Thoughts @ 440 Hertz

Al Pacino's Speech - Any Given Sunday

2012-01-30T19:34:00.002+05:30

The Ramayana - Animated

2012-01-30T19:11:00.000+05:30

Thanks to the uploader.

Random Notes

2012-01-30T09:35:00.001+05:30

Quite an old video.

My Quotes

2012-01-29T18:26:00.000+05:30

I have tried not to copy them from anywhere. But if these belong to someone, I be forgiven.

"There is often a thin line between being realistic and being pessimistic."
"There is no doubt that the things will improve; but the problem is with the pace of it."
"There are only two ways to solve a problem: either you confront it or ignore it."

Ad Wars and Indian Youth

2012-01-28T11:06:00.002+05:30

Ad by Times of India

Reply by The Hindu

Whatever has been depicted is infact true. Many of the so called 'youth' do not know anything of what is happening in the country. A country which is passing through a transition phase cant come out successful if the people don't take active part in assuming responsibility of the current situation. Submerged in the materialistic culture, many of us have forgotten the rich values given to us by our forefathers. It is important to understand that materialism is ephemeral. If sustained, there is a greater danger of DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND turning into DEMOGRAPHIC NIGHTMARE.

Justice Markandey Katju

2012-01-21T23:00:00.007+05:30

Thanks to IBNlive for the Video.

Justice Katju (Wikipedia)

On the role of Media in India (The Hindu)
Writers must serve a social purpose (The Hindu)

Regards

SOPA and PIPA - Easy and Good Explanation

2012-01-21T13:29:00.000+05:30

Thanks to Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org/) for the Video.

Regards

Dr Jayaprakash Narayan (Loksatta)

2012-01-18T16:06:00.000+05:30

To Know about him:

Click here

Nothing Else Matters (Metallica) - My All Time Favorite

2012-01-18T09:58:00.000+05:30

Thanks to the person who uploaded it on youtube.

Regards

Movie on Mahatama Gandhi - Richard Attenborough

2012-01-18T09:46:00.000+05:30

Thanks to Whoever has uploaded it on Youtube.

Regards

Movie on Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar

2012-01-17T23:06:00.003+05:30

It is a must watch.

Thanks to Whoever has uploaded it on Youtube.

Regards

Independence of Investigating agency - UNCAC

2012-01-01T18:25:00.003+05:30

At all times it must be noted that 'INDEPENDENCE' and 'UNACCOUNTABILITY' don't mean the same thing. Therefore, the investigating agency can be independent but at the same time accountable.

This has been iterated in the United Nations Convention Against Convention - the same convention under which the Government has framed the present Lokpal Bill. But the Bill was in violation of the same.

The Convention says:

"Article 6. Preventive anti-corruption body or bodies

2. Each State Party shall grant the body or bodies referred to in paragraph 1 (i.e., anti-corruption body or bodies) of this article the necessary independence, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its legal system, to enable the body or bodies to carry out its or their functions effectively and free from any undue influence. The necessary material resources and specialized staff, as well as the training that such staff may require to carry out their functions, should be provided. "

Regards.

Accountability of the Lokpal

2011-12-28T12:10:00.001+05:30

A lot has been argued that Lokpal will become a super body with enormous powers. I feel it is not about 'power' but 'ACCOUNTABILITY'. In order to curb massive corruption, we need a body that has some powers to operate smoothly and efficiently. Therefore, if proper mechanisms are put in place, the so called powerful body can be made accountable. Therefore, the following mechanisms can be used (iterated by NCPRI and IAC):

• Accountability regarding the accounts and other performance and financial matters – answerable to the Parliament, through the Public Accounts Committee, on the basis of financial and performance audits conducted by the CAG.
• Any complaint against the Lokpal or its members should lie in the Supreme Court.
• Annual Report of the Lokpal must be laid in the Parliament.
• Any orders passed by any bench of the Lokpal or any officer of the Lokpal shall be subject to the writ jurisdiction of the High Court or Supreme Court.
• The Lokpal shall maintain complete transparency in its functioning and shall ensure that full records of any investigation or inquiry conducted under this Act after its conclusion is made public by being put on a public web site.

Reservations in Lokpal

2011-12-20T09:15:00.001+05:30

In my opinion, it is an inadequate argument:

1. None of the other constitutional bodies have it.
2. The objective of the LokPal is not affirmative action but curbing corruption.
3. Only the meritorious people should occupy LokPal. So if an SC/ST/OBC/women is meritorious, he will automatically be eligible.
4. Performance of the LokPal will be judged by how effectively he curbs corruption. The victim can be a general/sc/st/obc/women category. It doesn't matter.
5. There is no bar for people from reserved category to occupy the LokPal membership.
6. It will create way for reservations in other posts as well and ultimately a big political tool and further division of our country.
7. Judiciary doesn't have reservations but still it is the strongest promoter of affirmative action.

Regards

Lokpal – Some areas of concern

2011-12-16T22:49:00.004+05:30

Supremacy of Parliament
I feel this is a bogus argument put forward by our parliamentarians. When our constitution was being drafted, we chose to give supremacy to our constitution and not the Parliament as in the case of British system. De Lolme writes ‘British Parliament can do everything except, making a woman a man, or a man a woman’, which is not applicable in our case. The Indian Parliament is supreme only when it comes to framing of laws and therefore overrides any ordinance, rule, guidelines framed by the executive. The Constitution starts with “We The People…” which implies that the constitution derives its authority from the people. If at any point of time there is a difference of opinion between the Parliament and the People at large, the wishes of the people take the precedence. Hence, People are supreme.
Moreover, any legislation by the Parliament can be struck down by the courts.

Can Lokpal be the Panacea?
No one claims that Lokpal is the solution to all the ills of our society as far as corruption is concerned. Not even Team Anna. But if it can’t be a panacea, does it mean that we don’t need a lokpal? Absolutely not. In any act of corruption, there is a demand side and a supply side. Demand side is often characterized by Politicians and bureaucrats and supply side characterized by people/corporates. Ideally, both demand and supply side needs to be tackled simultaneously but if we choose one, then it has to be the demand side first. This is because if people at large choose not to pay bribes to get their work done, there would be delays in getting the work done or at times refusal if bribe is not paid. So act on demand side first and Lokpal is the best first step for it.

Including the entire Bureaucracy
It is preferable to include the entire bureaucracy because corruption many a times is a collusive act where many people at various levels are involved. We often hear about lower officials saying “upar saab ko bhi dena padta hai”. And once proper structures are established and some sort of deterrence is created with ‘speedy’ and ‘sure’ punishment, we may not require a heavy bureaucracy to prevent corruption.

Independence of CBI
It is one of the core issues that can’t be compromised. A CBI independent of the Government and not totally independent is the need of the hour. Independence does not mean no accountability.This has been upheld by the Hon’bl Supreme Court umpteen number of times. This will also do away with SC monitoring investigations as in the case of 2G scam.

Selection of important posts
It has been aptly said “Either you recruit right or train right”. Therefore any such selection of important posts be it that of Director CBI or Director of Prosecution, must involve the government, opposition, civil society, Judges, lokpal chairperson and in such a way that in no way the people against whom the CBI is expected to act i.e., politicians, bureaucracy and judiciary, should be more than half the number of members in the selection panel.

Investigative Agency
It must be CBI because it is a professional agency engaging in the same for the last so many years. The infrastructure, though inadequate as compared to FBI, is well laid out. Moreover, any new agency created will have to start from scratch requiring people to be trained. The infrastructure takes time to develop and it may end up like other agencies which are not able to perform as per their potential because of manpower shortages, lack of skilled personnel and deficient infrastructure such as Competition Commission of India, Central Information Commission etc.

Lokayuktas
The Lokpal Bill must provide for the lokayuktas as well. The overall framework must be the same as the central lokpal so that there is uniformity in all the states. This will also provide for harmony between the central and state laws. Also, otherwise it will become very difficult to request to every state or raise protests against for such an agency.

‘My way or the highway’
Team Anna has been often accused of this. It must be noted that on core issues – independence of CBI, lokayuktas etc, there can’t be any compromise. You can’t treat the disease partially. Therefore, the team is right on being rigid on core issues. On the appropriate mechanism, there can be dilution but that must not be seen weakening of the Lokpal.

‘Either you are with us or you support corruption’
This is a false propaganda put forward by some people, especially some journalist. Firstly, these people don’t have any alternative idea/structure of Lokpal. They come on the TV sets, criticize government’s draft for 30 seconds and then speak for 20 odd minutes against Team Anna. This forces many of the people to brand these people as supporting corruption. They have been writing for many years in reputed newspapers/magazines but have failed to arouse any kind of awareness against corruption. Moreover, many of the newspapers/magazines with which they are associated cater to middle classes.

Role of Media
Watching TV debates will tell you that the knowledge level of many of the journalists and that too of reputed media channels is so low that they end up asking panelists as to whether they require independence of CBI. There are some issues on which there can not be any Yes or No. This also supports the argument made by Justice Katju that many of the journalists have no idea of political, economic, social theory. The Media, being one of the pillars of democracy, will have to be responsible in facilitating such debates.

Finally, the problem today is that the systems in our country have failed, more so when it comes to the accountability mechanism envisaged by our founding fathers. When there have been three-sixty degree changes all around, especially post-globalization, the governance, characterized by status-quo, has failed to keep pace with the society as well as global trends. In the times to come, a strong Lokpal should be our first step towards rectifying this lacuna.

Regards

Civil Services Examinations: A Blueprint for Reforms

2011-11-18T17:22:00.002+05:30

In this rapidly changing world, every sector of our economy is witnessing reforms or is perhaps calling for reforms in order to keep pace with the volatile environment. Administrative sub-system, being an ‘open system’, also has to renovate and rejuvenate itself constantly. Otherwise if left to itself, will drag itself towards entropy or simply degeneration. Amidst this, a number of reforms have been put forward by the government for the civil services but one area that has escaped drastic change is the civil services examination itself. Though, a change in the form of introduction of Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) and scrapping of Optional subject in the preliminary examination has been attempted this year, a comprehensive overhaul may justify the step taken. This article attempts to overview the examination process and suggests some changes.

From the last few years, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has been trying to move away from rote learning to an application based conceptual understanding. This can be judged from the type of questions asked in the recent years. This is a welcome step because the earlier pattern gave undue advantage to candidates who have been preparing for some time. Presently, a candidate has to answer questions worth 300 marks in 3 hours. This breaks down to 6 minutes for every 10 marks (100 words). This does not include time wasted for signing for admit card, extra sheets and the occasional water break. Now when the questions have become more conceptual and analytical that requires more application of mind, it becomes difficult to put forward your point of view in a structured manner in the required time limit without compromising on the quality of the answer. As a result, candidates attempt initial answers carefully but have to speed up at the end. Though time management is the key to this examination, the present time limit seems insufficient. The solution can be that the number of questions can be reduced and the candidate be asked to give a structurally and conceptually balanced answer and marks given strictly on the basis of the quality of answers.

Secondly, there is an urgent need to update the syllabus and make it detailed as well. Many of the present issues for the administration must be included. For example, in Public Administration, International Affairs, Environment, International agencies, Communitisation etc can be included. Moreover, topics like regulatory authorities, disaster management should be detailed as these are huge topics in themselves. A candidate can’t be expected to know everything about the topics. Though, few years back some changes were brought about in the syllabus, this has to be a regular process as issues change as the time flows.

Thirdly, UPSC has also been trying, successful to some extent, to discourage students from joining and relying on coaching institutes. These institutes have been quite successful in inculcating rote learning in the students and this has even helped candidates to enter civil services without having the inherent zeal towards public service. The present change in the pattern of examination though tries to prevent candidates to join these institutes, it unconsciously is forcing many to do the same. By creating more uncertainty as to what kind of questions will come, the candidates are ever more leaning towards coaching teachers. This can be tackled by publishing some model answers of past year question papers. In GMAT (test for MBA examinations), Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), that conducts GMAT, publishes standard answers for the retired past year questions. So a candidate can know how the test makers think. Similarly, UPSC can form a team of academicians and come out with model answers so that candidates can understand what the examiner looks for in the answers and therefore can prepare on his own. Ofcourse, these answers should only be tentative. In the same way, some standard sources must be listed for every subject so that in case of divergent views in different books, candidate can rely on only the official source.

Fourthly, the issue also props up whether the exam tests the candidates on the traits that are expected of an administrator. It would be pertinent to talk about Second Administrative Reforms Commission (SARC) that argued for scrapping of optional subjects and substitute them with common papers of General Studies that would comprise Economy, Constitution, Law, History, Geography etc. This is again a welcome initiative as some of the optional subjects do not test administrative traits at all. Infact, it has also been argued that many of the pressing issues such as land acquisition, civil society, Black money have not been asked. Therefore, the recommendations of SARC are worth following in this regard. Infact, papers like English and Indian language must also be tuned to what can be actually predict administrative qualities.

Fifthly, it is well noted that not all who take the examinations become civil servants. Those who miss even by few marks are not drastically different from those who get selected. Many of these candidates start coaching centers and this answers the flourishing of coaching centers. Government can take steps by inviting candidates who have taken Main examination to join other sectors. The marks of Main exam can be a criteria followed by an interview by the concerned department. This has already been done by Sports Authority of India (SAI). This can be extended for other comparable jobs.

It is no doubt, civil services examinations are the toughest examination in our country. Our administrators selected by way of these exams have done exceptional work in public sphere. This is the same civil service which was considered to be the ‘Steel Frame’ during the British Raj. When reforms have been the answer on all fronts, some changes in the examination process and pattern can better justify the response of administrative system towards the environment.

Catch ‘Em Young

2011-08-18T11:05:00.000+05:30

Amidst all the outrage over corruption, one entity that has not caught much of the attention in the public debates is the bureaucracy, esp. the higher bureaucracy. Considered as the ‘Steel Frame’ during the British Raj, Bureaucracy was ‘predicted’ to be inadequate for the newly independent India until Sardar Patel vocally supported it. Since then, many Committees and Commissions have given recommendations that have tried to uproot the bureaucracy from its status quo-ist inclination. The two Commissions viz. First Administrative Reforms Commission (FARC) and Second Administrative Reforms Commission (SARC) are worth mentioning as they dealt with comprehensive analysis and restructuring of the administration.

In one of the reports of SARC – ‘Refurbishing of Personnel Administration – Scaling new heights’, there is a suggestion of a new type of recruitment procedure for the civil services. The Report talks about two proposals – Post School recruitment system and Post-school grooming for Public services. The essence of both the suggestions is that administrators be recruited at a young age by putting the age limit of 21 to 25 years with usual relaxations for reserved candidates. The main reasons given are:
1. At a young age, the mind is open and receptive to values of public service whereas at a late age the mindset is already entrenched and the person is set in his views.
2. Recruiting at a young age would allow the candidate to reach higher levels of Bureaucracy where he can give his vital inputs towards policy formulation (given his expertise and experience developed all throughout his career) and hence it would lead to better realization of his potential.
The Arguments given for the above proposals are commendable but there are few notes of dissent before such a step is considered.

Firstly, the report assumes that the special institutes i.e., National Institutes of Public Administration (NIPA) and other selected institutes, that are being proposed to be established would be successful in creating the ‘ethos’ and skills desired of a public servant which will guarantee a successful career in the civil services. Practical experience says that our education system has failed to deliver be it on the grounds of inadequate policies or ineffective implementation. If that is the case, what is the guarantee that the NIPAs would be qualitatively so much better than any other institutes, infact even than the IITs and IIMs (which are few of the institutions that are recognized globally). Many critics also argue that ‘ethos’ is not something that develops in 3-4 years i.e., the time when the person is in NIPA. Early childhood has a greater role to play in the grooming of an individual. So structuring a vibrant education system should be the priority of policy makers and implementers.

Secondly, it can also be ‘inferred’ that recruiting at a younger age also gives a chance to the system to mould the malleable candidates as per the needs of the system. But it must also be understood that the system, presently, is craving for reforms. Many former bureaucrats and academicians have talked about not only an entire overhaul of the archaic laws but also of the entire system- be it political, economic or administrative. There is a fear that a person under the garb of diseased parts of the system may become a ‘Yes Man’ who may hesitate to give his dissent on the issues which go against the larger interest of the society. Often analysts talk about the degrading ethical moral levels of the society (refer the recent judgment of Supreme Court on the Euthanasia case) and the competitive politics being played in the country which often looks for short term interests. In this case, there is a fear that bureaucracy, over a period of time, may be hijacked by the very status quo-ist system, maneuvering the bureaucracy as per its own interests.

Thirdly, when the maturity factor is taken into consideration, not many of the people attain maturity (quite a subjective term) at a young age, perhaps at around 21 years when the person is just out of his college. Maturity is generally defined with respect to the social interactions a person has. Administration is one such profession where the decisions you take have larger implications for the society and moreover the person starts taking these value laden decisions the moment he comes onto the field. In the present system, many of the candidates joining civil services have a working experience in different organizations which greatly helps them when they become a part of the esteemed civil services.

Fourthly, as far the present criteria is concerned, it is already having a three-layer check (Preliminary, Mains and Personal Interview) which can look for the desired ethos in the candidates and with the major changes already done in the syllabus and the pattern of the examination, in the form of civil services aptitude test and nature of questions asked, the examination is beginning to inch closer to the new challenges and values required of an administrator.

Fifthly, when the Union Public Service Commission has already moved towards an aptitude test (aptitude being defined as a combination of characteristics indicative of an individual’s capacity to acquire, with training, some specific knowledge or skill or a set of organized responses)the crux of which is that the candidate must have the administrative aptitude so that he can keep himself flexible all the times and mould himself as per the dynamic environment he finds himself in, the assumption of older students not easily accepting new values may not arise.

Sixthly, regarding the assumption that older candidates may not be able to reach higher levels, where their potential, experience and expertise can be better realized for policy making, may also have a solution. From other recommendations of SARC, it has been highlighted that merit system be promoted and a closer scrutiny on performance should be the norm. If this is so, a meritorious candidate regardless of his age would be able to reach any level. This will be a win-win situation both for the government and the candidate.

From the above arguments, it should not be deciphered that the recommendations of SARC are not justified. These reports are infact a gold mine of suggestions. But before going for any piecemeal changes, systemic reforms should be introduced so that if and when a person enters the system, these ethos and values become a source of inspiration not only for the administrators but for many who feel bureaucracy is one such institution which has stood the test of time.

The article can be read here as well:
http://www.wisdomblow.com/?p=2343

Personalities - Three Types

2009-10-13T00:22:00.002+05:30

This may be the one of the many times that I will be iterating that every individual is different. One more factor that certainly embellishes this fact is the way we tackle problems in life. Right since birth we encounter various problems in life and we try to find a solution of those problems either with the help of people who are closely related to us or alone. In Erik Erikson’s (a neo-freudian psychologist) words, these problems are termed as ‘conflicts’. His idea of categorizing one’s development into stages also incorporates the significant role of conflict. Every stage, in his view, comprises conflicts which ideally need to be successfully accomplished. How well a person tackles them determines how his personality would be shaped up and also how well his other stages would be confronted. Anyways I don’t intend to discuss Erikson here. My idea of writing is to zero upon some of the ways I have seen people tackling their problems which says a lot about their personality.

I generally categorize people into 3 broad categories on the basis of how they confront a particular problem. We all know that socialization is something that has a great impact on one’s personality though heredity shouldn’t also be ignored. Now the first set of people when they come out of a particular problem sit with themselves and think about what all went wrong. Was there something lacking from their side that they could not handle the situation? What were the things that they lacked? What steps should they have taken to effectively handle it so that if it confronts them again they are all ready for it? Or was the situation something that they could never have handled or what steps should be taken so that it can be avoided if they come across the same problem in future? And finally they would end up doing a kind of SWOT analysis every time this happens to them. And these are the people who know themselves well because you can contemplate only when you know your strengths and weaknesses. This category, I would term, is the best of all because they don’t live their life in deception and also emerge as successful creatures in whatever they do.

The second category is one that doesn’t know anything about itself. They are total frauds as I would term them. They continue to deceive themselves all through their life and also end up deceiving others. They come across problems but since they have zero or near zero self awareness, it is highly likely that they don’t waste time on their failure (quite positive!) but they continue to face the same problems and hence commit the same mistakes. Since they are ‘lost in their own world’, they are the distanced very far from the word ‘Success’. They are poorly adapted to their environment and luck, if any, plays a very important role in their success.

The third category is one that can be really said to be ‘lost in its own world’. They do face problems and are very much aware of the things that go wrong but they consciously or unconsciously fail to act upon their failure. May be they are too lazy or too arrogant that they refuse to change. They may feel that they are right in their own way and there is no need to change and it was the problem’s nature that it can’t be solved and nobody could have solved it they way it came. They also live their life in deception (as seen from an objective perspective) but ‘their’ perception doesn’t term it as deception. This category may consider everyone else useless and itself to be of superior breed. And probably that is the reason that they don’t even try to change or act upon the problem so that it doesn’t bother them again. They are comparatively better adjusted than the second category because they find themselves comfortable only in the company of people who are similar to them in most of the ways.

Finally, if seen from a holistic picture the first category may appear to be an ideal one but it is hard to find oneself in one category all the time. I do agree that sometimes it happens that we jump onto other categories because human nature is hardly static but the major proportion of which category the person lies in ultimately decides what kind of person he is and a lot can be predicted about how he would be in the years to come. Anyways neither am I here to pinpoint anyone nor to tell that I lie in ‘x’ or ‘y’category. Its just that I wanted to give a concreteness to my observation.

Nothing Else matters (Metallica) - Main solo

2009-10-11T21:58:00.004+05:30

Although I did this solo some years back, I thought i should put it on my blog. I ain't a professional guitarist. I just manage to play something on Guitar.

Perception is reality

2009-10-03T18:20:00.004+05:30

One thing that I learnt from my Psychology lessons is that every person is different. And when I say that every person is different it is self explanatory that everyone perceives differently as well. Whatever we comprehend about the world completely depends on how we have perceived the world. The world may not in fact be really like that.

I have come across many people who say that they have been used by other people. But then a question comes did the other person force you to behave like that? It was you who gave yourself in to the other person’s requests. It was completely your choice that you succumb to that person. But then another question comes – What made you to succumb to that person? The answer lies in the perception. People perceive the world and of course its inhabitants as they themselves are. And therefore people who see themselves as ‘Can never do bad to anyone’ will perceive the world a fair place. But since I have told that the real world is not what you have perceived, you may come across people who take advantage of your innocence and when they are sure that you are not beneficial to them anymore they are ready to part with you giving excuses which have no logical basis. It becomes very late to realize that you have been used to hell and hence you waste time on repenting what the other person did although the fault lays largely with you. It is human being’s tendency to blame others for the wrongs that we try not making improvements in ourselves and tend to commit the same mistake again and again. One repercussion of this is that some people start taking a negative view of the things around them but this is not a good strategy to go with. The best thing is to consider every person as a good person but never expecting anything from him. The moment you start expecting and forcing other people to do what you feel is the right way, that very moment you have chosen the path of utmost ‘selfishness’. This is what my psychology teacher has taught me.

You must believe that people who care for you will never ask questions to you and the ones who don’t care, I don’t think you need to explain anything to them. So just be yourself giving importance to only those people who are selflessly tied to you. But it is hard to find people of this kind in this world. Bad experiences in one’s life should only be taken as a cue to caution you of what lies ahead and not develop any kind of prejudice against anyone. The moment we are able to carry out these things, our life becomes more meaningful and the rewards, if not now, will definitely come later in life.

The Philosophy of Life - 1

2009-09-15T20:52:00.003+05:30

I am starting a series called “The philosophy of life” wherein I would pen down some of the aspects/events of life that are inevitable and aim at imparting a lesson to those who are ready to learn from the bitter/sweet realities in their journey from womb to the tomb. One of the aspect that has recently propelled me to share is centered on the importance we give to various people we meet in this journey.

Right from birth an infant comes across different people. Some have a profound effect on his personality and some just come and go without making a considerable impact on him. As a result of this direct or indirect interaction with people, he inculcates few of the things and that becomes a part of his personality and stay with him all through his life. Now when I say that the interaction has an impact on the personality of the person it is quite evident that he must have given high importance to that person and as a result he has borrowed something from him in the process. But when I look at this process from the perspective of the other person, the story of life seems to be a bit ironical. There also exist people who give a lot of importance to us (infant) but most of us don’t realize it and tend to ignore what the person has done to us. And these are the people who are least valued. We simply act/feel indifferent to most of his behavior. And this is not something that is very specific to Ram or Shyam. It happens to most of us. And when I say most of us, it means I am talking of the majority. One of the best examples I can give is that of parents. Parents, especially in India, do everything for us but how many times do we stop and think seriously about them or about what they have done to us. Some people would reject my argument saying that it is their duty to do that. I’ll half-heartedly agree with them but we can always thank them in a way that would make them special and make them realize that they hold a special place in our life.

This is just one example. It may be applicable to many others, be it friends, strangers, who has had tried to give a new meaning to our life. Simple ignoring them would simply be being selfish on our part. We must try to understand that in a world comprising selfish and self-centered creatures if someone is taking pains we must thank them. And thanking them doesn’t merely mean saying thank you and some of these things can’t be taught. People just run for bigger things without even knowing that those bigger things are the ones that are the most difficult to possess. And in the process we ignore the importance attached to the smaller things which are easy to get. It is well said that we attach less value to the war which is easily won. And unfortunately that is what the human nature is all about.

Old Habits Die Hard

2009-09-07T00:47:00.002+05:30

After a long wait I finally decided to write something again. There have been lot of issues that are urging me to pen my thoughts down but I am choosing to write on something that introduces a more philosophical touch to my thoughts. Thanks to my good observation ability that I have begun to realize that habits die hard.

Now first of all how do we define Habits? Habits are actions that progress from our consciousness to unconsciousness and that is probably the reason why they die hard. Because we are hardly aware of those actions that we begin to feel comfortable. We know that the laws of physics state that every entity in this universe tries to attain a state of maximum equilibrium and minimum energy, so this partly explains most of the things. Whenever an individual tries or even thinks of trying for a change, upheaval is caused inside the individual. Obviously who would think himself of trying to unsettle himself even when the change is for something good? What people don’t realize is that after disequilibrium, a state of calmness prevails. We just try to see the things superficially and not think of what lies beyond and often go wrong in interpreting most of the life situations – All that glitters is of course not gold. Bringing about a change is something getting out from the comfortable shoes that we have been wearing for many years and switching to the new ones which of course pinch at first. We try to distinguish between comfort and boredom without realizing they are the two sides of the same coin. It is said that bringing about change in oneself is easier than to bring it in the other but I beg to differ because it is equally difficult to change ourselves. To bring about a change in oneself you need to first repudiate your mind set because you just can’t simply say that what I have been doing or thinking for so many years is faulty and believing that we are infallible creatures. To question ourselves would mean to question our identity and that becomes impossible when we have already formed our identity.

A very valid question crops up that ‘Is the change really required?’ I really don’t have the potency to answer it because this is something person specific. Not many individuals would accept that they are not living their life as per their expectations. We need to first identify our expectations and that is something which goes all through our life i.e, to know ourselves fully. We find all kinds of people – those who think a time to change is due even when everything is going fine and as expected because life hardly follows the same and those who think that nothing is going as expected. Miserable are those who lie in between. But we must understand that change is the law of nature. It is an inevitable part of our life. The moment we try to question our ability to change or resist change, we hold ourselves responsible for our sluggish future. In the process we forget that “After a storm comes calm”.

Elections 2009: A Perspective

2009-05-18T18:02:00.002+05:30

So much of it happened in the past few weeks when elections to the 543 seats of the Lok Sabha or The Lower House took place. These were the 15th Lok Sabha elections which ultimately decide who the Prime Minister or most importantly the 'Executive Head' of the World's Largest Democracy will be. All sorts of things happened with so many candidates openly claiming the seat of Prime Ministership but the things though quite predictable delivered a shock in terms of the success achieved by the Congress party. The elections which is held after every five years was conducted in five phases and were well conducted - thanks to the Election Commission. The verdict of the people showed a trend that is not only significant but interesting as well. For the first time, the one-ness in the people of India for a stable and secular government was seen. The unusual trend favored national parties over the state parties and of course the feat of Congress in U.P. The clean image of Dr. Manmohan Singh showed everyone that the stability and secularism is here to stay and the leaders who are convicted of charges have no place to lead the nation. As i have said earlier also in one of my posts that for a government to showcase development it cannot do all the things in five years. It needs more than that so that its policies are not only executed but get matured as well to bring about the improvement. And that may be seen this time. Another thing that i could infer from the elections was that Congress defied the usual convention. In India, the parties are characterized by the leader and not the party as a whole or the manifesto of the party. But Congress, according to me, is characterized by not only Dr. Manmohan Singh but also many other people of the party on whom the people of India can trust such as Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, Chidambaram, Pranab Mukherjee, Priyanka and many others. So certainly that sends out a message to all that 'Team Spirit' matters and no one person can take a charge of the whole nation. It is the collective effort that brings about the desired change. I have always been a firm believer that people at the highest echelon should be learned and highly intellectual. The politics is no more the same. Just like everything, it has changed and is still evolving and the education is something that can have a big effect on how to incorporate this evolution. With the emergence of candidates like Mallika Sarabhai, Shashi Tharoor, Meera Sanyal and many others showed that politics is no more fun and needs to be taken seriously. With faces like Rahul Gandhi, Milind Deora, Sachin pilot and others in the politics, it tells everyone that youth involvement is very much an essential part of it and it has the potency to be an active partner.

If the usual conventions keep on breaking then the time is not too far when the India can claim to be one of the top nations of the world.

MBA - The Dark Side

2009-05-04T13:05:00.004+05:30

Now since the MBA season is over, it is time to look back what happened in all these stressful months that have brought joy to some and disappointment to others. The MBA season as i define starts mid November when people sit for CAT and ends in mid-January immediately after FMS. This is keeping in mind that majority of people sit for these exams. Obviously, there are some other exams as well that lie outside the scope of my definition of "MBA season". And i won't be talking about the Do's and Don't's but i would like to bring to light few of the issues that everyone of us (being aspirants) are aware but as we say "Time is the best healer", we forget about them and move forward in life. I must say there are two reasons why i am writing this. First, because i too have failed in achieving what i had expected (let's be frank) and secondly, i have lost all the interest in getting myself an MBA degree. After the infamous fiasco pertaing to the unexpected/surprising scores of the candidates, one thing that surfaced was that i was sure that the colleges are less concerned about making a man out of a boy or woman out of a girl. I won't deny the fact that money is needed to run any institution or business but transparency and the inclination to be true to the intellectual society is something that was not very much present. When we talk of MBA, the word "Professionalism" needs to be attached to each and every activity that is associated thereof. The first time i sat for the MBA exams, i used to think why the institutes introduce the B-school forms before the result and infact even the last date to purchase. I was unaware of the power of the word "Business" at that time. I wanted an MBA degree but without knowing the deep meaning of the business itself. Students, every year, shell out thousands of rupees to purchase the forms and then when they get to know that an undesired event has taken place they see their money going down the drains and become helpless and disheartened. Why not the results come out and people get to know where they stand so that they shell out the hard-earned money of their parents (for those who are still not into job) according their potency and satiate themselves. But then a questions arises: How will the institutes satiate themselves? And this is not all. Another concept has emerged these days. And we call it - "The profile call". No one has ever tried to define it in absolute terms because of the simple reason no one understands it. Now tell me, if i am rejected on the basis of some parameter, then how would i come to know that whether i am fit to apply even when i sit for that particular exam next year. This happened to one of my friends last year. He was rejected by some XYZ college and when he inquired the reason he got the reply that he did not score enough in his class XII exams. Now this person can never apply to the college because he cannot defy time to go back and change his class XII marks. Whatever may be the case, i have come to believe that all this is beyond my comprehension and I trust the Almighty for this.

I feel this is not something that the student community should come forward so as to bring transparency in the system because i don't want to burden it with one more responsibility. The competition has increased by leaps and bounds and amidst this if i ask the youth to come and fight for the betterment of the system, i would be asking too much. If youth has to do everything, then where is the moral responsibility of people who claim themselves to be the Guardians of the society. I may sound too patriotic, philosophical and unrealistic but when one sees people who being utmost capable don't make it as per their dreams just because of these issues, one feels dejected.

CAT- It's new; It's different

2009-04-29T22:47:00.003+05:30

So the time has finally come. It took 33 years to break that old convention. Yes, you are right - the CAT has become online. The IIMs have eventually selected Prometric ETS as their partner in delivering their computer assisted CAT. The things may look to be quite streamlined for the IIM people but i fear there are few things that would pose problems for the aspiring candidates. I won't be talking about the flaws in the execution of the process because i don't know anything about it. For that, we will have to wait for the prospectus and the guidelines issued by the IIMs.
The first thing that would catch an aspiring candidate's eye would be the institutes, i mean the coaching institutes. Since every coaching institute used to conduct mock tests before the actual CAT, this time the scenario would be a little different. Every institute would follow its own process and would try to move anywhere around GMAT because that is the only online exam and which caters to the admissions into MBA institutes around the world. May be a possibility is there that IIMs specify the structure of the exam and for that we will have to wait. And if not, institutes would do their best to experiment with the online CAT. So experimentation will be at its best on the assumption that IIMs won't disclose much. The new CAT may give a lot of surprises because GMAT aspirants have GMAT prep tests easily available on the internet that can be downloaded for free which give the exact feeling of how the test would be like. I mean the interface. And if CAT doesn't supply that, the surprise factor may be a little cumbersome for the first timers. So availability of online mock CATs by the authority will make a lot of difference.

Second aspect is attempting the test from monitor screen. I have seen people, the ones who have appeared for GMAT, who face problems attempting the questions from the monitor screen. Because our education system is such that for the past twenty or so years we have been reading from books and notebooks that it is most likely that people may face problems during the test keeping in view that last CAT attracted around 3.5 to 4 lac people. Underlining important lines from the RCs, solving the question at the question paper itself, eliminating options by putting a cross infront of the options are some of the factors that people have become well acclimatized and therefore can be problematic. So again practising questions and that too from the screen is something that the aspirants will have to keep in mind in the coming months. And consequently it is highly likely that a candidate may not be able to justify his potential during the test. And moreover, it is still undecided that whether the candidate has to attempt all the questions or he may revert to the ones he has left.

The next aspect is the type of questions. Seeing the GMAT pattern and the no of people who have appeared in the last CAT, it is quite predictable that the questions would be tricky wherein the logical type of questions would dominate. Again the basics would have to be in place in such a scenario otherwise the chances of failure would rise. Another thing that becomes important with the concept of online CAT would be the domination of profile based admissions into the colleges. If GMAT pattern is adopted, preparation of essays would become an inherent part of the admission process. Seeing this year's scenario when colleges like symbiosis etc have started to bend towards candidate's profile, it is predictable to some extent that people would be called for interviews only on the basis of the profiles and very rarely the marks scored in the exam. Obviously, when lacs and lacs of people appear, these things do stand out and colleges have taken a serious note of this. One consequence of this would be that the no. of applicants for exams like SNAP, JMET, FMS, IIFT, NMAT, XAT etc would rise.

Another factor is the application fee. I reckon that people will have to shell a bit more than what they had done last time for the simple reason that the infrastructure required to conduct the exam for so many people in the mentioned ten day window period would demand the costs to go a little higher.

Amidst all these obstacles pertaining to CAT, i can see some added advantages. If CAT adopts the GMAT pattern, then people will not have to prepare separately for GMAT and as a result the number of GMAT applicants from India is bound to rise. Moreover, the B-schools taking CAT scores may also rise. So just watch out and strategize to tame the CAT in a different way. All the Best!!

Keep your eyes open

2009-04-29T10:58:00.003+05:30

I am writing this post with reference to my earlier - "The power of reference". Being an active observer, i get very much annoyed by the way the political parties project themselves and others. Everyone is ready to do anything for his/her motherland but i don't understand why he/she doesn't do it. The blame game has become a characteristic part of political structure. When everybody is doing everything and the other person is not doing anything for the people, the decision ultimately falls upon the people themselves. They will have to judge who the real match-winner for them is. I don't understand why people don't believe that they are the ones who make these people what they are. And obviously for this they will have to start inferring things (I have said this thing earlier as well). They must understand that a person who has never traveled by bus or rickshaw can never understand the plight of the people who experience difficulties. How can a person take "seriously" the issue of clean drinking water when he is getting the Bisleri water 24 hours? It is you who have to tell him and remind him, by not asking him, to do what he promised by showing the power you have as a citizen. I know it is quite provoking but these things are not thought upon by us because may be we are too busy in our lives or may be we don't have the potency to think that much. Sorry, if i sound too harsh. But this blame game has already done a lot of harm to us.

It was in 1600, that the infamous East India Company came to India. The company came to India only for one purpose: to indulge in trade and become profitable. Gradually they were in charge of the administration of the country and almost all the policies that they introduced or executed served only that purpose and they were quite successful as well. The country was in wretched condition because people were neglected. People could not stand that a person of foreign origin was ruling them in their own country and that too with utmost cruelty. It was the National Movements phase that started to invoke/provoke people to start inferring things and fight for their rights. In my opinion, the time has come again. Although, we are blessed that the people in charge of the government are much much better than the ones ruling the country in those days, we are capable of much more and deserve more. And by this, i don't mean that one party is good or bad. Every party is good unless it doesn't ignite communalism and fight to preserve the equality of an individual but we will have to push them to realize our goal. Priyanka Gandhi aptly said in one of the speeches that no political person or party is God. The person or the party exists because of the people who vote and encourage them. I truly back the statement.

I know, it is easier said than done but it is not impossible. I can see one benefit of this 'blame-game' that the parties indulge in - they make us aware time and again about the misdeeds of the others. Ultimately, we need to keep our eyes open and not get influenced by what lies infront of us. We need to be more objective.

India, China and Outsourcing

2009-04-15T23:06:00.000+05:30

First of all, let us first define what we mean by outsourcing. Outsourcing is getting your work done by someone else who can do it in a cheaper and better way. Now when it comes to outsourcing, the first geographical location that hits our minds is India. India, which has traditionally attracted most of the services outsourcing projects, is currently churning out engineers at the rate of approximately 4 lacs per year which comprises the majority of its skilled workforce. If we are talking about Asia another destination that has caught the attention of everyone is China. China is considered to be the hub of manufacturing. China’s economy is the second largest in the world after United States when measured on the Purchase Power Parity. With the growing influence of China on the world stage, it is considered to be the next IT destination but there are some of the factors that stand against the country and give India an edge.

The key factors that are worth mentioning when we talk of offshoring are:
1. Abundance of technically skillful labor force.
2. Low cost workforce.
3. Quality of service.
4. Regulatory environment.
5. Robustness of infrastructure.
6. Knowledge of English language.
7. Time zone attractiveness.

Now India has tremendous advantage in terms of these factors. Not only that, since India has been doing well on the offshoring front, it has got the knowledge of how the projects are handled and it can use this knowledge as well as experience in taking an active part in the designing stages of the new projects. Another important aspect is the emergence of KPOs where India with its intellectual capital can show its capability in areas like research, designing etc. This is something that China does not own. China is relatively new to this kind of situation. Moreover, China lacks on account of English skills, Mandarin being the local language, and western business practices. But there are some factors that favor the rise of China and they are:
1. Liberalization of Government Regulations.
2. Growing middle class.
3. Large-scale investments in technical education.
4. Vibrant economy.
5. Availability of cheap labor force.

Chinese, over the years, have shown themselves to be hard working, competitive, and dedicated, as a result of which they are able to overcome any odds by dint of labor. China’s Government on the other hand has chalked out a massive program on primary education with focus on training in English. So if we see the overall picture we can be very sure that China can definitely prove to be a threat to India in the near future and India must raise the bar in terms of providing quality services to maintain the current trend in offshoring.

Governance - The Truth

2009-04-15T21:04:00.000+05:30

A lot is being said and heard about elections these days. Campaigners seem to woo the voters so that they can experience the real feel of power. Parties trying to convince the gullible electorate that the party they are representing holds great future for them. People throng the rallies without even knowing what the manifesto of the party wants to achieve. Yes, if Ram is going to the rally why should Shyam stay back? Every party wants to lower poverty, give education, free electricity, loan waivers etc. Some even talk about computer literacy and promotion of the language of english. People don't understand that the only power that they possess in this democratic republic is the power to vote. But still they don't think twice before voting for a particular party. Some, i understand, are forced to vote for a particular party. I don't know how much of it is true. Elections assume the picture of an All-India-cultural Fest. And there are some of the things that i feel need to be brought to light.

India being a country of great diversity, so a person or a group of people ruling it must acknowledge the fact that it is very difficult to rule. You can never govern a country like India easily. Our founder fathers, while introducing the constitution did everything to keep a check so that the power doesn't vest in any single authority. In USA for example, the President is the head of the state as well as the Government and has enormous powers. In India, this although gives the ultimate power to the people, it becomes very difficult to satiate each and every individual- be it a party or an individual. If you go on to do good to one section of the population, the other is bound to get affected. So they raise the issue and the process assumes a slow pace. There are numerous examples that demonstrate this act. One is the Nuclear deal that created a hullabaloo. We know that a government is in power only for five years till a new one comes at the center. Seeing the current trend in politics, hardly the same government continues next year. With the coalition phenomenon taking shape, things are worse in the same context. So the incumbent has to undergo a lot of negotiations to convey and execute its point in the Parliament. Moreover, the oppositions doesnt care about the agenda doing good to people. Its sole responsiblility is to criticize the incumbent and come to power the very next year. Amidst this, we must understand that doing good to people becomes a separate issue and the current government finds itself entangled in the so called political wars or simply 'poiltics'. For the same reason, i feel that five years is a very less time for any government to pass its policies and enjoy the fruits of its results. It may initiate or even execute some policies but for the policies to affect people it needs some time. But when the fruit starts to ripen, a new government assumes responsibilty and there is hardly any dramatic change in the development of the country.

Now, after having said all this, what i mean is that it is a call for us - 'The citizens' to stop being dormant and passive to all this. Try understanding the truth behind the ideology of the government or party and pro-actively support it if it does not have any ulterior motive. The government cannot function without us. Our responsibility does not end the day we vote. It has to be there till our last breath.

The Class - Erich Segal: A Review

2008-12-09T14:45:00.000+05:30

Have you ever read a book that has the undefined power to take you through a journey even when you know that you are not a part of the theme but still feel the happiness, agony, frustration that the characters go through? That is what makes this work special, yet awesome and that is what you call the class in real sense.

Written about The Harvard class of 1958 (though fictional), Erich’s story circumscribes around the lives of five main characters who enter Harvard as children and exit as men who defy all the obstacles to become the heroes of the class of 1958. One peculiar virtue of Erich’s writings has been his mesmerizing way of defining his characters be it Love Story or be it Doctors (I haven’t read others) and how these characters, being special in their own, capture the theme of the story as a unit. The story talks about Danny Rossi, who breaks away from his father, to transform himself from a musical prodigy to an icon that the whole world bows when he takes the stage. There is Ted Lambros, who spends his Harvard years as a commuter, ascents to the top and finally achieves what he always craved for: tenure at Harvard. Then there is Jason Gilbert who is born as a hero, lives his life as a hero and also dies as a true hero. George Keller, the Hungarian, enters Harvard barely knowing the intricacies of English language but masters everything to reach a place where everyone aspires to be but only a few dare. And lastly, Andrew Eliot, who could not satiate himself with his entity and purpose of life, eventually finds solace at the end.

A good story cannot be but a striking balance between the ups and down of the life. And this is where Erich Segal has proved himself time and again. This reveals itself from the fact when Andrew writes in his diary “I guess he just didn’t know how to be happy. That's the one thing they can't teach you at Harvard”. Although all these men find whatever they ever desire, one thing they ultimately realize that there is one more thing that is above success, above all and that is happiness and it is priceless. The people get so much blinded by success that they forget that there even exists a word in the dictionary called success and that is what the author has tried to convey to his readers, and to this world. Another interesting feature that I could make out is Erich Segal’s ability to involve real events like war, elections etc and playing fictionally with the real characters that have stood out in the history, which makes this novel all the more real and less fictional and that is what enthralls the readers.

In my opinion I would juxtapose this book with all the other must reads because it truly justifies what we say in literal sense “vicarious thrill” of reading any book.

Must Read Books

2008-12-08T13:17:00.002+05:30

Ambedkar: Towards An Enlightened India by Gail Omvedt
India In Turmoil by Ved Marwah
India Since Independence by Bipan Chandra
India'S Struggle For Independence by Bipan Chandra
Contemporary India: Economy, Society, Politics by Neera Chandhoke, Praveen Priyadarshi
India's Foreign Policy Since Independence by V P Dutt
Foreign Policy Of India by V N Khanna
Challenge And Strategy: Rethinking India`S Foreign Policy by Rajiv Sikri
The Sikhs by Khushwant Singh
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger
To Kill a Mocking Bird - Harper Lee
The Train to Pakistan - Khushwant Singh
It's not about the bike - Lance Armstrong
I Dare - Kiran Bedi
Doctors - Erich Segal
The Class - Erich Segal
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Animal Farm - George Orwell
The curious incident of the dog in the night time - Mark Haddon
Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Digital Fortress - Dan Brown

The Power of Inference

2008-12-01T22:04:00.000+05:30

Few days ago I got a chance to watch television (as I hardly watch it) and as a matter of fact it had to be some good news channel or the sports because of my inability to tolerate all those saas bahu serials. As I was playing with the remote, I happened to stop at one of the news channels exploring the elections. Now when I say elections it has to be something pertaining to our popular political parties. It was fun watching the way the channel was portraying the drama with all the sound and light effects that will put to shame even our film-makers. The target-obviously the category of people which doesn’t have the potency to ‘infer’. There were so many things one could infer out of all that drama which might impel someone to not to vote. But we hardly do that. And I reckon that is what the problem is with most of us Indians and that’s why we don’t see one political party coming out successful election after election. The reason: because they don’t read between the lines and because they take what is in front of them as true. They might know that all that glitters is not gold but they don’t comprehend what it means. I would say, another inference problem.

The next issue is ‘who is to blame for this?’. Frankly speaking it is the people themselves who are to blame but the major proportion of it goes to our education system. From the moment a child becomes a student, he is enrolled into an endless loop of theoretical education. He assumes every written word in the text book to be a fact and starts memorizing it. Now this will always create problems because a person can remember a certain fact only to some extent, the longevity of which depends on the number of times he comes across the same fact again. That is why most of us still remember 1 plus 1 is 2 and tend to forget history dates. But then you’ll ask me is there any logic behind why 1 plus 1 is 2. I will definitely say no. The important point here is that we need to be selective and shrewd as to what needs to be assimilated and what needs to be inferred. And if this inference thing is not practiced at a younger age, then it creates problems later on and that can have a good (I mean bad) impact on your decision making. The decisions that you take when you are someone’s son or someone’s daughter doesn’t matter much but certainly do when you become someone’s father or husband or employee or employer. Because then you are answerable for all the good and bad. Schools should be aimed at exploring one’s mind. I don’t think many schools out here in India are taking any pains to develop a child’s brain. And for the same reason, a few private organizations are coming up that cater to this specific need. But then if you are to send your child to some other organization specifically for this, what the hell schools are doing. The only solution to this problem is when an individual takes the initiative to conjure.

The consequence of this not-inferring-things is that some other people are reaping benefits for your impotence. If you are able to infer you will be able to eliminate most of the options and be amongst the really-required ones. And I guarantee the life also eases out a bit as you can decipher most of the crypted situations in your daily life. There are many people who know ravi goes to temple but only a handful of us ask themselves as to why ravi is going to the temple and what will he do over there and that explains why most of us are ravis and only a few of us - einsteins.

Excerpts

2008-11-23T20:46:00.000+05:30

Blessed are those who are not afraid to admit that they don't know something. (Zahir - Paulo Coelho)

Our true friends are those who are with us when good things happen. They cheer us on and are pleased by our triumphs. False friends only appear at difficult times, with their sad, supportive faces, when, in fact, our suffering is serving to console them for their miserable lives. (Zahir - Paulo Coelho)

I guess he just din't know how to be happy. That's the one thing they can't teach you at Harvard. (The Class - Erich Segal)

I din't lose. I just haven't won yet. (The Class - Erich Segal)

That doesn't make me inept. It makes me fallible.

Learn what a magician knows. It's not magic anymore.

Ingenuous Introspection

2008-11-17T20:17:00.000+05:30

It has really been a long time since i last wrote something here. The reasons may be many but a broader one says that i was real busy. The word 'reasons'. Hmm. The only thing, i think, in which i am damn good - yes finding reasons and that too for my faults. And most of my reasons are aimed at exculpating myself for anything that happens. All the years i had been thinking that i have been one of the guys who is really different from what people generally do/are but i must also believe that this is what everyone believes. After a deep introspection i came to the conclusion that whatever i have done, till now, i fall in the category of people that lie in the average category. So it automatically states that i ain't different because of the simple reason that i don't think different and i don't do anything differently. And that is the problem. Reverting to my past life, i think i have not religiously followed my heart and i have not religoiusly followed what i had been doing at that time. I mean i could not carry it forward. I start off well but then when i reach a place where i fall at the place where lacs and millions of people are, i tend to stay or most of the times digress. And i know this is not the ingredient for the making of a successful person. And i must understand that the words 'successful' and 'different' are quite synonymous. I know the measures that need to be taken but then why the hell i don't follow them. Is it that i am too lazy or i am impotent? I hope not even one of them. But that is the reason i am searching and i must find it fast. There is no escape from being an extremist to reach what many aspire for.

Shackles Revisited!!

2008-06-01T12:08:00.000+05:30

As little kids we had been studying in our history classes that we were once ruled over by Britishers who exploited us to 'their' best and we were resorted to the extreme form of slavery until the independence freed us from the shackles of slavery and now we have an independent identity and claim ourselves to be a democratic nation. It feels nice and relieved to see our present situation. But unfortunately, this sigh of relief is limited only to the books and that we are still slaves.

My perspective may be quite limited in scope but still its quite significant. We know the fact why work is outsourced to India-because getting the work done is cheaper out here as compared to paying their people for the same work. Lets switch over to IT industry. As a non-IT you would be enticed to the air-conditioned offices, fat pay cheques, sophisticated lifestyle but the story inside those well lit offices might be specious. For every amount of work, the client (people for whom we work) negotiate to hell keeping the no of man-days to barest minimum. We, as Indians, cannot justify the decided man-days because we want work, our salary depends on them, we want a good relationship so that in future work continues to flow in and hence end up deciding strict deadlines for ourselves. As a result, overtime becomes perfunctory and we forget our social life, friends, families- i mean everything. I just wana ask if this is not slavery-what other name would you want to give. To me, India is still the same. We are a kind of still dependent on west for our better future. Infact, sometimes they decide our future. We cannot fight because we are helpless. If there was a sub-prime crisis, why did our stock markets crash? Doesn't it project that there is still a connection. If yes, then how would you define 'Independence'?

To me, it seems that the meaning of the very word just got redefined.

Is Plagiarizing Bad?

2008-03-24T23:05:00.000+05:30

The moment you utter this word, a negative vibe emanates out from it because of the simple reason that its very existence is backed by its literary definition which defines plagiarize as "to take (the work or idea of someone else) and pretend it is one's own". So, if you ask a layman-"Is plagiarism bad?", he'll take no time to reply it in an affirmative way and give you a hundred reasons targeting creativity, originality etc. But, i have to justify why i am writing this article by taking a stand with this word. Yes of course, plagiarism is bad but there are a good number of reasons why it is good. Primary reason would be that it kills "monopoly"and that is where this article centers around.

In today's free world, where competition has done enough damage to originality, plagiarism, i feel, is helping to maintain a balance so that consumers are not worst affected. We very well know that when a person innovates something, he is the sole authority who manoeuvres the price structure of the product. And if the concept behind the product is really new, a person sitting on the consumer's side can never make out whether the price is justified or not. But when a rival imitates the same idea which caters to the need of the consumers exactly the same way, he would obviously price it a bit on the lower side and hence impacts the overall market. Now since there aren't only two competitors in this real world, so you can very well imagine the repercussion.

To exemplify, lets dive into the world of mobile phones. Mobile phones when launched were considered to be a prized possession just because there were only a few players in the market. I remember when Nokia 6600 was introduced, it came with a price tag of 22k rupees just because it had camera, polyphonic ringtones, colored screen, recorder and many other features. But when other mobile companies introduced the same stuff with altogether a different feel, it seemed that the 6600 was being traded at share market pulling it under 10k range in no time.

Although, we cannot say whether the introductory price was justified but one thing is sure that 'plagiarizing' had proved its potency against monopolistic behavior and the time has come to wipe off the traditionally associated meaning of this word.

Great Ideas!!

2008-03-13T07:35:00.000+05:30

From now onwards i would list all the great ideas that have caught my attention. These reflect the kind of "out of the box thinking" that these people have done. Lets start:

1. secondshaadi.com: A great idea must say.We have all the matrimonials websites floating but giving it a thought to dedicate a site for second marriages is a great idea. Because in india, finding a second person of their life is not as easy as the search for the first one.

2. Internal recruitment process: Whenever there is a requirement for job companies specify the vacancy and people apply for it. Ever wondered when we apply the same process to our own people. Some companies are already doing it. Inmates apply for the vacancy in the same way as a regular applicant(not working with the company). This helps in a process called "job rotation" and allows the internal applicant to add value to his skill(lets say he wants to shift to some other technology or domain). Nice process.

3. Vodafone AD: Few day back saw this great ad. Starting with the song "kabhi kabhi mere dil mein" continues throughout the ad. The song being the same sung by the same man but at different moments of his life describing his journey from being a child to a grown up man but dominated by the same song. A person seeing the ad can never expect what would be the outcome but the way they reveal the monotonous journey is just awesome ending with "zyada gaane sunein".

Do check out the ad to fully justify it. Once i find it on youtube, ill post it!!

------------This would continue---------------------------------------------------------------

Lessons from the guitar itself!!

2008-03-08T01:14:00.000+05:30

I started off with this instrument the same way a normal person does. Never thought i would go this far and learn something which i had never expected. Although this instrument appears to be lifeless but the lessons it imparts says a lot about its human character. There are few things this instrument conveys that i would like to share with you all. Lets see it succeeds in influencing your life.

Here it goes:

There are areas in which you are not born talented.
You cannot master anything in one day.
There are 3P's that you need to follow: Passion, Patience and Practice.
More time you spend on something, more you become better.
There is a way of doing certain things.
Good guidance always helps.
Be regular.
There is nothing in this world that you cannot do.
Keep an idol who is an icon in his field.
Everything of something is better than something of everything.
You should know whatever you are playing rather than play whatever you know.
Fruits of hardwork and patience are really sweet.
Dont play for others. Instead play for yourself. Then you'll definitely enjoy.
Respect standards.
Share whatever you know. All great people share.

These bullets would definitely help a person starting off with guitar. But it has a lot to comment on our lives as well.

Jason Becker

2008-03-07T22:30:00.002+05:30

Jason Becker, an American guitarist, was born on July 22, 1969. He is a neo-classical guitarist and a composer. Those of us who dont know what neo-classical metal is all about i would like to define it in a shorter and a broader way. This genre has its influences from western classical music characterized by people like Paganini, Vivaldi, Bach, mozart etc. Yngwie malmsteen (swedish guitar player) is considered to be the pioneer in neo-classical metal. People like vinnie moore, rhandy roads have also tread this path.

Becker had picked up guitar so nicely that at the age of 16 he had formed a band called "Cacophony" with Marty Friedman(another great guitar player). Becker had studied the works of italian violinist Paganini and hence was influenced by it. His compositions include intense use of scales, arpegios (characteristic of neo-classical metal). His display of high speed alternate picking and sweep picking is a characteristic of his playing. His characteristic classical shred style playing is a treat to watch.

After working with Cacophony he had left the band to pursue a solo career and came out with his first solo album-"The Perpetual Burn". At the age of 20 he joined hands with David lee roth but soon he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(Lou Gehrig's Disease) which hampered his activity and had weakened his hands, legs etc. To compensate he started taking help of techniques which could help him play guitar easily and finally completed one more album but dint join any tour cuz he couldnt stand. To keep up his love for music and inability to play guitar he continued using keyboard but that dint last too long.

This disease had crippled his body but it did not hamper his mind. He still uses computer aided techniques to compose music. Some of the albums to his name include "The Raspberry Jams", "The Blackberry jams", "Perspective" and ofcourse "The Perpetual Burn". Several great guitarists like Steve Vai, Marty Friedman, Rusty Coolie etc have paid tribute to this great guitar player by featuring in the albums "Warmth in Wilderness I and II".

So much he had achieved at a very young age shows how great he is. Although, the disease has done a great harm to him but his love for music even after so much happening shows he truly is a "Great Musician" and no less than "God".

Official website: http://www.jasonbecker.com/
To know more about him: Wikipedia.com
Take a look at his video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYauTCAbvh8

Are we really following the western culture??

2008-03-07T12:40:00.000+05:30

I had never felt it that although i hold contrasting views about indian culture i am very much a part of it. People say we have started adopting western culture but their views are limited only to clothes we wear or the way it is getting reflected in our personalities. But is it really the case that saying "we have started following them" projects that we are really following them?.

The idea of writing this post lies in the fact that i want to put forward the education system in india and how does it fares when i compare it with that of westerners. Lets start with an indian born in a middle class family. Unware of whats gonna happen to his life after some years coming into this world, he first familiarizes himself with his near and dear ones and obviously the environment. Once he does that he gears himself for the first time he gonna see books and what kind of institution is "school". His starts off studying. He doesnt even know this word "studying" would stay with him till he is 25(provided he has an aspiring personality).

Ten years hence, he experiences for the first time what are called "Boards". He knows that his parents, friends, relatives , teachers and ofcourse he himself have lots of expectations and he has to prove it. Media doesnt stay behind. An unexpected instances of suicides wave around the country projecting some weak hearts unable to bear the brunt. But mind you this child is not amongst them. He is ready to face the challenge because thats what he has learnt all through his academic years. So a month or two passes and he scores well. He is sure that he would get a good college that would secure his future. His parents dont care about the money and deliver whatever he asks for. Lets say the child wants to pursue engineering cuz his fellow friends tell him that this is the safest option and there are lots of job opportunities. Even his parents urge him to take up medical or non-medical subjects because its the doctors and engineers that constitute the elite class in the society. He makes up his mind for engineering and starts taking tutions (which is really the essential part) because schools have started to step back when it comes to deliver quality knowledge and they are also aware that there isnt a single student who doesnt have the backing of tutions. So he takes up the laid up route and finally at the end of two more years he is ready for his graduation. He is 18 or 19 now. Finally, he has been successful in securing his future. But during the last year of graduation he comes to know there are some exams like IAS, MBA, IES etc that would put his career on high growth track. So he forgets about engineering and starts off with that luring option. In the meantime he joins his job and he is 22 or 23 at this time and still highly dependent on his parents for finance.

Luckily things go his way and he is into masters. A part of his fees is being paid up by his parents who have saved all the money for his education only. By the time he is 25-27 he is finally into services that would end up his dependency on his parent and eyes for marriage. So, this is how a middle class (majority i must say fall into this category) kid fights for his career and becomes a "MAN".

Now lets switch over to western society. I dont know but the kid starts taking up shape before the marriage and once he is recognized in the womb marriage takes place.hehe!!..As usual parents take up the responsibility of his education. One thing to notice here is that during his foundation years the child recognizes his talent and he knows studying isnt the only objective in his life and starts taking interest in other activities. lets say he is into music and starts off with learning "Drums". He takes help from his friends and forms a band with his friends. To meet up the expenses he joins a gas station or McDonalds and starts earning for himself. By the time he completes High school he knows that the time has come to be independent and earn and save money for his graduation or post graduation. So finds himself doing Job of all sorts and finally at the end of 2-3 years he plans for a graduation. Mind you his love for drums hasnt died yet . He still plays for a local band and performs in pubs etc and which helps him to live up to his dreams.
He pursues his graduation and lands himself in a decent job after the completion of his graduation. He is somewhere around 30 and still thinks that after some years into the job he would go for masters etc but for that he has to have money. His marriage doesnt affect his ambitions at all because he knows no one is dependent on him. One thing he has taken care of is, inspite of his life taking a busy turn, his interests arent affected.

So this is where it makes all the difference wherein a middle class indian finds himself under the burden of education all through his young years which has not even allowed him to pursue his intersts. He cant work in a petrol pump, neither McDonalds because people would say "His son, despite of graduating from an IIT, fills petrol at that station. what has happened?". So he does everything keeping in mind what society would feel and point fingers at his family.

There used to be a time when graduation would mean everything for the indian society. People would appreciate and respect that person. But Now graduation isnt the last step for many of us. One repercussion of this is that it has stretched the acquaintance period with books.

Last but not the least, should i be allowed to say that we indians are becoming bookish smart and the westerners "Practically Smart"????

To add i would want you to go through this link..its worth..
http://www.raisingsmallsouls.com/wp-content/themes/179/form.html

A Treatise on Barbarians

2008-03-02T22:03:00.000+05:30

Words by erudite personalities are seldom hypothesis and the adage “you have entered this world alone, so you leave it alone” is a dogma from my perspective.

The world in which we live is full of people who are beyond doubt grave egotists. Being self-centered is the only prized possession of their life. They are not what they appear from outside. Inside their hearts resides an unending quest to deceive others and accomplish their aims. They pretend as if they care for you, but the story on the other side of the coin is contradictory. No one live for others. Some people do live, but that is what we comprehend. The ultimate motive is to wait and watch till a time comes when they have reaped enough benefits from others. I want to ask one question- why do you expect that the person would waste his life to save precious moments of your life? You can never trust them. Although, we have come far off from what we were during the primitive age but we are no less than them- Barbaric and Savaged. There is no point in being an altruist. Its just a wastage of life and time too. Live for youself. Life is too short to live for oneself. So why make it shorter than ever? There is an old saying- “if you help others, God will bestow his blessings on you.” But in todays context, it would be like- “if you cannot help others, atleast don’t do harm to others, then surely God will bestow his blessings on you.”

Some people would not like to agree with the above philosophy but that means they have not been hit by an apocalypse yet and when finally they are, it would be too late and rest of their life goes into repenting.

To conclude, I would say things have changed drastically since the advent of civilization, but people are still the same- Barbaric, Self-centered and Uncivilized. The only difference being that now they don’t appear to be.

Hi all!!

2008-02-28T23:09:00.001+05:30

Hi everyone...
So finally i have decided to write a blog. Its a quite common fact that everyone bears thoughts in his mind and frankly speaking there are a number of things going on in our mind but there are few people who actually jot it down all or most of them. These thoughts originate from various events that we come across in our life. Infact, there are a number of them and some of them create an everlasting impact on our lives which makes them special. Just to take it little further, i have also decided to pen down most of these so that in future if i decide to dive into my past i can do it with a click of a mouse.
Just to introduce my blog....as the name suggests this blog would be a manifestation of my thoughts, my views...anything that has impacted me.
I am sharing all this with you in the hope that it may influence your life as well....

Just to start with i would like to share with you a small poem that was forwarded to me some days back...here it goes:

This poem was nominated by UN as the best poem of 2006, Written by an
African Kid.

When I born, I black
When I grow up, I black
When I go in Sun, I black
When I scared, I black
When I sick, I black
And when I die, I still black

And you white fellow
When you born, you pink
When you grow up, you white
When you go in sun, you red
When you cold, you blue
When you scared, you yellow
When you sick, you green
And when you die, you gray
And you calling me colored??

Take care...