Pursuing HappYness

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.

Professionalism in politics is the need of the hour

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.

Capital Punishment – Crime against crime

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.

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

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!

Full Time Vs Part Time Learning

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?