Thoughts unfolded

India, Pakistan, US and Terrorism

2011-05-07T04:35:00.000-07:00

The question is not about 'SHOULD INDIA CONDUCT OPERATION SIMILAR TO US' but the real question is CAN INDIA CONDUCT OPERATION SIMILAR TO US?

2011-04-07T01:03:00.001-07:00

When was the last time you really had someone whom you could really trust?

Stability

2010-10-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

We use the word stability in various situations. And I am refering to stability in "professional life" and "personal life". But what comes fisrt? whether Stable professional life leads to or should lead to a stable personal life or vice versa? I am really confused.

I never asked for a penny...............

2010-09-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

They were interviewing Mr. Sunil Gavaskar on NDTV news channel. It seems that there is a major shuffle in IPL governing body and Mr. Gavasakar has been shown doors by Mr. Shashank Manohar.
The news anchor asked Mr. Gavaskar for his reaction on this issue..
Mr. Gavaskar- "It is strange to ask me this question because nobody from BCCI has even contacted me and what I am hearing about my expulsion is from news channels and I cannot react more on this"
News Anchor- "the reason that was given by BCCI was that they cannot afford to pay these experienced (legendary) cricketers and they can only be given honorary positions (as given to Mr. Ravi Shastri).
Mr. Gavaskar- "I have never asked for money whenever i served any position in BCCI"
Well that was very startling revelation Mr. Gavaskar. If what you are saying is true and you really have served any position without charging any fees; just because you have great respect for this game and you feel honored to just be at this position then hats off to you.. but really Mr. Gavaskar even if you would have charged money it would have been fine. You are a legend in Indian Cricket and you have to be an integral part of this game's any governing counsel.
Let us see people who made it to IPL governing counsel- Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindiya as a chairman of Finance Committee, Mr. Abdulla a chairman of Marketing committee, Mr. Rajeev Shukla (yes he has to be there) and i don’t remember others.
Why people like sindiya, abdulla are even in these committees and that also as chairman??? what marketing plans can Mr. Farooq come up with which will actually be comparable to those of Mr. Modi's. (I really feel bad for Modi because whatever people say, he was the man who was responsible for the success of IPL) Who are these people who decide (or will be deciding) how the game should be played? Have these people even held cricket bat when they were young?
This is so disappointing. Yes I forgot to mention; to keep Modi aside now they have dropped all the charges against Mr. Dalmiya.. wow nice move Mr.__________; well i am not going to write his name for two simple reasons; one as everybody knows his name and second I love my life too much. Well but this is ridiculous. Why these politicians are so greedy. Please at least keep yourself out of few things and let there be some sanctity in 'few things'.
But here again what Mr. Gavaskar said was very true and I have to mention it here- "given the kind of governance by BCCI, let we should not forget that it is one of the few governing bodies in sports in India where all the positions are shuffled periodically unlike other governing bodies of other sports"
Yes very true Mr. Gavaskar but when we look at these "modi-fication" I just can appreciate their "unity" and understanding to give chance to each other to "enjoy" the power which is lacking in other governing bodies of other sports in India and i think they should take lessons from "big brother" on these.

Procrastinations

2010-09-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

I look at my last post; it is dated December 1, 2008. It’s been almost two years since then. Two years of my life, I watched pass by, flew away and so many things happened in these two life moments.
I still remember when I wrote about shameless politicians. I was furious, by sheer ignorance of our politicians. And today still we are witnessing same scene, as by CM of Bihar Nitish Kumar, who was smiling while addressing journalists and expressing his helplessness about the hostage crisis that is being continued in Bihar. But this is not what I want to write in this post. Again I am moving away from my focus.. So many thoughts running through my mind as I write this. Dwelling in my past that isn’t and hoping for the future which definitely will be a better one.
Two years- I completed my second post-graduation (now I feel good), finished MBA, experienced life at Bangalore which was real blend of good and bad experiences, met few people, got frustrated by few attitudes, experienced the college life- the management way, and yes the most important thing that could happen in my life- I fall in love with my fiancé (people who will read this know who she is), again and this time for lifetime. Then came the second year which was great and I really enjoyed my college life as it is meant to be enjoyed (and again here I want to thank fiancé for being with me always). This is very important please understand, say thank you to your loved once. We always take them for granted but, stop, do think and say thank you and appreciate them for the way they are. Again sorry, I don’t want to give any lecture. I just want to come back, bounce back, and write as my mind dictates me. So sorry, you may not find any flow and you will think that I have just stitched with thoughts as they gather. Yes you right, that is what I am doing right now. Yes then came the year 2010, last few days at Bangalore.. again I was tensed because I felt more responsible and I had to find a good job. I had to become a “karta pusrush” at home and tell parents to stop working or at least not for me and take rest and enjoy. But as again ( as always I blame it on my luck) I couldn’t find job and then I had to come back to Pune. Meanwhile my personal life was taking a good way and I got engaged but my professional life, still is not very well settled to say the least.
This is to summarize in brief what happened in these two years. And I cannot write everything here as those things may be too personal. But yes one thing that I want to get rid of is procrastinations. Let us see whether I will be successful in doing so. You will see this, and this is a test for me and I hope I will pass with distinction,
I hope!!

Shameless Politicians

2008-12-01T08:04:00.000-08:00

“Do not come up, I will handle them.” These were probably the last words which Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan told his men as he was hit by bullets while engaging terrorists inside the Taj Hotel, Mumbai during the Black Tornado operation.(Source: Wikipedia)

Major Sandeep Unnikrishanan became martyr who will be remembered forever by the people who actually witnessed one of the Blackest day of Indian History.. And another thing that people shoult not Forget and Forgive are our politicians.
Look at some of the statements passed by Our Leaders
" Such small one or two incidences happen"-- Maharashtra Deputy CM, Mr. R.R. Patil
"We were given warning but we did not know the when will it happen?"-- Maharashtra CM, Mr. Deshmukh
"People who are protesting against politicians do not represent India"-- BJP Leader, Mr. Naqui
I cannot specifically take out any statement from out PM's address to Nation but whoever listened that must have felt sorry about state of our Nation. It was such a dry and depressing..
And the greatest of the all
"Had it been not for Major Unniskrishanan, even dog would not have come this way" and "His father should have behaved responsibly and should not have been so much emotional"--- Kerala CM Mr. V.S. Achuthanandan (This was the response given when Major's father refused to meet Kerala's CM)

My reactions:
Mr. Patil if you think this is a small incidence then I really pity your sense of measurement.
Mr. Deshmukh, next time I will ask Mr. Osama to call you and tell you the exact date, time and place of the attack, then propbably it will be very easy for you to contain it.
Mr. Naqui if they are not the representatives then who do you think you are?
And the worst, I don't know what Mr. Achuthanandan think about him, but I feel sorry for the people of Kerala who have got such a CM, who has no shame at all. Who gave him right to disrespect Major's father? and why don't we have some law, some legislation that can penalize such irresponsible politicians. Police and other forces that are protecting such a "dignified??" politicians should refuse to work for them.

Here we, the people of India, should stop and seriously think about our system. Lot has been talked and discussed on this topic in debates, through films... But it's time to think and seriously do something for our system to revitalize it again.
After these attacks everyone anticipated politics over it.
I do agree that we cannot blame politicians only but after listening to such reactions I cannot help but feel sorry for us. When all these people will rise and will show some integrity, when will India have some Strong and Young Leadership? All these outdated politicians should be retired. When was the last time we really had someone whom we could really trust? And how can we change this is the real question and it is high time that we should think and act for this.
I think here we can seriously think of reforming our laws and making politicians Accountable for whatever happens in their respective constituency. When they are made to live without Z-security they would really do something to save them at least if not other people. Also we have pool of industrialist who could join hands for this respect. I am sure if these people come into politics they will get maximum support because common Indian is really looking for a Change.

Mumbai Meri Jaan!!!!!

2008-11-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

It's 3am. My exams are going on. Today we have Economics and Research Methods papers. I didn't study yesterday night.. I slept at 11:45pm.. so I have to wake up early today...
As usual after waking up first thing i did was switched on TV.. Thought of watching it for some time and then go to studies.. but....
i saw Burning Taj, I heard people running in Blood, i could figure out yes there is something very wrong has happened.. YEs Now I am totally awake....
"Terror Strikes Mumbai Again" flashed the News... Yes I remember, yesterday night i had seen some news that there is Gang war in Mumbai (which was usual in Place like Mumbai, so didn't pay much attention).. but now it was clear, it wasn't just a gang war between two "Power Crazy" gangsters!! it was a very well planned and well executed Terrorist Attack..
She has seen yet another attack, again innocent lives failed against brutal gunshots..
Yes it was the Biggest attack on India in history ever.. Mumbai, financial capital of India, has suffered from many blows and it's time for Indian Government to take a firm Stance and has to show that "they can DO something" instead of "STRONGLY CONDEMNING ATTACKS"!! I was following that news whole day now and it was very horrible sight.. We lost 14 Courageous Policemen (some of them are ATS Chief Karkare, Encounter specialist Salaskar... I salute their courage!!), whole Mumabi was shocked, BSE and NSE was closed (another indirect loss), our National Heritage Taj Hotel got destroyed (It's really a hard time for Ratan Tata.. Singur, Jaguar Deal and now this loss..very hard to digest), Taj lost its most valuable employees, Oberoi Hotel suffered damage and the toll still counting......
This attack SHOULD NOT BE FORGOTTEN. Serious questions has to be answered, how did these terrorist got so much of ammunition, how did they come, from where they got their funds, who are they anyways, what they wanted, how can they made a plan that was too precise to execute and so on...
My sincere condolence to all those who laid their lives defending "Her" and shed their blood for this land of Hope...
And sincere request to "Wise"(?)Politicians.. Please DONT LET IT BE JUST ANOTHER BLOW!

Welcoming move by Infosys

2008-11-17T19:23:00.000-08:00

"Infosys exhorts employees to go on 1 year sabbatical, work for NGOs"

Last Saturday’s Business Standard carried this news on its front page. It says that Infosys has sent a memo to all its employees regarding this. Only the condition is that an employee should be on the company rolls at least for two years. It also says that employee who would opt for this would get 50% of his/her salary. This move is the part of Narayan Murthy's desire to give something back to the society, as company claims. This move by Infosys, which is India's second largest IT firm, will definitely encourage people to look at Corporate Social Responsibility with altogether different perspective.

However one should be cautious while welcoming this move as it coincides with the period where firms are finding it hard to maintain all its employee force and willingly shading employees who are incompetent. Being said this, even if this move by Infosys can be considered as cost cutting measure by the company up to certain extent, then also its a win-win situation for the company as well as for people who like being a part of social activity but who find it difficult to get time out of work load. This is also a new dimension given to NGO-Corporate partnership and who knows in future there can be actual collaboration between the two sectors.

I think we should definitely welcome this move and I hope in future more and more companies will encourage its employees to participate in social reforms. These are the people who can make change!

Dead Poets Society

2008-11-16T06:41:00.000-08:00

Dead Poets Society!!
What is it? Well it's a movie I just finished watching and can't restrain myself writing about it. Believe me it is one of the best movies I have ever seen. Simple, but effective. Without any romance, sex, fight, gangsters, smugglers, and yes without any hot babes!! How the hell then this movie can anyone like? Because I think it's one of the classics.
To be very frank I didn't know about this movie till yesterday. I was assigned to come with some quiz round for one of our events which will be happening next month, and I wanted some sort of movie that one can relate to Management in general and to Human Resource in particular. So I was furiously searching on internet some articles on how management institutions are taking help of films to make students understand some of the important concepts in management. Some of us would think, including myself, all such things like including case study on some movie is crap. Because everyone knows its not real but on Reel life which can only take you on imagination ride and nothing else. But i found some articles where they had mentioned the movie called Dead Poets Society..pretty unusual name isn't it? So just downloaded it and man how lucky i am that i am one of the persons who has seen such a fantastic movie.
Well story is very simple and credit has to be given to writer and producer who thought so well to give us such a nice experience. Its a story about one school (only boys school) and bunch of few students and their teacher Keating (Robin Williams). Well as you must have guessed being a boarding school it was full of Rules and Regulations and nothing but only studies matter. They try to make students realist!? But one fine day Mr. Keating steps in as teacher and he tries to make students aware of the power of their will, the power of freedom, the power that everyone possess but only few knows and only few act on it. It is also story of parents who want their children to do a particular thing that they want them to do and how they lose them at the end. It is about one's passion for something however stupid it may look to others, it is about top fearing, it is about standing high and seeing the world differently...
Long live Dead Poets Society!!

Skeptical

2008-11-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

Hi, its been 2 months for my last post... i was just thinking and i have to accept that i have been pretty irregular not only in this matter but in many other things; take for example my Spanish classes, guitar classes, gym... oh man i think this list will just go on and on.. i better stop here!
So what forced me to write this new post?
I have been here in Bangalore for 6 months now and i am well adjusted to the surroundings now, the food over here, its weather, people and so many other things.
Just few days back i had been to Pune and the day when i left Pune i was feeling so bad and so sunken.. but the fact is when i came over here to resume my MBA i found that i have started enjoying classes and friends over here.
Last week while India was celebrating Diwali and believe me this was my first Diwali when i was not at home. I was terribly missing home and so were my roommates. Then we decided, on last Tuesday, we will celebrate Diwali the bachelors way.. whatever little we knew about pooja we did that... then we had dinner outside, in all it was nice experience...
Oh i forgot , actually i wanted to tell you what forced me to write? it was one incidence that happened yesterday night when i was coming back to my place after meeting friends.
I was travelling by bus and quietly sitting and was about to take ticket from conductor, suddenly person who was standing beside me called me and gave me one pass (in Bangalore where you can take Rs.30 pass and can travel anywhere in Bangalore for a day). I didn't understand initially what he wanted to do and i actually shouted at him. why was he giving me pass. Actually there was nothing to shout at. that person had one extra pass and he just handed over to me. But we are so unsecured that we always try to find intentions (mostly with an adjective wrong) behind any good deed. and considering time (11pm) i was also little worried because there were very few people on board..Whatever we hear from media, we read that indirectly is affecting the way we look at everybody.. we always smell something fishy in everything.. we have become skeptic...

Disaster

2008-08-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

I was enjoying my south Indian meal, as usual, in hotel Balaji Spice near our college. A lot of rice (I never had such an amount of rice in lunch), 2-3 varieties of curries and some sweet. I had just started eating than phone rang. It was my brother on phone. He asked me where I was. I could not understand why he is asking that question. Then he told me that some seven bomb blast happened in Bangalore city. It was really shocking news. Bangalore had never experienced such serial blasts at one time. But only consoling news was those blasts were of low intensity and not too many causalities were reposted. That was Friday.
Next day I went to my brother’s place. It was around 6 pm in evening. Suddenly news came that now Ahmadabad hit by 16 serial blasts. What??!! 16 blasts in one hour!! Another big blow to India and surely it shows some weak response by our intelligence agencies and police. However, here I do not want to get into any debate whether it is really possible for them to stop such attacks? But the point to be noted here is that new groups are making their presence felt. But the way people from Ahmadabad responded is really appreciating, especially in the light that this region is one of the most sensitive one when it comes to such attacks. We all remember Godhra riots still! Hats off to them. This is simple question I pose to all militants out there:
Wham!
Fire, cry, and yell
Can you here them all
A smoke has cleared
Can you see
A little child crying aloud
In a mother’s lap
Mother, who has already fallen a prey
Can you see
A grand-father
Burdened with age and poverty
With all tears dried up
Shred nothing, but few words, looking at his dead son
Can you see
That man
Who has lost his hand
That helped him to earn bread and butter
That helped him feed his family
Can you see
What you have done to them
In the name of God (?)
In the name of freedom (?)
In the name of power (?)
What you want to achieve?
Freedom, power, satisfaction?
What?
This is the real question
Because answer to which
Even you don’t know!

Some thoughts on MBA- Part 1

2008-07-24T02:06:00.000-07:00

Hi there. After long time i am writing again.
So I just want apologize for not keeping in touch for almost 1 month. Yeah I have my reason as usual. ( Now people don't say that i always find some excuse. The fact is i always have some excuse.) The problem here is, we have not received our laptops as of now. And if you see our computer lab then you will think that its not B-School at all. We just have 10 odd computers in there which are always occupied. Just imagine we are 500+ students using 10 computers. But these as****** still not giving laptops. So that's the biggest problem. So if anyone is using computer in lab he/she cannot use it unless he/she has some very important work like presentation.
Anyways so i got laptop from my home. And this post is possible because of my lappy only.
So it's been almost three months since i started this course. Let me admit first that this is really hectic course. I am doing it from ICFAI (IBS) Bangalore. When i came here i was almost lost in this world. You just enter into premise and you get smell of competitors. The atmosphere is totally different. Campus (whatever we have i.e. just one large building) is good in terms of facilities such as computer lab, library, class room ventilation, light arrangement etc. You will be surprised that i have included ventilation and light arrangement here. But believe me friends this is very important part when you have to study and concentrate. I realized this when i compared it with my Anthropology department. All my friends from Anthropology you must be remembering our corridor and class rooms which were small and light was almost nil there. That was the best condition to put anyone to sleep and especially when faculty is boring.
Then coming on faculty. I will not say that faculty over here is good. Definitely some professors who are form IIMs are the best on campus and the way they teach is something each and every faculty should adopt. We have Mr. Sukesh sir for our Marketing. He would just come and he would not dictate anything, but he will ask you questions that will help you to think and you will realize that you have actually thought and you have learned the concept by yourself. Especially this technique will be very helpful in Anthropology where lots of theories are there and there is no point in mugging those theories. But apart from these few people all other faculty is not worthy at all.
Another important thing is team projects. Doing project in a team is the worst job i would say. During graduation and post-graduation we had projects but very few were group assignments. But here in MBA we always have group assignments and presentations. So if you cannot gel with your group then you will be in deep shit. This definitely teaches some teamwork though. So how you complete these assignments depends on you and if you are successful here then believe me you will be able to work in any condition.
This post will be continued next time... bye for now!!

Smell of Freedom

2008-07-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

Hands bound by invisible shackles
Some invincible force driving me
Tired and exhausted
I keep dragging myself
Hands want to get free
Legs want to stop
I keep walking a road
Same road indefinite, infinite miles
I have travelled till yet
Road, full of illusions
Of twists and turns, but straight in reality
Days and nights
Months and years passed
I met many travelers
Met and lost
Some are in memories
Some are lost as they are not worthy of keeping in memories (I think)
Some are still with me, keeping me alive, reminding me of my existence
We all keep traveling
With the kindled hope of
Finding what lies ahead
Finding someone who can free us
Free us from shackles
Someone who can outweigh invincible force
Some One who they call GOD!!!!

Failed

2008-05-16T00:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday TISS results were declared. And as expected i could not make through!!

Failed,
Don't worry, failures
are stepping stones for Success
Rejected,
Cheer up, there are
better things lining up for you
Who the f*** says so
All these are fantasies,
created by people who are very much successful
These are all exceptions,
as laws of nature state
There are always exceptions
But what about those
for whom there are no
stepping stone of success
No new door opens when
someone slams "The Only Available Door"
in their face
They are forgotten
They try to find their place
in this world of success
depressed and lost
They belie by smiling
believing silently
words of wise
hoping someday, somewhere
they will come across Success
and here I, also
one of the latter ones
waiting, waiting, waiting
and Wait continues.....

My MBA Journey Begins........

2008-05-09T00:03:00.000-07:00

hi there.. it's been almost 15-20 days that I have not written in my blog. I was just busy. Only few of you would know that I am in Bangalore now and pursuing my MBA from ICFAI Bangalore. However I am still waiting for TISS results so I have not informed everybody about this. So as saying goes "it's not over until it's over"; i have kept my fingers crossed.
Anyways now it's been almost a week now and i am now trying to adjust to new environment and new people. Six people, including me are sharing 3 BHK flat. The striking difference that i observed here in this class is , the amount of aggression my fellow classmates showed. There are some who are extremely innovative, that could be seen in some of the impromptu presentations we had. Some of them may not be knowing much but the way they carried themselves was really "Professional". When i compare it with what we had in Anthropology difference becomes more stark. The environment over here is really Market oriented. I will write more someday.
These were the thoughts that came to me when I was sitting in my classroom and some professor was explaining Credit System that institute follows to evaluate our performance.

MBA INITIATION

Have you ever felt discomfort?
The feeling of anachronism?
have you ever given a thought that
you could be a "misfit"
Yes, I have, I have felt this many times
In a short life span,
Yes 24 years is indeed short span
What one sees in 24 years?
may be a part, a section of "WORLD"
World; that is enjoyable
World; that is painful
World; that is colorful and
World; that is filthy
How many of us have really seen and experienced
all these shades of the world?
That apart, how many of Aged
have tasted a real World?
Few, and perhaps only by disadvantaged ones
But here we are
Sitting comfortably
Spending enormously
believing to be future TIMES Tycoons
Our idols
yes Ambani, Tata and Bajaj

Perhaps we will be like them
Perhaps we may not
But we have to take care that
We would not see our futures
broken down in Grades and GPAs

ALL THE BEST FOLKS!!!

The Waiting Faces

2008-04-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

This poem was written during the long wait for interview in TISS for HRM course. My Group Discussion was over by 10:30 am and then I had to wait till 5 pm for my interview. Before starting the poem I would like to give background unless which, according to me, readers will not be able to get what i want to say. There were many people waiting for their turn for the interview just like me. Some of them were fresh graduates, who were facing such situation for the first time while few were experienced like me or even having more than me. But all were anxiously waiting for interview to get done and as they came back from the rooms where interviews were taking place, I came to observe their faces, and everyone, no matter experienced or otherwise showed same expression on their face and this poem occurred to me. And I thought of putting it here:

The Waiting Faces

For how much Time
Shall we wait?
Asked faces
Faces, that were tired
Faces, that were pretty
Faces, that were anxious
Faces, that were waiting
For their future

For how much time
Shall we wait?
It was already four hours
Gone in wait for "Questions"
That would answer
If their "Wait" is going to end
This year or one more year shall they wait
Before ending "The wait"

Some faces, relieved
Some faces, despaired
Some faces, happy
Some faces, confused
Such faces were
The product of our system
Some faces, young
Some faces, experienced
But they were all there
Together, waiting
Making no distinction
As such there is no difference
Between faces
Who are "waiting"

2008-04-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here is the true story of Photojournalist, its a story of his Life, Achievement and his Death. (Source: http://backissues.cjrarchives.org/year/94/6/apartheid.asp)

Eye on Apartheid

by Judith Matloff
Matloff, a Reuters correspondent based in Johannesburg, was Kevin Carter's housemate, colleague, and friend.

Last April, the South African photographer Kevin Carter was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his picture of a well-fed vulture stalking a starving Sudanese girl. In May, he came to New York to receive his award. Two months later, the thirty-three-year-old news photographer connected a hose to the exhaust pipe of his red pickup truck and gassed himself to death. Journalists who had buried colleagues killed covering South Africa's turmoil resumed their grim role of pallbearers. Carter himself had barely missed being killed covering incidents in Tokoza township, the township where his best friend and colleague Ken Oosterbroek was later shot dead.

Carter had been documenting the political turmoil in his country since 1983, when he was hired as a photographer by the Sunday Express. His first Time cover came the next year. Thereafter, he worked for most leading South African newspapers -- The Star, The Sunday Tribune, and the progressive Rand Daily Mail, which later became The Weekly Mail -- and finally Reuters.

The violence seemed to affect Carter more than it did other colleagues who managed to shrug off with joints and jokes what they recorded on film. Returning from particularly upsetting assignments, he would often cry, or try to drink or drug himself into oblivion. Friends grew used to his 3 A.M. phone calls, rambling about suicide. He said that after shooting the Pulitzer-winning picture, he "sat under a tree and cried and chain-smoked. I couldn't distance myself from the horror of what I saw."

Carter's private demons were closing in on him when he returned to South Africa from New York. His suicide note said he was "depressed . . . without phone . . . money for rent . . . money for child support . . . money for debts . . . money! ! !" But he also lived with the demons familiar to all those whose profession makes them witness to horror. "I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain . . . of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen."

Randomness of thoughts

2008-04-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

There is no electricity, thoughts are running here and there
Remember there is a rape victim in Delhi who was beaten for her crime of disclosing herself as a victim of rape
Inflation in India reaches new highs
Kumble is not fit for today’s crucial test match

Its been half an hour, electricity still has not come
Have to do something for this power cuts
What will happen next Friday, have to get through this interview or prepare to go to Bangalore
But hope is the best word or sedation
Hope this will happen
Hope that electricity will come soon

One hour and some more time has past now
Still no improvement
Mosquitoes having good feast
There is repellant in room that might be attracting them
Can we play better tomorrow, hope Dhoni’s boys will
Again hope
Have not stepped out of house today
Lets go for a stroll
In night and in no light
Because power still has not return

Oh man, power should have come by now
You asking why? Its been past two hours
Cant can not be done
Have to have some good talk
But how

Alas I can see light, power is back
Let us watch TV
But truth is you can not go away cant
TV is blurting out same stories that I mugged up for last three hours
Just switched off the TV
Let us write some thing
Something good, nice
Entertaining, imaginative, intelligent

But what am I writing
wasn’t it better then, when there was no electricity
When there were random thoughts
Floating in me
Rather than this, on this page

Reservations Reminded

2008-04-10T09:55:00.000-07:00

Today’s breaking news: SC Upholds OBC quota of 27% in higher education.

My first reactions- this is sheer nonsense. This is insane, its not justice for general category, how can you sacrifice merit to quota, (and as I was also one of the aspirants for MBA, I know the fierce competition we have to face to win this rat race or shall I say CAT race, the haunting ghost of cut-offs and then long wait for whole process to take its due time to finally come to any decision on admissions and yes I know how to face failures also).

Thoughts revisited:
Then I started rethinking of my first reaction. Also I happen to read many reactions of aspiring candidates like me on Paraguay.com (which is, I think, one of the biggest community of India helping students who aspire to become tomorrow’s management Guru). And let me be frank, some of the reactions were totally nonsense and were just given when person gets excited and starts blurting without any facts or without any sense of reality.
So what is this row about reservations? Anyone who has closely followed the news and who knows or at least who can imagine Indian social scenario would welcome this decision. Main points of Supreme Court’s verdict are
- Creamy layer will not be benefited
- Children of MPs and MLAs are excluded from this category
- Five judge panel has explicitly stated that Reservation can not be perpetuity and it will be examined and reexamined every five years.
- Also SC has told government to come up with new list of OBC and existing list can not be taken granted.
- Last but not the least one of the judges has said that if quota seats remain vacant then those seats are open for general category. And government has also said that they will increase the number of sets.

So any sensitive Indian will welcome this verdict. So reservation reaches to 49+ % in higher education including 22.5% reservation for Schedule Casts and Schedule Tribes. Now one of the most frequently asked question: is it fair?
But what is this ‘fair’?
In a country like India, that has seen social stratification since ages, that has witnessed bloodied history of social suppression, this is inevitable. Agreed this is not going to solve the problem of imparting education, which is one of the fundamental Human Rights. But to be very honest no one has exact cure for this.
People who question about fairness of the system, tend to forget deliberately or otherwise, other forms of ‘non-fairness’
Is it fair for a candidate from rural part of the country that has no road connectivity, no electricity or if its their power is gone for more than 10 to 12 hours, to judge on the same line that other candidates from some well-to-do part?
Is it not the reality in that many parts of this country, that has abandoned Caste System on paper, still infected with class hierarchy? Also is it not true that many people who were down the ladder in the social system, are still far from any touch by our Economic Growth?

Indeed this move of introducing Reservations is politically motivated but here we should not forget that its Politics and questioning to politicians about this is like questioning industrialists for earning profits. Also we are responsible for these politicians.
What we require is more government institutions that will impart higher education. Also as everyone knows ‘India passes on paper when it comes to policy but fails in implementing it’, the reservation policies should be implemented so that it will help real needy person rather to serve well-to-do people irrespective of their Castes. Also reservation policies can be subject to rethinking as to go more benefits for rural poor (irrespective of caste) over urban people. (I am strongly against people who get benefits of reservation and enjoy higher positions in government jobs just because they can produce caste certificates)

Again I am not fully for reservation. I have my share of disappointment but when I see the verdict given by SC I am satisfied to say the least. ( I hope that parliament will not come up with amendment that will extend quota for children of MPs and MLAs).

Valu and Village

2008-04-09T09:44:00.001-07:00

Valu- bull that has been sent after God- very important from village point of view. It’s a sacred, its divine, its traditional!
But why am I talking about Valu?
Today I watched Marathi movie-Valu. Marathi film industry certainly reaching new heights each year. And yes we all have witnessed this. What I remember, I grew up watching late Laxmikant Berde, Ashok Saraf, Mahesh Kothare, Prashant Damale (though he enjoyed more success in Marathi Drama than Marathi film industry) and of course not to forget Sachin Pilgaonkar. Those were the days of Ashi Hi BanwaBanwi, Shejari Shejari, Ekapeksha Ek, Takluhaivan to name a few. Not to mention, sops like Maherchi Sadi and alike those were typical of Marathi Culture, either depicting immense power of faith in God or showing daughter-in-laws who against all odds fight with their mother-in-laws mostly. Here, I have not mentioned late Dada Kondke, but not to offence anyone, its simply on my personal taste. But really speaking, when everyone was worried about Marathi film industry being dying away, yet again the wheel has turned around. And for last two years, I personally have witnessed industry’s great strides. Movies like Shwas, Dombiwali Fast, (this one I will never forget, it has disturbed me, it has forced me to think hard and it has depressed me at times),Nital, that venture in new storylines and carry some message though sometimes not explicitly and others like Kaydyache Bola, Issha, Aga Bai Areccha, that serve their purpose of pure and bland comedy. Valu continues this trend of new ventures and new stories. Though I am not claiming that I am connoisseur and a great film critique.
A forest officer who is immensely proud of his bravado catches of wild cats and tigers is given a job of entrapping a bull that has gone wild in one small village. He is obviously reluctant and thought of this job as degradation of his courage- how can I be given a job of catching a Bull in some village? But as a government servant he has to do his job. And then the real story starts. Film very well shows life in a small village. We have to give full credit for the choice of the village. it is truly a village! Then film touches life in village in general, and more of people from village who become very excited to welcome this forest officer and also very proud because someone form outside has come to rescue them from this great danger! This is not a film where you get those great chase of wild bull, narrow escape or where romance blossoms while chasing wild bull but it is certainly a film where you can experience village, people living in it, very little flavor of politics but free from any ill feelings amongst villagers, and a village where wild bull itself becomes a great topic to talk about and how it affects their life in general. Not to forget little love story indeed blossoms in all this drama but thankfully it has not given much importance. However when forest officer did eventually able to catch wild bull, and when he was returning back to his posting, one of the villager Jeevnya who has helped him in all this comes and offers him some vegetables as a symbol of his love for that officer who has taken trouble to visit this village and help them. At this moment when the forest officer, Atul Kulkarni, looks into eyes of Jeevanya, and yes this one look conveys all his feelings towards villagers. It does say that he has collected some unforgettable memories, he has really enjoyed this little adventure and yes his heart will want to visit that village all the time even if its not possible he will definitely not forget this adventure.
And yes I have experienced same feeling when I visited tribal areas. It all started with Chikhalgaon, small tribal village (pada) near Pune. Me and all my friends who went there share the same feeling. We want to go there. We have said this many times. And it has not been possible for us to go there back. We had promised them that we will come back, we will visit them again and we will give them their photographs. But it didn’t happen and it didn’t happen again and again whenever I visited to new tribal areas I promised them but could not live up to that promise. I may go and visit them in future or may not but one think I am sure that they must have forgiven me and whenever I go back, it at all, they will share same love because this is the place called Village and they are Villagers.

Book Review: One Hundred Years of Solitude

2008-04-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

Recently I finished reading one Hundred Years of Solitude written by eminent writer and Nobel laureate Gabriel Jose Garcia Marquez. This was first ever Nobel Prize winner book I have ever read. Also credit has t be given to Rabassa who has translated the book; his excellent vocabulary and apt description make readers involved in characters. This ought to be one of the best books of the century.
Story revolves around Buendia family in Mocondo. Patriarchal Buendia family has founded Mocondo with few other residents. It was a place that was isolated, far from other civilizations. There are in all seven generations of Buendias through which author takes us on the journey of Buendia’s family struggle, glimpses of social and political situation in Mocondo, class struggle against oppressors, struggle to have their rights, at the same time it describes various personal characters form Buendias generations some are hostile, dominant and while some are introspective, happy to isolate themselves from rest of the world and their character traits get inherited throughout seven generations. Females in the family from seven generations also range from strong, outgoing, sexually inclined, promiscuous to highly chastity conscious. The point is made in the book about why one should not marry with someone from same family so as to avoid newborn with little tail. However, it also make reference to incest that is usually a taboo in modern society. In the course, Mocondo also experience advancement in technology, with introduction of Railways, which otherwise they would only come to know through Gypsies who would tell them about magnifying glass, ice which people of Mocondo revered as something magical innovation by Gypsies themselves. Mocondo also witness establishment of its first ever Industry and thereby ill effects of modernity. Thereby starts struggle between ‘haves’ and ‘have not’ or between owners and workers that ultimately leads to bloodied climax. As years passes, generations born and died, Mocondo becomes as it was before- deserted and Solitary.
The names used for characters in each generation of Bueandia’s family, though same and hence little confusing, help us to know character trait that person might have inherited from previous generation.
Gabriel Jose Garcia Marquez was born on March 6, 1928 in Aracataca, a banana town in Colombia. The predominant banana industry and the massacre of striking banana workers in 1928 were the events that might have influenced his work.

coming back...

2008-04-08T02:08:00.001-07:00

Hi there,

here i am will all new vigor and thoughts. I agree that i was not able to keep up my spirit up for writing earlier when i created my first blog.. i think therefore.. So i have to say goodbye to it and have to witness quiet exit of the same...
But here with all new thoughts and all new energy, I have created yet another platform for my thoughts.. and yeah this time it will continue uninterrupted..
so keep looking for reviews, articles and fresh look at important developments in and around us...