisition by an Indian company ever.

What is note worthy here is the confidence and gumption which the Tatas and all the bankers backing them showed in the bidding war. Though many feel that the price paid is much more than what Corus deserved, the Tatas feel that their bet will pay off in the long run.

This acquisition, one of the many feathers in Tata group chairman Ratan Tata's cap, makes Tata Steel the 5th largest steel company in the world and 2nd largest in Europe. A remarkable achievement for a company which made an extremely humble beginning more than 100 years ago.

We must however not forget that the Indian attack on global companies started some time back itself. Just to name a few big ones-- Suzlon acquired Hansen Transmissions to become a global player in wind energy; Pharma major Ranbaxy took over Terapia; ONGC picked up several oil fields abroad. These are just to mention a few. Many more took place and many are in the pipeline.

We Indians can now proudly declare that our business lives up to the best in the world. Everyone believes that the best is still yet to come- what with the economy booming, more and more investors are coming forward to fund our companies. Add to this, the confidence of our business leaders is at an all time high and they are now more eager to leap forward than ever before.

World, beware - Here we come!!

The curse of being a Software Engineer

2007-02-14T19:56:00.000+05:30

Last weekend, there was an occasion at a relative's place which I had to attend. I say, I 'had to' cos I normally avoid get togethers and not without reason. I believe they are just a platform for people to waste time gossiping about others. However, due to parental pressure, I had to attend this one.

As soon as I set foot at my relative's place, one of my mother's cousins smiled at me. Instantly, I knew that trouble was round the corner. She rushed towards me with a few people behind her. Then she started introducing me to the people around her.

Now, I don't have any problem with people introducing me; Just with the way it is done. They mention my name and immediately start off saying that I am a software engineer in such and such a company (which would naturally mean that I am an extraordinarily intelligent guy!) and the person who introduces me also drops a hint or two regarding my salary!!

I have also observed a common pattern in the people who are asked to undergo the misery of knowing me. If the person is middle aged, he sees me as a villain. He thinks that I am one of those criminals who installs computers at every possible place and hence cause job cuts for people like him!! Alternately, if the person is in his teens, he sees some Nobel prize winner in me and starts dreaming about himself in my position!!

In the days when I had just started working, all this made me proud. It made me feel really important. But as days passed by, this attitude of my relatives started irritating me to no end. Nowadays, whenever someone introduces me, I yearn to hear my father's name, or to know how the person is related to me. But alas, people are more worried about the future of IT companies! Interestingly, people talk of marrying off their daughter to me just on the basis of I working in a software company. To my misery though, the girls don't even give me a second look. Your daughter wants much more, my dear prospective father-in-law!!

Nowadays, I have observed one more interesting feature, given that there is at least 1 software engineer per family. People are now aware of the names of a few software companies. And they compare us depending on the company for which we work!

This is precisely the reason why given a chance I would skip any gathering, specially of my relatives. God knows when these people will understand that software engineers are also normal people who work for a living; In fact, we would work much more than most of the others and accomplish much less. I can take a bet that given a chance, most of the software engineers would opt for an alternate career. And, the so called big pay (which is not so big, after all)- well, it is the only take away for doing such continuous mindless work and inviting so many health problems due to our couch potato life style...

The Instinct

2007-02-07T15:56:00.000+05:30

Space, the final frontier... These are the voyages of a starship enterprise… These are the words that were an intricate part of most of our childhood days, when each of us wanted to be a Mr. Kirk or even a Mr.Spock! "Beam me up Scotty!!!" used to be our favorite catch phrase.
While you are caught up in a nostalgia uncalled for, let me ask you a question, do those words still make any sense? Or do you dismiss them as just being a childhood delusion? Don't worry. These were the exact questions that I was asking myself yesterday and do you know the answer for these that my sub-conscious gave me? "YES" and yours will too.
All these thoughts wafted me to the world of "black holes", the key for time travel. Scientists have come up with a hypothesis according to which if you are suspended in a world with a lower number of clock ticks per second you will travel to the past. Considering our earlier perception of time travel, as induced by H.G.Wells you may presume that you would be actually revisiting those moments of your life that you have actually experienced earlier. This leads to the million-dollar puzzle. Here it is for the novices: If a great grandson of H.G.Wells visits his ancestor, does it mean that the visit goaded him to actually conceive and write "The Time Machine"? or is it his writing that goaded the scientists to invent it?
Either way, the proposal of an infinite parallel world has reduced the probability of that event. The infinite parallel world theory says that, there is an infinite number of parallel worlds that are ticking their clocks simultaneously and if we slow down ours, we may land up in any of those worlds, and not necessarily the one that we came from. Yes, it does mean that at the very place you are sitting and reading this article, certain other things may be simultaneously happening too, but are not visible to you due to your myriad status. Nevertheless, many of us would have experienced it.Sometimes you feel that someone just called you. But there may be no one around. A group of scientist(I dont remember which university) had conducted an experiment on a billiards board to explain this phenomenon.
When a player targetted one of the balls and gave a strike the ball started rolling in a particular direction. But then as it rolled it slowly started altering it straight path. Critics said that according to the laws of physics this is perfectly normal. But then when they started applying the current laws and started calculating the angle of deviation of the ball, the deviation taken by the ball and the calculated value did not tally. Surprisingly, several billiards players(and players of other games) have faced this kind of a situation. When critics do not get their way the only plausible explanation is "the Paranormal" factor.
Para-scientists say that, when the ball started rolling it collided with another one in the parallel world and hence the deviation.
All these may be the foundation of "The instinct", a quality not found in many other species. Events happening in your world are often influenced by those happening in the parallel worlds and hence may rekindle your "instincts" that often harbinger many of the twists in your life.
So, it may not be entirely wrong to start trusting your instincts as they may be messages from the parallel world:-)

A Woman's Cry !!

2007-01-30T19:57:00.001+05:30

A married woman set ablaze by her husband and in-laws…. A woman raped, harassed and killed….
A woman stripped and paraded naked in front of villagers….
A baby girl killed at birth….
Husband beats up his wife to death….

Does this sound familiar? Or are these just myths borne out of my vivid imagination?

I am not a feminist or an Atheist, but why am I sometimes forced to question the existence of god? Why am I forced to feel misery, pain and empathy for my fellow women? This is one of the ironies of life.

Women have been subjects of undue oppression, be it in the pre-historic times like the Mahabharatha or the Ramayana where Draupadi and Sita were made the victims of man’s insatiable greed to now when we hear horrendous stories of women being subject to misery every other day.

It is not just the Indian or the Afgan Society that has not yet woken up to women, the Western Culture is not a free society for women either, no one, not even stringent laws or a broadminded society can prevent a woman being harassed mentally and physically abused.

Female Infanticide has been an omen that has been rampant for long, particularly in the third world countries like India and China. It is by far one of the most brutal and arguably the most appalling of anti-female bias that pervades our societies. Mothers killing their new born daughters on the pretext that she is a liability to the family is no uncommon scenario. The statistics of such death is equally shocking. When demographic statistics were first collected in the nineteenth century, it was discovered that in "some villages, no girl babies were found at all; in a total of thirty others, there were 343 boys to 54 girls….! In Bombay, the number of girls alive in 1834 was 603’.

Dowry deaths and killing of women according to an article in Time magazine, have increased 15-fold since the mid-1980s from 400 a year to around 5,800 a year by the middle of the 1990s. Killing women or domestic torture for dowry and the like is by far the most questionable of all evils. My only question that comes out of this is…. Are women mere objects of Trade between the Father and Husband or are they assured of an identity of their own?

Rape and molestation of women is one more of the evils that plaques our society today.
Not one woman can be confidant of herself even in today’s free and broadminded society. Using force on a woman is not an act of showing a man’s prowess but dastardly behavior of an absolute loser who cannot call himself a man!!!

Irrespective of being educated, good looking, having a strong position in society, women are being subject to all forms of violence within the four walls of her home, she is reduced to a victim status not very different from women not so well provided for as her. Why do women tolerate the intolerable? Why is it that baring a couple of them, none have the voice to raise against the society, the system and the world that takes women as lesser beings. The reasons are far too many and complex. But even if this has an answer, the reasons why men hit and abuse their wives is something for which there can never be a reasonable explanation or a generalized answer.

If a woman wants to raise her voice ……what are her options? Will the law come to her aid? Before 1983, there was no specific law dealing with domestic violence. Women were expected to produce witnesses to prove that they were the victims of abuse. Between 1983 and 1986, several amendments were made to the Indian Penal Code such as the introduction of Section 304B where the death of a woman from unnatural causes within seven years of marriage had to be investigated as a dowry-related death. What is funny is does the woman have to die before she gets JUSTICE???

There might be arguments that ‘Todays Woman’ has all her rights and is getting her due recognition. But one cannot deny or ignore the fact that this is but a pure myth.

A woman’s innate physical weakness has become her biggest enemy. Her spirit, her compassionate heart, the love that she is capable of giving and her clear soul is no bargain for the brutal strength men are endowed with. Men of integrity and men who are secure of themselves will only be able to understand the beauty in the soul of a woman. A woman is made not to be the slave but the companion of a man. She resides not at the feet but the heart of a man. She is a mother, a daughter, a wife and a sister, and she deserves her due respect.

There is a change that is required to be made, and that is in the mindset.
Will that be possible?!?

Capital Punishment – Crime against crime

2007-01-18T14:02:00.000+05:30

Is Capital Punishment fair or not? This has been one of the highly debated topics right from its early days and it always comes to the limelight when one is subjected to it. Wikipedia defines Capital Punishment (also known as Death Penalty) as the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. In India too, capital punishment is being practiced, the latest being the hanging of Dhananjoy Chatterjee on August 14^th, 2004 for raping and killing a 14 year old girl in 1990.

But is it justifiable to take the other person's life? Are we bestowed with the right to kill someone, no matter how evil his deeds maybe? Can we play God? European countries, Australia and Canada have abolished this act long back, while Russia and countries in northern Africa haven’t practiced it in the last 10 years.

One of the reasons given by the retentionist countries is that capital punishment serves as an example or warning to others for inhuman acts committed by the convicted criminal. But does it really decrease the crime rates. In contrast, the crime rates have increased. Take the example of Dhananjoy. He being hanged after serving 11 years in jail is but a shame to the entire judiciary system. If Saddam’s recent hangings are any indication, it has actually created a rift between the Shia’s and Sunni’s in Iraq. Also, the person being hanged gets hailed as an anti-hero. Instead, life imprisonment would have kept him under wraps and away from the media glare.

One of the main fears of capital punishment is the scare of an innocent getting convicted. A mistake here would mean the life of the wrongly accused. Add to it, the public outcry that would erupt when such a news goes to the press.

Secondly, right to life is one of the basic human rights enjoyed by everyone, and the state cannot strip anyone, of that right. This is more a question of the philosophy and ethics than anything else.

Perpetrators of CP would argue that, a psychopath is best dead, than otherwise. They would however agree with the fact that the death penalty should be reserved for exceptional cases; only when keeping a criminal in custody would do more harm than good. Also, acts of recidivism (committing similar crimes over and over again as in the case of serial killers), terror or barbaric acts of violence deserve this kind of punishment.

Though judiciary believes prison as a place for rehabilitation and reform, the truth couldn’t be farther. One of the reasons for supporting death penalty is that, in the unlikely event when a convict escapes from the prison he is once again free to commit more crime. Instead of nipping the problem in its bud, the state is in effect giving the convict a chance to commit the same again.

I rest my case here saying that, there is no one conclusion is such a situation where you have equal factions supporting either.

On The Highway to Economy

2007-01-17T09:35:00.000+05:30

About half a decade ago, the road transport sector in India witnessed some pretty dramatic changes. It was marked by the materialization of some of the ambitious road-building projects being undertaken by Central Government. The number of designated “National Highways” in the country close to tripled - almost overnight. Big money was being pumped into the roads under myriad schemes. It was touted as the harbinger of economic revolution.

Now that substantial chunks of the road-building projects have been completed and are operational (more than 95% of Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) is completed - more details regarding the schemes, budgets, completion status and the like can be found at the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) website and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) website), its time to analyze if, and to what extent, these have helped the economy.

Fuel Savings

A majority of the newly constructed 4/6 laned roads are tolled. While the toll amount is not uniform across the country (the Ahmedabad-Vadodara expressway levies Rs.63/- for about 85 kms; whereas Tumkur-Nelmangla stretch of NH4 costs Rs. 21 for 35-km stretch), it would be safe to assume an approximate of close to Re.1/- per km, as the average for a car. I have heard many people complain that this is too steep, saying there is no way one can save enough fuel to compensate for the toll. Some even argue that since cars usually drive at high speeds (often 100+ kph) on the 4/6 lane stretches, it might actually result in more fuel consumption. True. So where’s the "fuel savings"?

The real fuel savings for the country lie in the transportation sector. Enter - the ubiquitous Indian lorry. Prior to the advent of divided highways, there used to be lot of fuel wastage because of slow-moving heavy vehicles, for example, in the event of one fully loaded truck overtaking another (not to mention it was a painfully slow event).

Especially on the gradients.We have all witnessed quite often, the scene of one mammoth lorry trailing another in low gear; both vehicles groaning under the strain and spewing out tonnes of exhaust. Now, with the widening of roads and construction of dividers, lorries consume considerably less fuel per consignment run. Some websites like this one and this one point out the enormous fuel savings that the NHDP projects are expected to bring about.

Time Savings

This is quite evident. Almost anyone who has travelled on these highways during the pre- and post- NHDP era will vouch for the stupendous time gain factor of these highways. Again, this applies not only to cars and passenger transport, but to goods too. Trucks which used to cover only about 300 kms per day now do close to 500 kms!

Safety

That the newly constructed highways offer greater safety has been debated. The argument against this safety aspect is that people drive much faster (3-digit speeds are common these days).

However, the additional safety that the newly constructed highways cannot be undermined. Most head-on highway accidents are related to overtaking. With divided highways, such accidents are minimized. Moreover, the NHDP highways are being built to certain standards, like better road geometry etc. These factors definitely make road travel safer than ever before.

Cash Flow and Economy

These various factors contribute a long way in boosting the economy, especially in the countryside. In addition to the financial savings resulting from less fuel consumption, there are numerous other aspects of economic growth attributable to the roads improvement projects, few of which are listed below.

Goods are transported quicker than before.
"Wastage" of goods is minimized (especially food products and milk products).
Wayside businesses along the highways - This is interesting because it is opposite to the conventional economical model for roads. Conventionally, roads were aligned to pass through towns for the purpose of enhancing business. But, the NHDP envisages smooth, uninterrupted flow of traffic. Hence, most of the towns are bye-passed. However, highwayside businesses (like restaurants, lodges, fuel stations, garages) flourish in the new model. (CNN IBN recently aired this feature on the flourishing business along the Golden Quadrilateral)
Massive employment during the construction phase.
The increase in travel comfort has been a boon to the tourism industry.

How much is too much?

Since the Highway projects have been such a huge success, it is very easy to get carried away. There are 2 highways between Mumbai and Pune - the traditional NH4 and the Mumbai-Pune expressway. In Karnataka, the Bangalore-Mysore state highway was recently 4-laned, and work has begun on Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC). Delhi-Chandigarh and Bangalore-Chennai expressways are also on the cards.

The authorities got to be careful here. There's no point in having 2 separate highways between two cities. After all, the interests of farmers have to be protected too. Where will all the land come from? What about the environmental implications? If the traffic in these corridors is so high, then why were these stretches not built at 6/8 lanes in the first place? The GQ has not yet been completed, and there's already talk of widening it to 6/8 lanes by 2012. So will the public have to re-live the misery that it went through during the initial construction?

Only if the answers to above question are satisfactory, should the respective Governments go ahead with the proposed implementations. Its great news that we as a nation have finally woken up to the advantages of a sound infrastructure backbone. Now it is our duty to ensure that rural economy is not adversely affected by this; and it is definitely our responsibility to see to it that this road-building spree does not eat up our farmlands and our forests.

Looking forward to an economically booming India. JAI BHARATH.

Aaya Aaya Gurubhai!!!

2007-01-13T00:33:00.000+05:30

GURU... This movie is all about the vision of a person – Gurukanth Desai (Abhishek Bachchan) & his efforts to realize the dream, fighting against all odds. Some people say it is based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani. I can see why they say so. But, this is actually a movie about a simple guy trying to make it big in this world. It can easily relate to just about any successful entrepreneur who has been able to achieve his vision.

This movie follows Guru’s journey, starting from his teenage days; his first work in the petrol industry in Turkey. As he matures in age as well as in riches, he decides to start working for himself & begins his “bijjness”- His foundation stone & his first business takeover being his marriage with Sujatha (Aishwarya Rai). He steps into Bombay and bids to cut out his own route in textile trading, through the weed-infested fields of the trading unions. His entry into trading, is greatly influenced by the works of a news editor with great principles, Manikdas Gupta (Mithun Chakraborthy). The relationship between these two, then, goes on to progress to a father-son standard. Flanked by his innovative ideas & his sole will of realizing his dreams, he dares to foray into other areas, manufacturing polyester, producing chemicals etc.

But, as we near intermission, an important incident occurs, which makes Mithunda to take notice of the ways & means of Guru’s success. To investigate Guru’s work, he appoints a young reporter, Shyam Saxena (R Madhavan). This is where the story really starts developing its many twists & turns; involving many intricate plots bearing great emotion, building up wonderfully to a Grand Finale worth the huge expectations from this film.

Mani Ratnam as the Director does a commendable job of realizing his screenplay dreams. His attention to detail in every aspect of the movie is commendable, be it the evolution in the type of clothing which the characters wear or the concept of using different shades of colours for different decades in the movie, there is typical Mani Ratnam uniqueness written all over it. High points in the movie are the sequences between Mithunda & Guru, the simple chemistry between Aishwarya & Abhishek & of course, the Finale. The cinematography by Rajiv Menon is very nice, capturing the essence of the India of the bygone days. The editing though good for the most parts, was a little too flashy for my liking towards the end.

The music by AR Rahman is another huge point going in favour of the movie. The soulful song & tune of “Jaage Hain” & the ravishing song “Tera Bina” are pieces of musical brilliance. "Barso Re" is a melodious number, shot very beautifully with nice choreography. ARR plays his charm though his innovative & fresh music.

Coming to the performances, the beauty queen – Aishwarya Rai has given a wonderful performance, suiting her strong character in the movie. This is one of the few occasions, where her acting has done the talking & not only the looks. Madhavan does justice to the role of the sincere journalist. Vidya Balan runs her charm in the brief, but, important role she plays; portraying her unrelenting love for her quarreling caretakers. Mithun Chakraborthy’s comeback role is the best that I’ve seen coming from this Disco dancer of yesteryears. He is involved in a few quite memorable scenes in the movie, adding his charm. Mallika Sherawath fans would be disappointed to find out that she doesn’t have any role in the movie at all, except for a song.

But, this movie belongs to Abhishek Bachchan & none other. This is the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play such an important role & he has grabbed it with both hands. This is not a typical hero’s role, which he portrays. There is the interesting addition of grayish shades to his character. His choice of role means that he probably wont have too many of his female fans swooning over him during the movie; but, it is his acting which steals the show here. He graces almost every frame with his presence. His dialogue delivery is immaculate, his energy & confidence in the movie is truly breathtaking, towering over all the other good performances in the movie.

Quadbike - Solution to Urban Personal Transport Problems?

2007-01-10T20:00:00.000+05:30

Picture this: You reside in one of those cities which have a pathetic public transportation system (well, that covers just about every one of the big Indian cities) and you have to use your private vehicle to commute to work. In a majority of the cases, this would mean using a 2-wheeler for your daily transportation needs. It is the cheapest, quickest and the most convenient way of getting around our congested cities. Well, almost.

One point that we conveniently forget (or choose to knowingly ignore) is Safety. It has been proven - statistically or otherwise - that 2-wheelers are not at all safe. Even if one rides responsibly, one is left at the mercy of the other drivers and riders. That, coupled with the possibility of falling off, makes it really unsafe. There are also other factors that come into play here. 2-wheelers are all the more unsafe for women, mainly because of the way they sit in the pillion (both legs to one side).

The combination of all these factors has resulted in me not allowing my parents, especially my mom, to sit on a 2-wheeler of late. Whats more, I constantly find myself finding excuses to take the car rather than the 2-wheeler whenever I'm going around the city. "I have to carry the laptop, it is very heavy". "It looks like it might rain in the evening". The excuses get sillier every passing day. Like, "I just washed the car yesterday. I want to take it out atleast once before it gets dirty again"!!

So there you are: Me, a staunch environmentalist, driving the car to work - ALONE, or when there are only 2 persons. And yet, I justify it. I don't want to compromise on my safety or my convenience. Is there any solution to this?

Well, the obvious solution that comes to my mind is that the Government should improve public transportation. Although steps are being taken in this direction, it still seems a tall ask from the Governments, whose primary focus these days is to safeguard their own existence, rather than public interests.

This is where I think automobile manufacturers could step in. Before we look decades into the future (like fossil fuels being entirely replaced by solar energy), I think we need to think about the nearer future. Why not bridge the gap between car and bike? What I'm referring to is 4-wheeled motorbikes, or 2-seater cars - whichever way you look at it; with the seating arrangement being one behind the other, rather than side-by-side. A bit of googling around threw up some interesting results, but not quite what I had in mind. My brain dug out something I had read in an automobile magazine about a 6-7 years back. It had a hand-sketch of this really neat concept car. Since I do not have the image or the link, let me try to describe the vehicle in words. For want of a better term, I call it a quadbike.

The quadbike would be shorter than our small cars (about 3 metres), it would be just about half as wide (0.7 to 0.8 m), and to compensate for the slim-long make, it would need to have a low center of gravity, thus making it shorter in height too (maybe about 1 m??). If powered by, say a 300 cc engine, it might generate around 20-25 bhp. It would be easy to maneuver around the city, and especially easy to park. It could return a fuel efficiency figure of around 30+ kmpl. Probably it could be steering-wheel driven too.The entire package could cost less than 1 lakh rupees if mass-produced. It seems to be a good compromise - offering the safety of a car and maneuverability and efficiency of a bike.

It all sounds so simple. Someone somewhere must have thought about it (I mean among manufacturers AND Govt). To my delight, I found that a recent issue of the auto magazine "Top Gear" also has echoed my thoughts! Then why is it that nobody is doing anything about it?

Well the reason i can think of is this: I think car and bike manufacturers alike consider a quadbike as a threat to their respective products. Who knows, such an idea might have been proposed by some well-meaning entity, but put off by the car and bike manufacturer's lobby. However, what surprises me is that if these manufacturers see such potential in a quadbike, then why don't they seriously give a thought to foraying into it themselves?

One reason could be the R&D costs, as well as the time and effort that might be required for developing such a vehicle. These factors would scare away the smaller companies for sure. Still, the big names could pitch in. The Tatas are spending billions on their Rs. 1 Lakh car - thats an example of big money being spent on R&D. Nissan has already "announced" plans to come in with a small car in 2009 - three years in advance! That shows companies have devoted plenty of time for R&D.

So, it would definitely be in evreyone's interests if the Govt and industry take the 4-wheeled bikes concept seriously.Just think about it. Less congestion, less pollution, more easily accessible, affordable to the public as well.

And most importantly, all this without compromising on safety. Such a technology would buy us more time before we run out of fossil fuels; thus lengthening our endeavour to perfect the technologies of the future. The public will definitely do its bit to save and protect the environment. As long as the Government and industry play their part.

Digital Photography....Demystified

2007-01-08T12:14:00.000+05:30

Laying your hands on your new digital camera, you suddenly find all sorts of symbols on the dials of the camera. You open up the instruction manual only to find it flooded with an array of technical words. Understanding very little, you fiddle around the dial, slotting it in the “Auto” mode & click a few snaps. You are pleased with the outcome initially. As you go on experimenting, you find that although the photos are average, they aren’t upto your expectations. This is when you must start venturing out to see what the other symbols & terms in your camera stand for & explore the vast array of customizable features offered by your camera. Before doing this, however, it is better to have an idea about several of the terms used & the concepts behind them.

In this blog, I make an effort to simplify the concepts used in photography.

Optical zoom v/s digital zoom

Optical zoom uses the physics of optics to enlarge or reduce the image using lenses of different focal lengths. In the photographers’ language, the zoomed-out position is called “Telephoto” (T) & the zoomed-in position is called “Wide-Angle” (W).

On the other hand, digital zoom magnifies the individual pixels of the ordinary sized photographs. So, one gets a magnified image alright; but, at the cost of the image clarity. Hence, when analyzing the capabilities of any camera, it is wise to take the digital zoom out of the equation & considering only the optical zoom characteristics.

Aperture is the opening in the lens of the camera. This is what determines the amount of light falling on the image sensor (the analogue of a film in a digital camera). Aperture is denoted using what is called as “F” number. The aperture size & the F number have an inverse relation. Thus, a large aperture has low F no in the ranges of F1.8, F2.8 etc. Small aperture has a high F no, like F8, F16 etc. Representations of aperture sizes are also made as f/8, f/16 etc

Shutter Speed is the time for which the shutter allows the light to enter through the lens. If the shutter speed in a camera reads 1/125, it means the aperture is opened for 1 by 125^th of a second. Some of the cameras have shutter speeds in excess of 16 to 32 seconds. Seconds are represented using the ‘ mark.

ISO refers to the sensitivity of the image sensor to the light falling on it. ISO representation is based on the speed rating. ISOs ranging from 50, 80, 100, 200, 400 etc can be seen in various cameras. The lower ISO ratings mean the image sensor is less sensitive to light & can be ideally used in well-lit conditions. As the speeds increases, their sensitive to light also increases. Hence, these come into better use as the lighting decreases. But, this means that the fainter light signals also get recorded now, resulting in the appearance of 'grains' on the photo, which is called “Noise”.

Flash is the external light which one provides to fill-in for the lack of natural light at the setting, in order to attain a proper exposure. Fill-in flash can also be customized in many of the cameras, having positive as well as negative ranges.

Thus, we come to Exposure, which is the end-result of all these – Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO setting, Flash – put together. If the subject appears optimally bright, the photo is said to have a proper exposure. If the photo comes out with dull & insufficient lighting, then the photo is said to be underexposed. Overexposure is when the photo appears too bright. Hence, what all photographers strive for is the optimum exposure of the sensor.

Depth of Field (DOF) is the amount of the subject which is in focus. If the whole image is in focus, it is said that there is a Great DOF. This is desirable usually when capturing sceneries or in landscape photos. On the other hand, if only a part of the image is in sharp focus, with the rest being blurred out, then, it is said to have a Shallow DOF. This is sought-after in cases of portrait (close-ups of people) photographs, so, as to lay emphasis on the subject & not the surroundings.

DOF is mainly influenced by the aperture size. A large aperture like f/2.8 will produce a shallow DOF, whereas a small aperture (f/8) results in a greater DOF.

Regarding the different aspects & terms used in photography, I found a very appropriate analogy on the net. Let me share it with you. Consider a hosepipe conveying water to fill a bucket. Here, the diameter of the hosepipe is like the aperture of the lens, regulating the amount of light passing through the opening at any given time. The duration for which the tap is kept open corresponds to the shutter speed. The speed of the flow of water through the pipe corresponds to the ISO speed in the camera. And finally, the amount of water collected in the bucket refers to the amount of exposure.

Let us consider this. If we have a narrow pipe (small aperture = large F no), then we will require the tap to be kept open for a longer time (higher shutter speed) & with optimum speed of water (ISO setting) to fill the bucket (optimum exposure). Keeping the other settings constant, if we turn off the tap half-way through, the bucket will not fill to the brim (under-exposure). Keeping the tap open longer (lower shutter speed) will result in excess of water in the bucket (Over-exposure).

Similarly, keeping the shutter speed constant, if the aperture is increased (lesser F number), there will be over-exposure. Decreasing the aperture size will result in underexposure.

Another important thing to be kept in mind while photographing any object is the Rule of Thirds. The basis of this ages-old rule is that if you were to divide a frame into thirds, both ways-horizontally & vertically, the points of intersection are the points where your subject should be placed in order to be most interesting, while also being most pleasing & easy-on-the-eye. The photos taken keeping these rules in mind tend to grab instant attention. However, these are actually just guidelines, not absolute rules. Feel free to experiment with different positions.

All said and done, you don’t get good photographs by just learning about the different aspects of it. You must go out & shoot as many photos as possible, letting your creativity play its role, looking at things from a different perspective. Shoot multiple snaps, try out with different settings, compare & decide; you can always delete them later. With the advent of the digital cameras, photography isn’t such an expensive hobby now. Knowledge of these things just helps you to get photos which are closer to what you had in mind while shooting that snap!!!

Prayaana to Yaana in our Vaahana

2007-01-01T17:23:00.000+05:30

They say if the first button of a shirt is fastened properly, the rest will fall into place automatically. I suppose, that applied to our journey to Uttar Kannada starting on the 23^rd of Dec, 2006, as, once the basic itinerary was carefully set & decided upon, the trip was bound to progress without many hiccups. This was the case with this journey taken by Rahul, Abhishek, Sandeep, Yours Truly & Kiran to his native place near Sirsi. We started early from Kiran’s house in Bangalore at 5.40 am in his Maruti 800 with Kiran on the wheel.

Our very first stop-over was to tank up the car to the brim at Dasarahalli. Rahul took over the reigns of the vehicle from there & zoomed along the splendid new stretch of highway to Tumkur. At the next piss-stop, it was my turn to burn the road. With our stomachs making their presence felt, we made an early stop at Tiptur to fuel our appetite at a reasonably good restaurant called Kamat at around 8 am.

Our satisfied appetite was evident with a lot more activity happening by the passengers, while I sat at the drivers’ seat to continue on my stint from where i had left of. As we zoomed past the ever-increasing traffic, we took part in a very healthy discussion whose topics ranged from the latest business moves to the state of affairs of the economy to sports & photography. As the discussions ceased, Sandeep started humming some of the popular songs in Hindi & Kannada in his melodious voice & we gave him company by singing along in our harsh & loud voices, managing to mask his singing brilliance. The roads, although very smooth & straight for the most part, were dotted with a couple of potholes here-and-there. That coupled with the very bouncy ride of the Maruti wouldn’t have made life very comfortable for the occupants at the back row.

At our next stop to answer nature’s call, Rahul took over the wheel, being freshened up by the brief nap. He continued on at a very good pace. While on the way, we decided to meet a friend of Abhi and Rahul – Ananda Mattur & we called him to Shimoga. Having reached Shimoga at 11.30 am, we waited till Ananda came & escorted us to his native house at Mattur (the famed village, where people converse in Sanskrit). After being audience to the procedure of processing Areca nut in his farm, we crossed the river Tunga to view a typical, old village house. In and around Mattur, me & Kiran scouted for a few scenic photographic opportunities. I'm glad that we have a few decent ones atleast to show for the effort.

We started from Mattur at around 1.30 pm & reached our next stop outside Sagar where Kiran took over the wheel. Our emerging idea of a visit to the famed Jog falls had to be dropped, because of the inadequacy of time. This stretch of road from Siddapur to Sirsi was a confidence-inspiring one for Kiran, who enjoyed the twisting drive, while all the back-benchers utilized the time to catch a bit of shut eye. Thus, we reached his native house at around 4.15 pm, after a fuel-stop at Sirsi.

After being introduced to his relatives & filling our lunch-deprived stomachs, we set out to

Banavasi, the age-old temple which is just a 15 minute drive from there. On the way, we made a detour to the calm lake at Gudnapur, which was looking brilliant in the fading lights of dusk. Banavasi is a temple of Madhukeshwara (Shiva), but, its uniqueness lies in the presence of all the major deities around India in the corresponding directions. Thus, it is said, if you make a tour of Banavasi, it is like going on an India-wide pilgrimage.

The next day, we set out at around 10 am, being accompanied by the youngest of Kiran’s uncles & 3 of his other old chums in two bikes – Bajaj Wind & the Bajaj Pulsar 150. Our car also had new inclusions in two of Kiran’s kid cousins. We fueled the car again at Sirsi in our journey towards Yaana, a spot very well-known to trekking enthusiasts across the state. The drive to Yaana from Sirsi takes up more than an hour along the winding route. Drive becomes especially scenic after taking the deviation at Hegdekatte. Rahul at the wheel did a nice job of catching up with the bikes on those broken road surfaces. We parked the cars and started on the 4-km walk to the renowned temple at Yaana.

The walk towards Yaana is descending for most parts, including the crossing of a small stream. After having walked close to an hour along the trails through the jungle, we were starting to wonder about the distances yet to be covered. Then, as we rounded a bend in the trail, we finally caught a glimpse of the towering rocks of Yaana. The biggest of them called the “Bhairaveshwara Shikhara”, stands tall at 492 feet, having a circumference of over a kilometer and half, soaring above the encircling green vegetation. There is another huge rock opposite it, which measures close to 290 feet. The temple at the base is of Goddess Devi, with a steady, continuous spring of water falling all throughout the year on the natural idol. It is possible to encircle the temple, taking a cut in between the rocks, which is a fabulous experience, with the rocks appearing as if they are ready to collapse on you anytime.

After having a small drink to quench our thirst & few bites at the snacks at the shop there, we set out on our return journey. This was taxing to a few of us, especially, the seemingly non-ending ascent. Eventually though, we took about 45 minutes to return to our car. We gobbled up the food which Kiran’s aunt had packed for us. On our drive back, I commandeered the vehicle with my bro, Rahul taking over when we stopped to snack again.

Me & bro intended to return to our hometown of Mangalore from Sirsi on our way back from Yaana. To this effect, we boarded a bus to Kumta at 3.30 pm. Kiran, Abhi & Sandy intended to stay over-night at Kiran’s other uncle’s house & drive back to Bangalore the next day. We reached Kumta at 5.10 pm & took a quick auto ride to the railway station. We were able to catch the Verna-Mangalore Passenger train, only because of its over-an-hour delay. But, we were dismayed to find out the train was over-crowded & all the seats were occupied. That meant we had to stay standing for close to two hours, taking in all the nudges & pushes of the vendors & passengers till we finally got to sit at Udupi. We alighted at the Suratkal station & took a jolting city bus drive to our house.

Kiran & others started off early the next day, with Kiran solely responsible for the driving duties. They chose a different approach, preferring to take the Sirsi-Dasankoppa-Haveri-NH4-Bangalore route. On the way, they visited Sandeep’s house at Davangere & had their breakfast there. As Kiran drove on through the seemingly alternate stretches of silky-smooth & cratered roads, pausing at a railway crossing, he grew more & more confident, which was evident in his pedal-to-metal approach in the straights. After lunch at Kamat Upachar at Tumkur, they finally reached Kiran's house at 3.15 pm. For a detailed description of the routes and an assesment of the roads, check out Kiran's wonderful report.

All in all, it was a pretty relaxing trip for us; we were able to not only soothe our minds with the calmness of the village setting, but also, feed our adventurous hearts with a testing drive as well as a nice little trek.. And the excursion became all the more special in the presence of close friends.

Not a movie.... but Sheer Brilliance!!!

2006-12-28T19:58:00.000+05:30

Not just a movie…. but an experience for life … not just entertainment but lessons of Courage and Integrity….!! … sums up ‘The Scent of a Woman’ ….! 13 yrs after the movie won critical acclaim and ofcourse the 'Best Actor Oscar' for long deserved Al Pacino’s brilliant performance and impeccable portrayal of a blind retired Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, I am forced to instigate everyone to watch and experience what the movie has to offer. It is not the storyline…. It the essence of the character and the flamboyance of the movie that has made it one of my favorites….! My only regret is that I shouldn’t have given it a miss before.

You might be reminded of Pacino’s towering achievements in the Godfather, Skarface and others… but ‘Scent of a Woman’ is once again a reminder of the good old days when actors displayed their charismatic screen persona. The movie revolves around two seemingly different men, Lt. Colonel Frank Slade (Pacino) a wounded belligerent warrior with refined taste for cuisine, chauffeured limos, and beautiful women, and Charlie Simms (Chris O'Donnell) who is a poor, fatherless scholarship student at a boarding school.

Proud and irascible, Pacino does not let anyone feel sorry for him; he is out on a quest of fun and passion. His enigmatic and bizarre personality is woven together with finesse like never before. His honest and passionate description of women, his zest for life, the sound of his voice, the music, the mystery leaves you gasping for more….! In each progressing scene, we get to know another facet of Slade's multi-shaded personality, another element of his past. Pacino is, without doubt, the best thing in the movie, always keeping it afloat. He brings to the role a mixture of strong presence and light self-mockery that helps set the film's bitter-sweet mood. It is the kind of role that would win the Oscars and this one sure did.

It shows that the feelings can be much sharper when one is missing, in this case the lack of sight, shows that Frank developed a new way of living and that way goes deeper into the hearts of the ones he lets come by himself. Teaches how we can look deeper into a woman and understand that there is a lot more than what we see.

Charlie (O’Donnell) is brilliant in his innocent portrayal of a school boy who goes on a journey that changes two lives, his sheer innocence leaves you charmed. I wouldn’t want to ruin your experience of the movie so I shall go no further…..!

Just that….. it is 2.5 hrs of pure beauty and magic through the feelings of a human heart about everything it surrounds.

It teaches you to love….and give and exchange love, because that gives you a reason to LIVE and move on….

A must watch if your ever doubt yourself for being a woman, if you need that push to move on….The Scent of a Woman will get you right where it should !!

The Rush for Retail

2006-12-26T23:19:00.000+05:30

If you are one of those who follow business news closely, you would have realized by now that the most happening thing in India at the moment is Retail. Almost everyone, quite literally, has evinced interest in the booming Indian retailing industry and feel that organised retail is the way forward for future.

To mention a few: Reliance group has extensive plans to enter the Retail industry in a big way. The Tatas are also underway. Existing players like Pantaloon (with their Big Bazaar brand) etc are firming up for the stiff competition by having their own expansion plans. But the one that takes the cake is the alliance of Sunil Mittal's Bharti with the global retail giant Wal-Mart. This move is said to be a masterstroke from Sunil Mittal.

But, why is everyone so interested in Indian retail? The answer seems pretty simple. Indian retail market is worth a mammoth 350 billion dollars. But only a paltry 20% of this is organised retail. The rest of the market is still with the small and medium roadside vendors. Herein lies the opportunity for growth. If anyone can capture even 5% of this market share, he will be having a 14-15 billion dollar Mcap. It is this money that is luring the whos-who of world retail to India.

However exciting these big numbers may seem, organised retail has its own set of problems. Firstly, crores of Indian families have small roadside shops and that is their bread and butter. Now with the big players planning to have so much coverage, these small players will be virtually wiped out from the scene. For the time being, this may be the case for only the vendors in big metros. But with the kind of money that is set to flow in, organised retail will soon enter small towns as well. What will happen to these vendors? People who had lived respectably till now by doing fairly good business, may be forced to do menial jobs for a living. Can the government do something to help these small shopkeepers? We need to wait and watch; However, at the moment, the future seems bleak.

There exists another not so obvious, but an equally dangerous problem. The retail segment is the last part in the customer supply chain. By this, I mean, it is the retail sector which is in direct contact with the customer. Therefore, anybody who is a major player in the retail industry will have the potential to control the country's economy. Now, the critical question arises-- Should we allow a foreign player to control our country's Last Mile, as it is referred to? This is a sensitive issue which needs to be addressed with due diligence.

Hence, organised retail, seemingly attractive at the first glance has more than its share of problems. We would be better off in solving them before the retail boom kicks in.

The ball will never spin the same way... Again!

2006-12-22T12:52:00.000+05:30

Come Jan 6^th, 2007 and one of the most cherished bowler would have hanged his boots for the last time and cricket would be poorer by his absence. He is the bowler who brought to the speed-crazy public, the lost art of leg spin bowling. Such is the status enjoyed by this man from Victoria, Australia. Shane Keith Warne, aged 37 will be finally calling it quits ending a career which lasted 145 tests and 194 ODIs.

Cricket connoisseurs won’t forget the 1992 Ashes series when Shane announced his arrival in world cricket by bowling Mike Gatting out. This has been touted as the ball of the century by critics and fans alike, and rightly so.

In a career spanning 16 years, he has coaxed batsmen with his various guiles into giving their scalps, 699 of them (so far) in tests and 293 in the ODIs. He has been a consistent campaigner picking wickets against the best of the teams all over the cricket playing world. His moment of glory came when he, along with Sachin Tendulkar was invited to a tea party with the greatest batsman ever to have walked the turf, Sir Don Bradman in 1998.

He has always been the man, any captain would turn to whenever the situation demands. Few batsmen have been able to dominate him in the manner in which Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar have done.

But he has not always been the role model whom the parents would like their kids to emulate. He has been christened the BAD BOY in more than one occasion, been involved in match fixing even before the 1999 match fixing saga; stared in a number of sexapades and has also been found guilty of taking performance enhancing drugs which made him miss ICC World Cup 2003.

But all in all, he has been a good ambassador for the game of cricket. As I started this topic, I reiterate.. The ball will never spin the same!

Good Bye.. Shane!

My year in retrospect

2006-12-21T19:06:00.000+05:30

As i stumbled upon Darren Rowse's ProBlogger topic for the season, I felt myself relive my past year. There were few moments that stood out; forcing a change in me or teaching me something important or just pointing out at some of the decisions that I made. Here, I wish to take you through some of the events that took place, with my retrospective thoughts about them.

I noticed encouraging signs in the evolution of my thought process. I am very pleased to report increasing incidents of positive approach to many of the situations, which not only helped me in dealing with it when I could, but also in pulling myself through when I could do nothing. Its been a year where I learnt that negative thoughts are not to be thrown out of the window altogether, but, to look for the hidden meanings in them. Looking at things & ideas in a pessimistic perspective, at times, aids you to be more careful & makes you look into the intricate details. It also helps you to come up with escape routes or to plan different approaches, should the present approach fail. The idea of swapping places with others to judge any tricky situation & to handle tight corners, payed rich dividends to not only me, but, also to the others involved; of that i am certain.

In my journey of self-discovery through the year, I also noticed the role played by the “Feel-Good” factor in my approach towards day-to-day, as well, as special activities. Of course, this was greatly enhanced by instances like motivating others, encouraging them; besides being a sturdy rock to lean on or to take support or to just vent away the worries whenever a buddy in distress needs one.

Academically, there was reiteration of the fact that one need not concentrate on scoring very highly in the subjects alone, as long as one knows whats going on & knows how to use the knowledge he has garnered in an apt way whenever called for. Having said that, if you do happen to set your sights on doing something memorable with the amount of skill you’ve got, then, that decision should be taken early; while also being accompanied by systematic planning & a disciplined approach, with enough time thrown in for fun & family.

Getting injured, physically or psychologically, need not always be due to ones mistake. It can even happen in the most trivial of circumstances. The pain & discomfort one endures is what makes him stronger.

Although, I knew helping others & volunteering to help in doing something are noble & satisfying; this was the year in which I first experienced the taste of the elixir of true happiness filling my heart to the brim. The joy & pride which floods ones mind once the work succeeds is what can be defined as being truly sweet. In addition to that, there was the delight in toiling towards the goal, especially, since it was accompanied by all-round laughter & fun.

Sports are always known to relax the mind, while at the same time, giving enough work to the ever-eager musculature. Over the past year, I discovered the delectation in persevering with sports and training over a long period of time. Not only does it ameliorate your skills, but, it also impels you to manage time better, lest you be left wanting in your other activities. I, especially, liked the grit we showed in fighting hard & working harder to make our way to a commendable position in the cricket tourney for which we were working, in spite of ours being not such a strong contingent this time round. My modest contributions in it, has made it an experience that I will treasure. As an added bonus, making it through to the next level by representing our university, where only a few get selected, has formed an important blip in my never-ending learning curve.

Finally, towards the end of the year, my brother re-introduced me into blogging, as we set out with our minds filled with hopes of doing something substantial. The important thing for us is improvement which we want to see develop within us in terms of our writing skills & also, in getting the message across in a very polished manner.

The new Xtreme avataar of CBZ

2006-12-19T22:31:00.001+05:30

The very first thought that came to my mind when I heard about the new bike - CBZ- Xtreme was "Is this really something new?..... or is it just another re-badged & a pathetically newly styled bike from the Hero Honda stables?"

After seeing the photos of the new machine & going through the tech-specs of the machine, i was forced to at the least give it proper notice...

The side profile of the bike caught my attention 1st, and I was fairly impressed by its looks, atleast in the photos... What caught my eyes were the aggressive rear quarter panels, the split grip at the rear (which by the way looks really good, I must add). The tail-lights, though, not the best...were somewhat acceptable. Then, I happened to look at its front fairing & for a moment, I thought I am in a different world... the world of 100cc bottom-rung bikes. Well, I don't know of a better place where a squarish, flat headlamp would fit, other than in the budget class...!! Even the subtle, unique touch of the bulging, eye-like side indicators integrated into the fairing fails to compensate for the unbelievably bland front. I didn't get the funda behind the rectangular, flat & separate parking light above the headlight either. That indeed looks very odd! The tank is pretty decent, although, it has got lines of familiarity running all over it... The black finish of the engine is a nice touch, although, it would have been even better if it was matted...

When I finally got my chance to see the bike in its flesh, during a test-ride, I was quite disappointed, actually… The shiny black finish of the engine cover & the bottom half of the bike was reminiscent of the lower class bike though the color coded rear view mirrors is a nice touch...

Now coming to the engine… The essentials of the engine remain fairly the same as its sibling, the Unicorn, but, with minor tweaking to get the power output upto 14.4 PS @ 8500 rpm & a torque rating of 12.8 Nm developed at a very respectable 6500 rpm. This makes it the highest ranked mobike in the 150 cc segment, power-wise… In my short test ride, however, I could not test whether this translates to heroics on-the-road… The initial pick-up was pretty good, I have to mention, although the manner of power delivery is a little laid back, in comparison to the Pulsar 150 DTSi or the Apache. One aspect of Hero Honda which has made it legendary is the refinement offered by the impeccably smooth & refined Honda engine & the precise gearing… All these points are, thankfully, seen in the new CBZ as well… The gear ratios seem just about right… The gear shifting is as smooth & effortless as hot-knife-through-butter. The gear shift lever has only a front foot-peg, with no foot pegs for the sole. I know, this is the way it is in the sports bikes; but, from the practicality point of view, it would have been far more useful providing a sole gear-changer as well…

The ride with most HHs is pretty good & sorted out keeping the Indian roads (& pot-holes) in mind… The ride in this bike is also pretty decent… The riding position is almost spot-on & the seats seem to have the right amount of firmness, but, its effectiveness in long rides is yet to be found out…

The bike has a decent balance, with not too much of its weight being felt at the handle bar. So, maneuverability in moving in & out of the bumper-to-bumper traffic in the cities should not pose a major challenge… This should also help its handling…

The instrument cluster has new-look dials with a few detailed touches… The switches, though, are similar to the ones seen in other HH bikes… But, what is being provided does seem a bit less, especially when u get a fully-loaded Pulsar, with the digital speedo, self-canceling indicator, LED lights etc with a bit less of a pinch into your pockets…

With its price tag of Rs. 64000 odd, on-the-road Mangalore, its not exactly sending any chills down its competitors spines… Especially when TVS offers a brilliant looking, power-packed handler in Apache & the Bajaj guys raising the bar yet again with their brand new Pulsar… HH doesn't even come out with vague promises of over-the-moon fuel efficiency figures with this one…

In conclusion, although this is a much better work at renovating the CBZ than the previous efforts seen by the HH guys, it has still left wanting in several areas… The looks need to be improved, and a more aggressive power-delivery by the impressive engine would be most welcome & so will a few more paraphernalia at a competitive price… At this moment, however, I get the feeling; it will probably be accepted by only the HH faithfuls..!!

Shantaram - A review

2006-12-14T20:31:00.000+05:30

Title : Shantaram

ISBN : 0316728209

Author : Gregory David Roberts
Pages : 944

I’m just laying down the book Shantaram, after having first touched its pages a month & a half back… The Question that arises is.. Is it boring or just too long??? Well... Actually, it isn't... My busy schedule with work and play & my habit of unhurried progress through each page explains the mammoth time I've used up in enjoying... that's right, enjoying most of the 900- odd pages of this book...

To give a view of the plot from what it appears to someone at the moon… This is a story of an Australian fugitive’s search for freedom after he touches down at the Bombay Airport… On a slightly closer look, it deals with his social life as a Bhai in the Mumbai Mafia, the mistakes he committed during his lifetime… As you read on, you tend to see through the fugitive-mask which has been put on him by the authorities & be able to read his emotions, his thoughts about the people he meets, the events that occur, his simplistic approach & his sincere effort to help the deprived…

Amidst all the deplorable views of being a Goonda, there is ample of proof of the real ‘him’ which sparkles in his tenure at the slum, being a friend, a social man & the slum doctor… Book takes you through the turmoil of his love-life and his remorse for the actions he has done, the omissions he has made & the signs which he left unread…

His work is of a pretty high standard on the literary charts, with great descriptions of the events & the characters, with great attention being thrown into the details… The action plots are satisfactory… Although, I felt it a little tedious at some parts, his pace is pretty good, as a whole…

What appealed to me most about this book, bringing it into the thresholds of entering ‘one of my favorite’ category, was his amazing description of the “Indian” way of leading life… It amazes me to see the connection he achieved with the Indian minds… His vignette of the mindset of the people & the breath-taking narrative of the sights, smells, tastes & the feel of Bombay is simply marvelous… You tend to colligate his narration to most of the Indian cities and it brims you up with pride, especially, his findings of the Indian kindness…

One more thing which fascinated me in this book was his thoughts & his philosophical impressions of the events & his unmistakable talent of summarizing it in his own wonderful way, as can be seen at the end of most chapters… There are pretty apt generalizations and some cheeky quotes thrown-in all along, as well…

I would definitely suggest it as a read-once atleast for most of the people… If I had to whine about something, then, it would probably be its length, but, even that, you tend to enjoy it as you browse along… It certainly struck most of the right notes in my head which makes me give an admirable nod!!! So, Kudos to Gregory David Roberts!!!

Auto-Motive

2006-12-14T03:15:00.000+05:30

Recently, MUL launched the small car, Zen Estilo in the B Segment market. This launch prompted me to reflect on the dynamics of the Indian automobile scene, and try to analyse the auto makers' attitude towards the Indian market.

Circa early 1990's. Indian car-buyers hardly had any choice. There were at most a handful of cars to choose from. Most of the segments had only one car. For example, Maruti 800 was the only entry-level car. A premium car almost always meant a Contessa. And the babus almost certainly flaunted an Amby.

All that changed in the late 90's when the Koreans invaded the small car segment - Hyundai with its Santro, and Daewoo with its Matiz. And since then, as they say, things have never been the same again. The launch of these cars heralded the automobile revolution in India. By the turn of the century, the market was flooded with a slew of models. The Indians had all but been crowned king consumer. Global auto companies also started seeing India in a different light. But how committed are these companies towards providing the latest and best to their Indian customers?

I'd like to start off with Toyota as an example. When Toyota, in partnership with Kirloskar, launched the Qualis, it created a flutter in the market. Finally, there was an alternative to the Tata Sumos and the Tempo Trax. But what did Qualis really have to offer other than the Toyota brand and quality guarantee? Not much, actually. Qualis is based on the Toyota Venture which was sold in South Africa in early 90's. So that means Toyota was stuffing decades old technology down our throats. In spite of this, Qualis went on to become a huge hit. It ruled as a people-carrier for nearly 5 years. It was particularly popular with the commercial and transport (read "cabbie") segment. Why? Simple - The Qualis offered an unmatched combination of comfort, power and value for money. But with launch of newer models and variants among competitors (Tata Safari DiCOR, Mahindra Scorpio etc), which also offered unmatched style, Toyota realized that the Qualis' days were numbered and went on to replace it with the Innova. That doesnt take away anything from the Qualis though.

Now, lets come to the biggest name in the Indian automobile story - Maruti Udyog. They just launched an all-new model last week and decided to give it the "Zen" badge. The new Maruti Zen Estilo has absolutely nothing in common with its predecessor, save its name. But there's more to this tale. This car is actually the previous generation Suzuki MR Wagon (not to be confused with WagonR) in Japan. Now, a new generation of MR Wagon has been launched in Japan and this old generation (5 yr old) is dead and buried. So Maruti-Suzuki decided to launch it here in India. The advantage - it allows them to keep the costs down. And the costs are down too! Just Rs. 4 Lakhs ex-showroom for a top-of-the-line stylish-looking tall-boy hatch back, 1.1L engine, 5 seater, with EPS, power windows, A/C, ABS and airbags (of course that is the introductory price). I'd call that cheap! I think that if the price (after revision) is right, and the fuel efficiency is decent, this car will be a success. So there you are - a car which is dead and buried elsewhere in the world, has every chance of being accepted here with open arms. Why? Simple - the Maruti Zen Estilo offers the right combination of style, comfort, safety and the all-important VFM.

I read an interesting statistic somewhere - that the Maurti 800, Alto, Zen and WagonR are all actually 4 generations of the same car in some markets!!!And to think that they cater to 4 different "segments" in India. Carrying forward this trend are Skoda. What sells as the Skoda Laura in India is actually the next-generation Octavia in other markets; but both these models sell side-by-side in India. Similarly we have Hyundai, whose Verna is replacing the Accent in some markets (I cant figure out why - the Verna is a totally new car, built from scratch) but in India Verna is positioned above the Accent. What I'm trying to point out here is that some manufacturers are hesitant to phase out old models early on from the Indian market, primarily because the old models also sell well; plus they are cheaper to produce.

Of course, not all manufacturers belong to this category though. Mercedes, for example, launches new models or new generations simultaneously with their global launch (Whew! what a relief, considering the fact that Mercedes sells half the cars in India, right?? :-/). Honda too, is committed to launching newer models within a reasonable time gap after the global launch. Here, we see Hyundai doing a double-face. Because as far as its higher end models (like Sonata) are concerned, Hyundai has introduced the newest model within a few months of its inception.

The third category has companies like Tata, which develop cars primarily targeted at the Indian market! I feel this is really commendable. Developing a car from scratch for the Indian market and yet keeping costs down and offering VFM (best example being Tata Indigo Diesel). Kudos to Tata.

All in all, I feel that as long as a car offers value for money, we Indians are going to buy it. It would not make a difference in the high-margin segments (like the Mercs or Honda Accords); so such manufacturers can afford to pump in latest models as and when they are released worldwide. But, in the volumes segment, companies find this practice of bringing to life, models which are dead elsewhere, as an innovative way to keep costs down. In conclusion, I would say that this new-found practice has the potential to further spruce up the Indian car market and become a strong participant in the second automobile revolution in the country. Provided the compromises made are upto a reasonable extent. Provided the technology is reasonably new (or reasonably old, depending on how you look at it). Provided the buzzword is adhered to: Value For Money. More competition and lower prices only means the customer is served better. Cheers to the "King Consumer".

Musings of A dejected MiND......!

2006-12-09T23:26:00.000+05:30

....I still remember that evening when i sat by the window of my room, and watched the leaves dancing and rejoicing at the glory of the rain and mocking at my very existence. With eyes drenched i watched the birds fly to the cosy protection of of their little nests. In the air i smelt the sweet dampness of mud, yet felt the pain deep within me choking me to death. I felt like my dreams were shattered, my wishes sacrificed and my aspirations burnt and crying out faintly in the loud din!!!

But, i raised my head and saw the sun setting on the horizon. Suddenly, i felt a chord strike my heart, resulting in a faint music playing in the vicinity. I realised there is more to life. I let go of all the inhibitions that were binding my purpose of achieving my goal. I understood that I had the right to dream, toil and conquer.

I learnt that it is more rewarding to meet life on my own, to drink in every cup life has to offer - not to confine myself to the good and socially acceptable. i had to widen my horizons, move beyond society - experience the best and the worst of life, the trouble, pain and joy! Experience EVERYTHING life has to offer.

'Life' is a serious affair and talking life seriously is better than having fun all along. The former is to have a serious affair with life, becoming more involved, wading in it, drinking in it; while the latter is a casual one night stand.

I have to be me under all circumstances and forge ahead and envisage everything, all ventures life has to offer.Suddenly the chord stopped, but the music still played in the ambience, in every drop of water, the fresh air, the grey clouds passing by and my life. The edifice of fear built in my mind fell and perished. I found a new meaning to life. 'Life is Beautiful'.

I have to live it the way it comes. Thorns are meant to prick, but it dare not come in the way of a conqueror - A conqueror of his dreams.
I learnt to recognize success and failures from its own unique point of view. I had to live life by my own rules, and that in all situations, i was the only one who would be with myself all through, and i has to always remain the one and only.......!!

Full Time Vs Part Time Learning

2006-12-07T18:02:00.001+05:30

This was the dilemma I faced, when I started thinking about my masters’ degree and I am sure many of you guys will also go through the same ordeal. Each has its plusses as well as minuses. And the particular choice that one eventually takes up is governed by many other societal, economic factors.

Let me start with part time courses. These are a great way to update one’s skill set without adversely affecting the current job or their responsibilities. The biggest advantage in learning through this type of program is that one is able to apply the lessons learnt to real world problems. Then there is the financial aspect. Most of the big companies reimburse either full or part of the total expenditure. This works as a win-win situation for both the employer as well as the employee. But there is a catch 22 situation here. The companies provide these facilities for someone who has been committed to them for a long time, which more or less rules out most of the candidates who have further studies as their career plan! Then there is the seriousness of the degree. Generally, a student opting for a part time course will not be hell bent on scoring top grades and he/she always excuse themselves for not completing an assignment or not getting the grades. Also, most of the colleges don’t offer the same quality of education, which result in job offerings that are not as exciting or lucrative.

A full time program on the other hand gives one a comprehensive experience. They get the best in terms of college life, networking, internships and placements. Since, the student will be working full time; his focus is less likely to get devoured. This is a very good option for someone wanting to change his line of work or wanting a break from his usual chores. But, for going in full time one needs careful planning and clear cut career aspirations. He should be healthy financially, as he would have to jeopardize his existing job in pursuit of his dream.

Some institutes have also started operating another kind of program wherein a student who opted for part time program, changes to full time on getting a scholarship and the like. Some online degrees do provide the quality of full time programs at the cost and convenience of a part time program.

All said and done, one really can’t vote on either one with conviction. What program suits an aspirant best is a personal choice one has to take considering the above factors. What do you guyds think?

Sar mein Helmet.. Nahi toh hoge Hell's inmate!!!

2006-12-06T18:21:00.000+05:30

With many of the states embracing (or proposing to) the “helmets are compulsory” rule, it has got the Mango people (didn’t get it?? our AAM JANATA) farting their hearts(?) out. And, surprisingly, instead of supporting it, we find that the opposers outnumber the supporters, and that too, by a far shot.

Helmets are really our true MATES in this HELL, called Indian roads (or any roads, for that matter). Whatever your ‘nut’ is made of, it needs to be protected, & helmets do that job to a "T"... providing an outer, tougher Nut, which is hard to penetrate. Also, they come with visors which ward off the dust & other elements, which is an oh-so-common thing in our dust-bowls called "roads".

The main hindrance to the use of helmets is undoubtedly the mindset of the people, although, they are not willing to accept it... For this very reason, they come up with complaints that it gets hot and sweaty inside the helmet... I agree, it does feel a bit hot inside during daytime when immobile, but, this is just a transient state... Once you get moving, there is enough airflow inside any helmet... And once you throw open the visor, you can enjoy the fresh air, just like before...

Another reason for its non acceptance maybe the added burden a helmet possesses in carrying it around, after parking... For this very purpose there are helmet locks to secure it to the vehicle...

Then, there r people suggesting that their drop-dead, gorgeous looks cannot be appreciated by the fairer sex because of these helmets coming in their way. I have nothing much to say about this, except that, there is nothing “macho” in having white bandages adorning your handsome face or, worse still, your photo appearing in the newspapers in the Obituaries section for all those birds to see. After all this, they will be left kissing tarmac, rather than u-know-who’s ;-)!!!

I, quite apparently, am not as good my fellow Bharathiyas in finding the cons (or creating one, as it seems to me) about helmet use. Coz, I’ve heard reports about demonstrators going out onto the streets with protests (can u imagine??) to ban the helmet rule, coz it causes hair-loss & what not!!! Of course, there is no proof to back their claims...

Forcing pillions to wear helmets may seem obscure to some, but, give it a thought... Are pillions spared in any accident; don’t they get hurt just as badly as the riders themselves.

I hope better sense prevails & this rule comes into effect across our Bharath-varsh. Coz, we Indians have a special liking for doing things out of compulsion, rather than out of conviction. But, even that, I feel is OK. Force it, if they don’t have the discipline to do it themselves. After all paying a fine is far better and cheaper than paying for the hospital bills; or worse still, paying for the funeral procession…!!

As they say, with this SAFETY device on your head, u can sip SAFE TEA(was’nt that a good one?!!) at home….!! This ensures that you BURN THE ROAD & not the BODY!!!!

Development: The double edged sword.

2006-12-05T18:55:00.001+05:30

A few days back, I was watching a popular news channel. It was unfolding the Singur controversy. For people who have missed it, Singur is a rural town in West Bengal where the Tatas want to set up their famed '1 Lac' car plant. The controversy is over the land. Farmers are not ready to forgo their land, but the state government is adamant to acquire it and hand it over to the Tatas. Violent protests have ensued and the town is facing a law and order problem.

As I explained to my mother, who was also watching the news along with me, I realised that this problem was not just specific to Singur, but it related to the whole country. Every developmental project has problems pertaining to land. The problems may be wide ranging-- From complaints of acquiring excess land to paltry compensation to compensation not reaching the deserving, etc etc.

But I realised these problems were only the tip of the iceberg. They can be solved through various means. But I feel the bigger problem is of a different kind. It is the scarcity of land itself. What will happen when every possible piece of land is industrialised? What next? What will happen to agriculture sector which employs more than 75% of our population? Where will the farmers go? Most important of all- What will we eat? All kinds of food we consume comes directly or indirectly from the farms. What will happen when farmer ceases to exist? I wonder whether that will be the beginning of the end.

The above mentioned scenario may seem a little far fetched for our generation. But it is bound to happen in some time if the same trend continues. The pace at which industries are growing is phenomenal. This acceleration of growth is partly due to farmers' dismay over their economic condition. The government's poor support system and low income forces them to sell their land and look for alternate employment. This leads to ills like mass migration and selective population explosion.

The solution? Well, I am not very sure. The way out may be to slow down on other sectors and develop and support agriculture based industries. That way, we can reduce the disenchantment of farmers and keep them motivated. After all, the principal need is to survive.

My mother, though, had a simple solution. She said that all the illegal lands of politicians, if seized, would be enough to build more industries than ever required. How I wish that was possible.

In essence, development, without any doubt, is a double edged sword. If used recklessly, it can destroy mankind in just one swipe.

2006-12-03T22:34:00.000+05:30

Am I Distant from Society

AIDS…One of the most dreaded acronym of recent times... What does it actually stand for?

Most of us know it as “Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome”… But, ask the victims, and they might probably say it stands for Am I Distant from Society!!!

How often have you not read reports or seen incidents of a Tom Hanks (in Philadelphia) or a Tinu Hari being thrown out of work just because he has fallen into the deadly grasp of this disease… It is more heart-breaking to see children being outcast from schools & from play areas, just because they are innocent carriers, through none of their faults…

Most of us, educated people know that Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) spreads mainly through unprotected sexual activity & sharing of body fluids, as in Blood transfusion, sharing of infected needles & during child birth from mother to child… It has been proved time-and-again that casual touch etc can’t cause the infection… But, lots of people are not willing to accept it… They say, “You tell today there is no chance of infection through touch & after a big time research, you’ll say it can also be spread through touch… Where will we be left, then??”

Although, the numbers always suggested that so many millions are infected with the virus & some million more are suffering from AIDS, I dint realize the severity of the situation until I went to the hospital wards & OPD as part of my postings… More than 30 % of the patients I have seen are HIV positive!!! And in some of the hospitals, there is a separate “Retroviral section” for intensive care of these people, who come in with all sorts of opportunistic infections.

So, what can we do to improve the quality of life of these people, some of whom don’t have too much life left in front of them by the time they are diagnosed…?

The best way is to educate the masses about the disease as such & also about the ways by which they can & cannot be spread… For those who have already boarded the HIV train, the best we can try to do is to stop them from passing on this deadly virus to others… apart from the usual safe sex & sex with only one partner, it’ll be wise to advise them against having children who are bound to be born fighting against the virus only to be dead even before they know what they are suffering from…

Spread the message, not the virus.