sarsiZ = Sarsij

Sirf Pyaar!!!! ... what a turn off boss!

2011-08-16T21:15:00.000+05:30

Disclaimer: This post has been copied from another blog - The Boy in us ;) , so if you like it appreciate my copy-paste creativity, if you hate it...let it be! ;)

Are you in love? Ok, at least you think you are in love (from the symptoms which you have gathered after watching hundreds of bollywood movies). You consider yourself to be one of the worthy candidate to spend the rest of your life with the ones you have been dreaming about lately. Well, I blindly trust your love for the person, and I absolutely respect your emotions for the lucky person.

Ok. So you are in love. You have been day dreaming a lot, and you have been putting off all your desires and dreams to fit yourself into the life of ‘that’ person. You are also thinking of committing yourself to the relation and are committed to meet her expectations at any cost. Be it quitting smoking and drinking, or be it rash driving or even watching other girls. You are determined to give everything for this relation. I know you will! But is this enough? Well, Honestly….No!

Whether you are a guy or a girl, Whether you are a husband or a wife, whether you are into a promiscuous relationship or whether you are into a completely legal relationship. Whoever you are and whatever you do, keep it mind – Just Love is not enough, even if your feelings are religiously pure.

We human beings are so programmed that we need something extra. As in, if you go for your favourite food for which you have been craving since weeks, you need something extra at the same cost – say, the ambiance of the place or the friendliness of the waiter who serves the food. The food will taste equally good even if the ambiance is not so great or the waiters are not so friendly, but we just need something more. And the same applies to our relations as well – We just dont need only love.

Don’t believe me? Ok! Take another example. Once a professor of human behavior conducted a research on his ex-students. He invited a few of his ex-students for a discussion over tea. He started the discussion by asking about every one’s life after college. Each one of them had his own story to tell with a central issue – No one was enjoying life as much as they thought they would. In the mean time, the professor brought tea for them in a tray and asked the students to help themselves. Each of the students rose to the call, and started choosing the cup from the tray. The professor didn’t have a uniform design for the cups, instead he had kept varied cups which were totally mismatched from the rest. Students took time to choose their most preferred cup and then at the end of it they all came back and sat at their respective places to continue with the discussion. Professor at this moment chose to make his point to the cohort – “What would have changed had you picked up any random cup which came your way first, instead of you choosing some specific cup from the lot? We are here to have our discussion and enjoy the tea, how and where does the role of cup comes into play?” The point made was clear – Human nature wants something extra. Be it in the form anything. We are never satisfied with the crux of the matter, instead its always the garnishing which picks out attention more, even though it has no role at all in the crux of the matter.

Coming back to the issue of love. If you ever thought that its only love which will make you through, you are watching too many movies or reading too much fiction. All those who just loved, always failed. Always!

If you don’t know how to garnish your presentation, your love is as good as nothing. Trust me one this, love carries no value in itself – It’s one of those commodities whose supply is overshooting these days on every campus, every office and inside every boundary wall. Its as good as saying ‘Love You’ without a rose. or saying ‘Happy anniversary’ without a diamond ring. No body cares whether you are cheating or double timing when you girlfriend is away, what matters if that whether you can build a story where you are able to prove that you missed her so terribly that you tried cutting your veins but you couldn’t get a sharp enough razor. The person listening to all such stories is a complete fool, trust me he/she is a complete fool, you have to just try to sell your story. Its the story they are interested in, not your love. Love is cheap, everyone loves these days, they will get the moment they want.

So my dear friends, whoever you are, girl or a guy, a wife or a husband, it doesn’t matter whether you love the person sitting infront of you or not, whether you are cheating on her or not, whether you drank last night (against her wish), or whether you still went for that office party where boy-friend asked you not to go …. keep just one thing in mind, you have to garnish your story well, the person listening to your story is a complete fool, he would believe it if you present it properly. Yes, sometimes you might have to add the severely-emotional stuff to put flavours in it, but never under estimate its power – they will work!

There is a strong similarity between a person in a relation and a person watching a News channel. The core purpose is to get the news, but your duration of stay on that particular channel depends on how beautiful the anchor is or how deeply visible her cleavage is. That’s how much foolish our minds get while in a relationship, its not looking for the news anymore (which was the sole purpose why a person was watching the channel) instead it depends on the appearance of the anchor!

and if you wonder how and why I know all this? Well, I thought love is everything between two people and eventually I paid the price of my blasphemy. At least you guys and gals can take a lesson from here. Go learn garnishing. Good Luck!

Abbe Kutton! Ye Kya Kiya?

2009-11-25T16:03:00.001+05:30

Disclaimer: Even if you remotely love Dogs......please dont read this one......after reading this page, your Dog might disown you......or you might die of heart-attack after listening to all the wrong-doings of your dog!

Last time when I posted here......I guess Salman was young and he was still busy with the filming of Andaaz Apna Apna,.....Aamir was not a big star, and he still believed that Award functions are supposed to be attended......Tendulkar used to miss his centuries every now and then......and Shoib Akhtar was still called as Rawalpindi Express.........and finally.....guess I used to be at least a year younger..... but who on this earth missed my blogs? I doubt any of the rational thinking human beings would have gone crying over that fact that they are not getting enough crap to read.....

Absenteeism reason, though I fairly believe that you would care more about the white shirt of the other guys and the ear-ring of some girl rather knowing the reason for my absenteeism, ranges from being busy with the slightly less ugly housemaid which I recently employed at my house, to, being pretending to work hard at one of the 'not-a-run-of-the-mill' B-Schools. (But I tell you sometimes it sounds niche to be talking about B-schools in your blog). And I tell you all this while I have been having a great time here in this country while studying in this institute........no more phone calls from all those managers, clients, mummy-papa, garg etc........bas din mein class attend karo........aur raat mein movie dekho....everyday! no more tension of going to office...reporting anyone....bas aish karo.... :) ... did you get a feel of the kind of B-School I am at?

But this being such a moment of the semester when I have to choose which way I need to go......either to become a topper or a second-topper......I am giving way to the inferior souls and let them work hard while I kill some time here (ok......that topper thing was a shameless lie). The actual reason is that I do not have anything left in my hard disk which could be considered worth watching......and those videos which are kept in the hidden folder have already lost the charm after I have discovered that my room-mate has an even more exotic and choicest collection.........looking for a moment when he gets over with his daily session with his hidden folder.

So having figured out that I have nothing better to do at this point in time let me talk for the rest of time with my pseudo-intellectual capacity and at the same time some capacity building for the class-participation for tomorrow. ya.....class-participation(CP) is one of those hallowed terms in this institute, which was originally meant to be constructive and fulfilling for the other students in the class......but lately it has been found that it's not the CP which has the maximum practitioners in any given batch, instead its the derived variants of CP which have more advocates and practitioners.......well some of the most hallowed variants are - D-CP...D for Desperate.......G-CP....Gas........BS-CP......ofcourse thats for Bull-Shit.......and the recent addition has been the A-CP......bole to...After-Class CP.......in the lingo of the place where I belong to, this term is more closer to the meaning of licking-off......god knows licking what.....but thats how it looks like.......

having talked of the CP...........its important for me to let you all know that till now I have been able to do a lot of Gas-CP........but I see there is a lot of competition from my class-mates to reach the bottom of the measurable quality......but in the true spirit of competition, I guess I will take on all those guys in times to come.....wait till the next class.

I know, you are either bored.....confused....tempting to put labels like 'idiot' or 'bakwaas', but chill.....I was just talking to myself convincing myself that how can I be one of the best Bull-Shitter in times to come......you know, actually the competition is so tough here that it leaves you nuts!

Anyway.......lets talk about some of the better things here...........Pool is one of the most fascinating things for me........actually it has always been fascinating to me.......but the most important part is that somehow or the other I am still maintaining the old tradition -- dive into the pool only after drinking.........I mean pour a few pegs into my mouth and the only place on this earth where I insist to visit is the nearest pool.......I mean, be it India......or anywhere else.......once a Pool lover, always a pool lover........huh! I am proud of myself.

Had I been in India this month, my manager would have probably committed suicide.......my clients would have started looking for a technology switch.....and my mother would have played all the past episodes of 'Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahut Thi' to revive the importance of married life in me.........I mean can you imagine, all my chaddi-friends have decided to marry in the month of Nov & Dec 2009.........my inbox looks more like the 'Happy customers speak' section of shaadi dot com!!!!!!! All have been shamelessly inviting me to their marriage, as if Katrina Kaif has left Salman for them.......Saalon! get ready for a mental assault equivalent to Himesh Reshammiyaa's 'Aye Huzooor.........Tera Tera Teraaaaaaaaaaaaaa Suroooooooorrrrr' .... Can you feel the music my dear friends?

And in the spirit of friendship....trust and brotherhood.......I am trying to remind you all 'now-married' friends.......remember how we used to be? Our life used to be much like those stray dog on the streets......itchy, barking at all the wrong hours of the day, but independent...self-indulgent....and Happy!......We drank and lived in houses where even the worst of the worst dog would never agree to stay, because we enjoyed each others company, and not the pleasure of the cozy houses.........we got stumped by even the silliest of the girls.....and we rejected even the best of lots, because we took pride in proving our worth to each other.......at the very thought of it, we left jobs because we wanted to go out that weekend....afterall we were independent souls (and, I still am!). Do you remember that line - 'abbe kuttey! abhi sone de! .... aaj office jaane ka mood nahin hai'.....and what about this one, while sitting in one of the malls - 'Aao Raani'...what about those bike races behind those slow kinetics or a scooty.........yaar tum saalon life ko miss karne waale ho.......because I tell you we belong to this very character known as - Kuttey! .....And we look better and happier only when living like Kuttey! and since I have never heard of a Shreef Kutta.....so how can you be one?

Khair......mujhe yakeen hai kutton.......ki tum saalon....kameeno.......shaadi ke baad bhi hamesha hin kuttey rahogey......kuttey humare naam ki pooja kartey firengey fir bhi humare jaise kameeney-kuttey nahin banegey!

haan haan jaa raha hoon

2009-06-19T12:49:00.006+05:30

What if you have to move out of the city where you landed up staright from college and started your so called 'career', earned struggling salaries (in corporate paralance, peanuts) and got so many useless credit cards (by virtue of opening a new salary account), travelled in cheapest air-fares, paid thousands per annum to the auto-wallas and the 'dynamic' traffic police-walla, and paid at least a lakh ever year to the 'Bar & Resturant's of your area; Getting kicked out by the land-lord every 6 months, changing organizations at the very feeling that - This manager sucks!, and girls......O ya, I guess I did try my luck at a new girl every week,.....or if the girl was not new, I tried to have a recheck on my luck factor. (And do I need to tell that I have always failed.....guess not!)

I couldn't believe all this is going to end so soon, or at least will take a pause for a while (ok ok for many months to come). God know how you will feel if something similar happens to you, but this is what happened when I disclosed my feelings to the people during my so called 'parting meet', when I told them that I would be soon away from their eyes......

Non-Males : Do I know you? {me : <"Thank God! She doesn't know me"> }

Females : So What.....What do you expect me to do?

Female Friends : Good Luck! Keep trying you luck!

Female (more than) Friends : Dhokhebaaz.......F#$% Get Lost! I Hate you!

Eye Candies : Oh!! ..... Lets go for a movie/lunch/dinner/pub this weekend.

Fresher Colleagues : Sarsij Bhai....ab sutta maarne kaun le jaayegaa

Same Level Colleagues : What! You are changing company or what? Yaar mera bhi resume forward kara dena

Thoda senior Colleagues : Good......lekin plz ab jaldi hin shaadi kar le yaar.....dont torture yourself

Thoda Jyada Senior Colleagues : Going for higher studies!!!!! Do you get so much time to think about such things even after these many years? Meri shaadi to job ke 2nd year mein hin ho gayi thi.

Sabse Chota Manager : Haan , you should leave for the good of the team......waise bhi we should have kicked you long back.

Chota Manager : Oh good.....now at least I dont need to worry about a guy screwing up the whole project.

Bada Manager : Ya, I got to know that ..... so where from here? And why? Whats the use? Go join your father's business. [I tell you - Never ever tell anyone in your office that your father has a business]

Sabse Bada Manager : Sarsij! If you trust me.......you dont need any MBA......you only need a course in discipline......And if I were to do something for you - I would have FORCIBLY sent you to serve Army and that too at the bottom-most of the hierarchy! {God! Am I in India? No I just felt that I am in Korea or Israel}

And to all this I had just thing to say - Haan Haan Jaa Raha hoon......{You will know my value someday! }

And when I told the same to the guys I know......there were some obvious and well known answers.......eg, old class-mates said - saale daaru party de ke jaana, ...my flat-mate was happy to finally realize that he would be the whole & soul owner of the TV remote as well as a complete ownership of the internet bandwidth, ...my closest gang has started to abuse me because I have not been spending my last few days with them.......and quite possibly they could give me parting bumps, keeping in view the tradition to kick the ass at the very thought of something happening only once a year (eg B'day....new job.....engagement....shaadi......any other misc occassion like getting a new GF.....etc etc)

Well, for all those of you who still can't believe that I am going away from Bangalore, and will not see them for quite a long time, here is my final warning - Mai Sach mein jaa raha hoon......and in case I have some money/book/DVD/phone/etc to give you back please contact me at the earliest.....or else be prepared to blame me for no reasons.........however tall your claim might be, I wont be able to help you.

So guys help yourself........meet me, and recover whatever you have left at my disposal, because mai ..... ja raha hoon.......haan, haan sach mein jaa raha hoon!

Added Later:

The typical approach of an IT Guy towards office, work and other things in life

A typical day in an IT company (well, wish life could have been like this everywhere :) )

A funny video trying to present a typical habit of girls in an organization :)

ek dum fresh

2009-05-06T02:59:00.005+05:30

ek dum fresh bole to.....ek-dum aaj ka experience hai......

Today I was travelling in the Indian Airlines/Air-India/Indian flights........and I must say.......after the opening up of the Indian skies for the private players, it was my second trip in the Indian Airlines plane(s). Needless to mention that the high point of all my air-journies have been the air-hostess. [Air-Hostess is one topic on which I believe I have gathered a whole lot of information, and if someday I try my hand at business, I would probably open a Air-Hostess training academy. (arre bhai ... already there are thousands of institutes for Engineering, Medical and MBA, so this remains to be the only logical avenue)].

Hitharto unknown, I saw a new face of the Air-Hostess fraternity, courtesy......Air-India/Indian-Airlines........

Eversince I was a kid I had a huge fascination for the air-journies, and I guess it was year 1991 when I boarded my first flight from Ranchi to Delhi (which had nothing less than 3 stops en-route : Patna, Gorkhpur and Lucknow), for the first time I saw the air-hostess aunty, who was not only serving the food, but also cleaing the place, and at the same time was also capable of speaking english which remained undecipherable to me and my entire family on board. If nothing else, I was at least amused to see those english speaking aunties.

And today after 18+ years after that first air-journey I guess there was just one difference in the whole scene - those english speaking aunties have grown up by 18 more years, and nothing else has changed. Looks as if Air-India or Indian-Airlines has decided that they will continue with these aunties until they cry and beg for their release from such a job which is meant to be done by dynamic young girls.

On one side we have Mallaya saab.....who claims to have hand-picked those red coloured butterflies for his guests in his Kingfisher arena, and on one side we have these sari-clad women who are showing no signs life while on board. The public announcement appeared more as a formality rather than informative, and the service was as lifeless as Rahul Dravid in the 45th over. Female crew-members were either over-aged or absolutely useless.

The smile which you get while boarding and the see-off are ofcourse plastic and un-natural in all the flights, but it was slightly ironic to see the complete absence of the same in this case, and it did raise some questions in my mind - Are these ladies/aunties are not paid enough to be smiling on their duty? Or are they facing the same which Jet Airways did to its employees few months back? God knows whats the actual reason.

If I were to draw a parallel between the kind of service I got to the kind of job I am required to do in my day-to-day work, it will be something like this one - While attending the conf-call with the clients I give all the status report, explain them the technical details of the work done, and at the end I say 'Please dont call me again, because I am not enjoying my work'. Ironical and disgusting!

Well, all was not that bad in the flight.....there was definitely a high point during the journey. A co-passanger was quite a known personality and it was pleasing to see that such a towering person maintained such a low-profile during the whole journey. Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the man is a politician of Bihar and can be always seen on TV during this election season. I got a chance to talk to him for quite some time and it was a pleasure to realise that he entertained a common man like me even though he was quite busy with own work.

In past I have seen and met many other towering personalities (and mostly on flights or the air-ports), and have seen the kind of distance they maintain and the air they create around themselves. (By the way, while I was travelling for the first time in air I got a chance to shake hands with Mr Jagannath Mishra, the ex-CM of Bihar, courtesy....Papa, or else how do you expect me to recognize the ex-CM of Bihar at that age?? Later I met many more like Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar, etc etc).

Coming back to the flights and air-hostess, and adding a new angle to the story with the politicians travelling in the Indian Airlines flights, how many of you know that Ram Vilas Paswan (yet another big personality of Bihar Politics) has married a Air-Hostess, the affair started while in the air and it ultimately resulted into the marriage of two domains - Politicians and Air-Hostesses. God knows how many more politicians followed the foot-prints of this politician, but it is certain that Indian Airlines didn't like the attrition which came as a consequence of the 'love, while in the air' and hence it took the most stringent effort by not recruting the new and young staff members and hence save the young politicians like Rahul and Varun Gandhi from falling (in love) while in the air.

Added later : See Mallaya saab is again saying that he has handpicked his crew members.....

Dev D

2009-04-14T19:36:00.006+05:30

Do you remember those Doordarshan days? When even the best efforts to create awareness among people (w.r.t. population control, safe sex, female contraceptives etc ) went absolutely hay-wire just because the India was not ready to accept the fact that the word Sex could ever make a respectable and meaninful sense. Either the TV was muted, or the kids were sent to bring water or the newspaper to kill those moments when such advertisements were aired.

Gone are the days, and the Liberalization braught with it an acceptable view point about the word 'Sex', and if not acceptable at least it made so much noise about Sex that no one remained untouched with the word. Good or Bad, but at least such ads are acceptable and even if the TV remote is handy, we try not to change the channel.

With Globalization and Liberalization being a part of our day-to-day life since more than a decade, its easy to find people expressing themselves more and more openly than ever. And Dev-D being one those expressions in the market these days. No wonder, the director has picked up all the clues from the contemporary society and a backbone which dates back to the original Devdas written by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhay.

Dev is one among us who grows up in an India going through the phase of transformation, and tries to maintain a mix of both within him. Paro and Chandramukhi of this setup belong to different ages, and Dev finds its difficult to match up to the change offered to him.

Dev-D is fully loaded with Free Sex, Drugs, alchohol, prostitutes, scandals, promiscious relations, skin show, and rich brats. But aren't these elements a way of India's collective hypocracy? Pick up anything shown in this movie and you would be surprised to note that none of them are unknown to the Indian society. Either the MMS scandal, Hit and Run episode, or the PaharGanj for its 'jugaad', everything which we might (and bound to) term as a taboo has been picked up from the real-life and are very much functional even today. So whats a taboo then?

Devdas, since ages and across all the movies spawned around the idea has always been treated as someone who chooses death as a part of his destiny. Devdas always dies for his mistake (you remember that dilaogue - 'You drink till death'). But this movie gives a refreshing break to the old setup and makes him choose life for the first time ever. Such a positive break-away from the old setup would not have been possible unless these were the times of Liberal thoughts. And I welcome this movie as one which is heralding the liberal thoughts.

[Points to look forward to in the movie - Emotional Atyachar and the youngest and the most sensible Deol ever].

Dev D trailer video below.....

Beete Haftey ......Haftey nahin bey! Maheeney

2009-04-12T23:11:00.006+05:30

No new posts in the last eight weeks, and people have started thinking that I am married and now the only thing I could be going through at my end is - Ghar ka Kaam Kaaz, aur Shaam ko Biwi ki maar-kaat!

Nahin Nahin Girls! ...... dont run for the Phinyle Bottle.....or the Rat Poision.......I am still up for the grabs, and if you believe you are the lucky one who can afford this Indian Elephant......please go ahead and send in your nominations......

Last eight weeks, uff!.....I was as usual not working (= Working Hardly!)......and neither on a honeymoon trip.....or the 'videshi hyped' spiritual trip or backpacking.......was basically fooling around. In plain language its could be termed as Paid Honeymoon (nahin re! not the actual honeymoon).

Travelled almost entire length and bredth of India...stayed at home.....attended friends marriage parties.....(and ofcourse yaar, I did dance like a donky at each one of them. Sometimes I tried dancing on that Nagin theme song......but could never get the level of appreciation which I aspire for).

By the way I must tell that this is the marriage season in the Northern part of this nation, and seems the whole of India is shaking it hips........either to the tunes of the 'Nagin' theme or the 'Ye Desh Hai Veer Jawano Ka' ... I know, its difficult for you to believe that in a marriage why would someone even think of playing this patriotic song.......but try asking this question to any of the 'Shaadi Band Master' and you will get to hear that this particular patriotic song is a typical way of concluding the 'Baraat party ka waahiyaat Dance show' in the North of India....when people just thank god for having reached the place where they wanted to reach even after having drunk in quantity which could be measured only in buckets (per head).

[Added later : If you are feeling that I am only one who dances on Ye Desh Hai Veer Jawanon ka.....then read this post from one of my dear friend Nishchaya!]

See, even Karnataka CM, Mr BS Yediyurappa was receieved on the beats of this very song.....Ye Desh Hai Veer Jawaano Ka.....

But getting back to past eight weeks.........these are few of the recollections.......

- My parents, being fed up with my evergrowing desire to remain an Unmarried And Available Bachelor (not necessarily Deserving too), did persuade and pressurize me to tie knots sometime soon.........but you see I am a hopeless optimist.....I believe marriage is one thing where both parties suffer......and if the suffering could be delayed by a few more months or years, then why not!! So this season the shaadi-chase has been put off on a new kind of lucrative idea fuelled by my sheer ability to run-away from things........well, I would soon be moving off to a place far from the present locality of 'sasta-type ka unlimited STD' conversation country.......and this time for higher education........na to daily phone pe baat hogi, aur naa hin ye topic aayegaa......ab to week mein sirf ek baar hin baat karni hai....wo bhi sirf ees baare mein ki - Mummy! padhai ka bada tension hai....Mai to Fail Ho jaungaa .. please mere liye bhi thoda pray karna!

This is known as shifting the tension......Tension Lene ka Nahin..Dene Ka!

- Have you recently watched the Deodrant ads!!!! Yaar I believe Deodrants would soon be sold with a 'Condom Free' offer. I mean pick up any Deo in the market, and the only 'Sell-able' purpose of a Deo has reduced to just one thing - To Seduce a woman while you are passing-by. Or, if you one of those who is not interested kind of guy , or is unluckily a family-walla guy, then the deo will create such a sensation that the girl would herself get attracted to you just like a Dog would sense things in his case.

If above is what is the actual use of a deodrant, then I guess the smartest thing Govt of India can do is to make it compulsary to give-away Condoms for Free with every Deo bottle. The Number of Condoms to be given away could be decided upon by measuring the volume of the Deo being sold, and the kind of person who is buying it - I mean a Sales Guy would definitely need more number condoms per day because he is bound to meet a much larger number of females, as compared to a Software Guy (who would hardly meet one in weeks).

- Since parents insisted that I should meet at least a handful of the 'could be wife' girls shortlisted by my family members; and even after my absolute resistence to this very act of seeing someone and then asking some absolutely silly and meaningless questions and then expecting after an hour that I should answer in YES or NO that 'Will this girl be good as your wife?'.

I escaped the above for many many days, but once I HAD to, under certain emotional-atychar circumstances, to which I had drafted my own version of the discussion that I would have with the girl.....I chose to face questions instead of asking anything.....and gave the girl a complete advantage which was meant to be so called 'enjoyed' by the guys till date.

Without revealing much about what all I was asked by the lady.........all I can say that Girls concerns are still very very trivial and from the stone-age era.

On one side, girls believe that Kitchen part of life is something 'out of fashion'and it should be always left for someone else, living with guys parents around is something Very Difficult for a modern girl of this age, Mummy-ka-Beta category guy is 'oh! so boring', the girl should be never interrupted in her decisions esp when it would come to nukri and kid(s). And there are N other criteria which are of equal idiotic equivalence.

And on the other hand, Girls parents should always be sacrosanct, the guy should be financially capable to afford things [or else how would a 'naazo se pali' beti would survive], be it recession or anything for the rest of the world - The Guy must have his own house and a lambi waali car, if the guy is capable of cooking - well and good (or else, try learning it in the courtship period), and N*N other requirements (mostly dealing with the money and materialistic things).

Ofcourse, I am not in a position to afford such a pricy girl, and its better I am not!

- Lately, I have been coming back home from work, only after the Dogs take charge of the streets, and the security guard's whistles get milder.......the biggest fun of getting back at that time is that the whole friend-list believes that you are working hard.....and the thrill associated is that while travelling back you get an equally sleepy cab-driver.......who gives your blood a reason to show the signs of rush and sometimes a complete numbness while he tries to intersect two giant trucks at a speed where the blood seems to makes a desperate attempt for a way out of the vains.

I usually make it a point to sit in the front seat besides the cab driver, so that I may understand somewhat better body dynamics and eye movements while the Desi-Formula-One driver invents his method for the madness on the road ahead.

- Was recently travelling in train after a huge gap, and all I would say is that India is showing no signs of changes here........people still believe that the best way to kill time while travelling is to abuse a politician or a political party by the use of special words which would translate to certain body parts, and abuse multiplies in its intension and the intensity if there is a shower of words which has the hallowed 4 letter word (ofcourse in hindi) appended after words which absolutely describe the relation of a man with his mother, sister etc etc.

Trust me on this......India might be rising and shining and developing, but even now if we have to show our anger to someone the first thing we do is to - shower that person with the words hinted (OK!!! described) in the above lines.

Pyaar ka official Day.......

2009-02-13T22:55:00.009+05:30

@ School Days : I Never knew that there is something called Valentine's Day, until one fine day one hippie friend from Bombay gave some gyaan about this hallowed day and its relevance in the lives of blessed souls. While I was in school, the only fitting definition of happier souls was 'the one who has a girl friend' either in actual or virtual. And we were damn unhappy and unsatisfied creatures of this world, more because we were in a ONLY Boys boarding school and even the sight of a female object used to be a high-point of the day. Ladki wadki to milne ka koi chance hin nahin tha........Valentine's Day ke baare mein hin pata chal gaya wohi kaafi tha!

@ Higher School Days : (Thank God! I was at least studying in a Co-Ed School). Lots of Girls, Lots of Noises, and Lots of Hopes. Everything was there, just the needs of the catalyzing factor was always missing. Girls as usual could be spotted talking to each other, and Guys displaying the whole quota of their 'Patna waala Pyaar'. But unfortunately, nothing ever happened ever in the whole two years, and even after those two glorious two years when I myself would have liked each girl of my class for at least one week per girl.

(By the way Patna waala Pyaar needs some clarification - One guy who likes a girl whole heartedly, and is not even bothered about the fact that the Girl is not even aware of his love and affection. The guy gets so involved with his self-acclaimed affair with the girl that he starts swearing by the name of the girl, fights with people on even single instance of the slip of the tongue. And this happens for months and years, without the knowledge of the girl. And This is know as Patna waala pyaar because this is a very common with all the Patna guys. I personally know so many Patna guys having fallen in 'one-sided' love with some girl or the other during their school/college/professional life).

@College Days : Gautam made me realize the importance of this day in words which would put all other government holidays search for a better reason to be holidays. Her words made me think strongly about the possibility of Valentine's Day surpassing the Independence Day and Republic Day in the times to come. Gandhi would be sure forgotten person, and Saint Valentine would be the Father of India. Indian Currency would no longer have the photo of Gandhi, it would be replaced by the photo of a cupid with that arrow and the Sparkling heart shape. And all this imagination was rightly fueled by the cards and other love mascots she had gifted me on the auspicious occasion of Valentine's Day. I had to believe that this is really some great day, and if I don't believe in this day then probably I too deserve to get a Pink Chaddi!

@ After College Days : Achchaa! Kal Valentine's Day hai! Ok Good! News mein dekh lengey ki kisne kisko kitna dhoya! Kis model mein ne kya khareeda aur kis celebrity ne kya kya bakwaas kiya! apna to kal bhi office hai.....aur apna valentine to wo kameena computer hai jo code ko theek se compile bhi nahin kar raha hai!

Having talked about the different phases of the Valentine's Day in my passing years........I feel it would be the right moment to speak for those who still believe in this auspicious day, and those who do not. There is no harm in being on the either side of the divide. But is it not unfair to the people on the other side when one starts to impose his philosophy or thinking to the others? Who are we to decide that what should a person be doing to his/her life....especially the ones who are grown up. I mean, I have the judicious right to choose the government for this nation, but I do not even have the basic right to choose the person with whom I want to spend my life (or at least a few years of my life). And whenever I hear the logic of 'culture' and 'western influence' then I just wonder that why don't they ban the rest of things which have come from the western society, and categorize all such acts into the criminal acts? This hypocracy is nothing but showing our true colours!

One final advice - If you like someone and the society has been playing the spoil sport, then I strongly suggest that tomorrow you come out and become the center of attraction and get caught by the Ram Sene, they will make all possible efforts to get both you married. Sara problems khatam! Papa papa...dekho aapki Bahu......!

Long Live Ram Sene.....you are doing the right thing! History will remember you!

Added Later : Watch this funny Valentines Day video

Day 1

2009-01-31T22:52:00.003+05:30

Eversince I have been trapped into the moh-maya of school/college/competitive exams I too have developed a desire to wake up early and then study for a few hours and the go ahead with the rest of the things in life [as this happens to be the biggest traits of all successful people from the old times. Remember the adage - Early to bed, and Early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise]. Alas, this remains to be a dream to even now [I first decided to do this when I was in class 10], but I have never did this. I do not mind breaking the alarm clock for committing a suicidal mistake of waking me up early in the morning. And neither do I mind my moral and sensibility running down to the sink when I start that Gaali Galoz session if someone tries to wake me up.

Lekin! ... first day here in Korea was a surprisingly different experience as I woke up on my own and without much struggle (pata nahin kaise), I was stunned as if I got some electric shock when I saw the watch - it was 4am!!! Aisa kaise hua bhai? Kaise Uth gaya mai! Kisne Utha diyaa saala! Saalon kahin kisi chinki ne mujhe neend naa aane ki dawai to nahin de di hai!!!!!! With all those thoughts I did some calculation and I came to know that its 7:30am in local time zone and if I dont reach the office in next 30 mins then this could well become my last day. Yes! Back in Bangalore I was instructed to maintain the sanctity of the 'office hours', unlike of what I did in Bangalore. So I was all charged up for a turn-up well within 8am and impress everyone (and myself).

Got ready in a jiffy [ofcourse! without a bath, temperature was already low enough to scare the hell out of me.], and as soon as I stepped out of the guest hose my instant reaction - Abbe! ye kya ho gaya? Kiske itne saare kapde dhoye hain ki saara jhaag road pe aa gaya hai! Or for that matter kahin ye surf-excel ka road show advertisement to nahin hai!!!!!!! But then I controlled my emotions and started walking on the snow [Last time I had walked on snow was a few years back when I had visited Kashmir, and trust me those experiences are still intact in my mind, who can forget the numerous spine chilling aches all over the body after falling over and over again]. Thanks to my Kashmir experience, I knew how to escape the slippery snow........but I believe some of the people are not so lucky - They fall again and again, only to forget after 15 mins [Ghajini effect hai bhai!]. So it was an interesting sight to see chinkis falling over and over again.

Girls ko dekha..........kya beauty hai bhai.......and by the time you are done judging with the facial beauty, you drop your eyes and zip zap until you are reach their skirt! Boss kya chote chote skirt pehenti hain.........lekin snow mein itne chote chote skirt! Kyun behen? Khud se koi dushmani hai kya? Pata hai recession chal raha hai....lekin plz poore kapde to pehen lena tha na? Ya fir kuch aisa khaati ho jisse ki thndd ka koi asar hin nahin ho raha????? Whatever be the reason.......it was ironic to see such minimal skirts.....when the whole world is shivering in cold and begging for some livable temperature these girls were making mockery of the weather.

At one point it looked as if these girls have formed some group against the cold weather and they have a unique way of protesting. Seems like they discuss the following among their group:

1st Girl : aaj to temperature kuch khaas nahin hai, sirf -10 degrees, maza nahin aa raha hai.
2nd Girl : kal agar -15 ho jaaye to mai wo brown waali short skirt pehen ke aaungi
1st Girl : Haan yaar....maine bhi kaafi time se -15 nahin dekha hai, kal ho jaaye to maza hin aa jaayegaa
2nd Girl : Tu bhi kuch chote skirts pehna kar. Ye kya summer waale kapde pehen ke office aati hai.

Trust me, these girls can scare any outsider by their sheer acts of bravery against the chilling cold (which has clearly affected everyone else in this part of the world). Kahin bhi dekho.......everyone is shivering, and these girls are just not bothered about the cold.

Anyway, coming back to the Day 1........ I managed to reach office in time [FYI, its just 5 min walk from my Guest House], and then I saw two people at the security gate - bending almost 90 degrees to welcome people inside office, and they did same for me. While I was passing by the security gate the only thought which came into my mind was - Boss! din mein kitni baar 90 degrees bend kartey ho? [This question was more prominent in my mind when I realized that this particular office has more than 50 thousand employees, and even if only half of the employees are welcomed in the traditional fashion, then to watt lag jaayegi bhai! Life mein kabhi Korea mein Security Guard ki post accept nahin karni hai mujhe!!!!!!!]

HR welcomed me with a genuine smile and a discomforted and de-railed english, and if the HR's english was de-railed then imagine the english of the others, especially the one who are truly into technical aspects of the work. My worries of turning into an alien were becoming clear while I was in the lift and talking to the HR Lady en route to my destined seat on the 21st floor. [While I used the word de-railed I am reminded of Lalu Yadav.....Boss if Lalu starts speaking in English in front of these Koreans, then he would truley be considered as a champion of not only the Railways revival back in India but also the English language. Sach mein!]

Initial discussions and work plans were slightly horrifying.......more because they misplaced certain english words....and secondly because they don't believe in the eye-to-eye contact..........they talk shying away from you. God knows why. Anyway......to my deep amazement while discussing I came to know that "I have to Deliver in one month!" Gosh! I was wrongly thinking that they wanted a technical person for their kind of work! [Jokes apart, they really made it clear that the pressure would be too high and I have deliver in whatever circumstances].

I was shown the coffee vending machine, cafeteria, and some of the people - who could come to my rescue whenever I am deep into the shitty codes. There is a corner on each of the floors known as 'IdeaPoint', and the specialty of the IdeaPoint is that it gives an amazing view of the whole city. This IdeaPoint on the 21st Floor became my best friend in just a couple of days........indeed a place where I could generate ideas while sipping coffee and watching those ant-sized cars on roads.

While Day 1 had nothing unusual to offer, it did leave me with a question which needs to be answered, not only by me or someone else but the we need to find a collective answer to this question - A country whose area is nothing more than the area of Karnataka State, has population of 50 million and still stands tall in global fraternity. Whereas we Indians, who are 1.2 billion in numbers (and growing rapidly); area wise we are at least 20 times larger than this country, but still we are considered as a Third World country when it comes to the global standing. Whats that one thing which lacks in India, and is making India go at a sluggish pace.

Added Later......

Know the interesting facts about Suwon, the city where I was staying

See these 3 Koran Girls dancing to a popular english song

Happy Suwon

2009-01-31T18:10:00.005+05:30

O! yes........the city I have finally reached after travelling for an hour or so from the Incheon

International Airport happens to be known as Suwon, and I dont know why it has been declared

as an officialy Happy City. I mean everywhere I see, its writte 'Happy Suwon'.

Happy Suwon reminds me of Happy Singh.....haan wohi...jo har hindi film mein hota hai....

..he drinks....he dances like a dog......and gets happy at each and every moment, and how should

we forget those emotional moments when he is even ready to cry for no reason. A true sardar...

straight from Bollywood!

Whatever be the reason behind this city being known as Happy Suwon, all I know is that I have

to sleep at the earliest so that I may wake up early tomorrow, as it happens to be my first day at

office tomorrow in this videshi (and chinki) land!

Good night!

PS : Sorry for an unusually short post, but then I am too tired to do anything but to sleep;

but you watch the video I have searched after reaching the guest house :)

in transit

2009-01-30T17:16:00.005+05:30

Since the day I have told people that I am visiting Korea, the instant questions fired are one of these.......

- Are you OK with Non-Veg food? Wahan to suna hai ki kuch bhi khaa lete hain.

- South Korea ja raha hai ya North Korea?

- Chinki girls kaisi lagti hai tujhe?

- Kitne time ke liye ja raha hai bhai? (Bhai!!!!! aakhir kab tak?)
- Wahan to kutton ki tarah thandd padti hai.

and after the question on chinki girls question, thing start to get nasty.....and are better left for you guys to imagine.

{ But I must tell, that everyone was so much worried because I was going out of their sight and this almost made me realise my value in the lives of the others. O god! I suddenly feel so good about myself! :) }

Bollywood has almost spoiled the whole nation with the concept of beta going to videsh that even simple people like my parents (who would rarely watch movies) were emotionally traumatised about the fact that pata nahin unke bete ke saath kya kya hone waala hai........they had to actually come down to Bangalore to see me off.......and to add to their worries and fears.....saale terrorists has also warned the Govt of India that they will blow off all the important air-ports. So this emotional trauma and the security threat made my parents even more religious towards their 'see off' duty......as if they were to going to hand over some important nuclear device into the safe hands.....and then sign off saying - 'Delivery Done'.

It was actually an experience to see the difference between the various air-ports.........and all I can say is that BIAL by all international standards is a damn third class air-port......and just to highlight the level of catching up to be done.......Hong-Kong (HKIA) airport has 82 terminals (as compared to the 22 terminal at BIAL), and if this was not enough then Incheon airport has 120 terminals........there could be several reasons for such a huge air-ports, but then when I am reminded of the whole drama connected with the BIAL (in the recent past), I am actually surprised that why the hell did they always present as if they are going to give us a world-standard air-port.....when its actually not. Anyway....

Korea welcomed me with the mild snow-fall......and it felt instantly romantic and warm....just that person who had come to receive me was a lean and thin Tamilian....and he invited me by saying - 'Welcome saar..how was the flight-aa' .. I instantly crashed with the reality and the futility of getting those romantic thoughts.

Reached korea.......kal se nayi life......and ho sake to ek chinki wife :) .... god willing!

Haan...one more thing - On the window seat, next to mine........there was a chinki girl.......I tried talking to her.......(ab wo thode na try karegi...mujhe hin karna tha).....she talked to me 4 times......2 times while she wanted to step out of her seat.....and the rest 2 times when I was almost sleeping on her shoulder........badi cute thi yaar....

Added Later - Internation Airports I came across......

Bangalore International Airport

HongKong International Airport

Seoul Incheon International Airport

jaldi jaao yaar! Plz

2009-01-13T07:45:00.009+05:30

Disclaimer : aaj mood thoda introspective hai. Might be a spoiler for many!

13 days into the new year and looks like nothing great is happening in this new year too [and I am not talking about the Satyam fall-down or the SENSEX not picking up or Kasab remaining to be an alien from a different planet/galaxy or the World Bank banning WIPRO too, instead I am talking only about myself].

By no means I am one of those who set resolutions on the new year eve, and then after the second week into the new year forget about all those resolutions and live life as it was always. {I personally believe that resolutions are more like 'wish-lists', we just wish them to come true, and that too without any effort. I have made all such wish-lists while I was in schools and colleges, but the lesson was taken then and there, Resolutions = Wish-lists, thats it!} Anyway, in past 13 days I did nothing new or constructive as such, neither did I do anything soulfully fulfilling. And this gives me a feeling of the last year.

While I looks back to my past 13 days, or for that matter looking back into the past hundreds of days, all I get back is a extreme sense of emptiness. Emptiness w.r.t. meaning, purpose, energy and drive. What I have been doing in all these days could be summed as below, and one could easily derive the consequences or after effects of the same.

if the day is a weekday & its not a public holiday:
get up.......feel pity on yourself about getting up early........curse the day for not being a saturday/sunday.........curse the whole office........get ready and leave for office........@ office, kill some time gathering information about what has to done.....set plans or work on the plans imposed on me..........have lunch...........surf the net...........chit-chat/dogging(insted of bitching).........kill the rest of office time either working or pretending to work.......the day gets over.........somehow reach home.......and then drink [if there is nothing to watch in the TV]...or do some aimless net-surfing again for hours.........do some unwelcome chatting.....have dinner...and the sleep. {unwelcome chatting's biggest characteristics are these few words used often by the person on the other side - 'aur batao', 'hmm','huh','haha','smily or smilies', and its expected that you only keep typing the messages (because u r an idiot by birth) and the person on the other end would have all the pleasure to sit and relax and if he is willing enough to respond then he/she will pass on those hmms and huhs or smilies! All those of u are Big time suckers!!}

on Friday evenings.........drink till I reach a mindless level.........and get emotional over issues dating back to years and even decades.........and then when the eyes reject the request to remain open and body cries for some rest and make me fail in your attempts to move out of the bed......I sleep!

Weekends give a sigh of relief that you did not miss your office today, and when I see the watch I get to realize that I have already killed a good amount of the weekend. And the the normal chores of life begins.............see missed calls, call them........explain that you miss him/her so much.......and the life continues............till I reach the Sunday evening.....when the feeling creeps into the mind that - For next 5 days I have no life, just a mindless wandering over some codes and keep spelling out unrelated and impractical words like project, dead-lines, commitment, client etc etc. And the weekend is over!

I am not sure this is the case only with me, but I fail to explain myself that this could have a meaning too [at least for so many people I know]. I tend to feel that my life has started to revolve around only the 5 days, rest 2 days goes only in sleeping and finding a purpose of this life.

I wonder how people keep themselves engaged and spirited to something for the whole of their life. How come people manage to keep the spark alive somewhere inside them. All this is something which puzzles me to an unimaginable extent.

I would not say that I am being over-worked and hence I am starting to show the signs of a cramp. Instead I have been lucky have got a right working environment always. I have been lucky to have got friends who could energize even a dead mass. I am lucky that I don't have any financial obligations to meet. Basically I am lucky on all accounts, if I see it in measurable terms.

But as soon as the matters shift their direction towards the abstract things, things start to change colour. I don't know why things do no excite me, like it used to do until college days came to an end. No challenge seems to be challenging enough to keep me on my toes and energized. No relation seems excites me to the limit which I had during my first relation. No one seems to be as convincing to me as convinced I was during my second affair.

I wonder why things have stopped kicking me and why life has stopped to offer a high. I was never like this. Until few years back I was someone who used to create challenges for himself and then surpass the same. But ab pata nahin kya ho raha hai.

I believe it was some very long time back during my school days I wrote a poem for the annual school magazine .........it actually didn't get published because the teacher felt that I have copied it from somewhere...........but the starting lines of that poem are my life-time best lines.....and somehow matches my sentiments at this point of time -

'Each day the man with-in me dies,
and tomorrow's death will be deeper than today's.

My Heart looks more like a cactus,
and each day I water it with jealousy, greed & blood'

.
.
.
.
[I believe, no one would be interested in reading a class 8th standard guy's poem ]

{It was not that I could predict my present state back in my school days, instead I was writing about the growing inhumanity and insensitivity in the world, I was targetting the crime, dowry, war etc........and the name of the poem was 'The Death of the Man'....but it never got published ever.....but its still there with me in one my school diaries.......if anyone gets too emotional about the whole thing...then he/she can ask it from me.....I would feel oblized to hand-over my first ever poem into your name.}

I have some long history of self-imposed challenges..........and I did all that I could have done to meet those challenges.......
- once I got a self-doubt that I am not at all comparable to IITians........so.... to clear that doubt I spent some 3 months in two of the IITs and rubbed my shoulder with them. Once satisfied, I felt the challenge was not big enough.
- people said Microprocessors is such a tough subject, and ever tougher challenge is to handle Sukku (the prof). I did all under the sun to make this subject look like a fodder size in front of me, and sukku.....well my ECE batchmates would know better about that final viva-cum-lab exam. And the immdiate realization was that this Microprocessor issue was nothing more than the 'Bisleri packaged into Vodka bottle'.
- people said campus recruitments are easy to get, try getting a off-campus job. Yes sir, challenge accepted. I did get a couple of offers by my sole effort. This challenge would have provided much more resistance in the present circumstances. Saala time se pehle hin pass ho gaya!

MBA ka ek sapna tha...........wo bhi finally mil gaya...........and now sitting aimless.......much like a loaded gun waiting for a tiger in the city park :(

Some people said that all such things are a passing phase, I wish that its the same in my case too. My huge worry these days is that what would actually start to excite me again, and how to find that. Guys need your help again [and please don't ever suggest me about shaadi, that would be nothing less than a killing experience for me.]

[Many of you might feel that I am going through all these feeling just because I am too far from friends, and family right now. But trust me, eversince I have started working I am getting this feel about my world.]

And before I end this post, I must write that - I haven't forgot about the korea stories at all....infact they are already composed and new articles are getting added each week......but abhi post karne ka mood nahin ban raha hai :( , so guys kindly excuse me for the time being. Waiting for this phase to pass.

Hope this too shall pass soon........jaldi jaao yaar! Plz

*Edit 1: Read one energizing article 'Keep the Spark Alive' by Chetan Bhagat, delivered as a speech to Post Graduate college students @ Pune

*Edit 2: By sheer curiosity I typed the word 'introspection' in YouTube only to get a video by a spiritual guru of India who is talking on the topic in Hindi. Watch the video below. And do note the irony of this post......I started with being drunk, and ending with a total oxymoron :)

2008, that was!....don't know what!

2008-12-31T19:08:00.006+05:30

If i were asked to give a title to my personal diary of year 2008, then probably I would give it the name 'The unending game of false promises and hopes', and yes I mean it. This year I have achieved new heights in not meeting the promises that I had impostered myself to commit to, and that too with a religious attitude and a gracious face. I have either mastered the skill of faking my words to sound like a promise or else I am becoming as shameless as a politician resigning with the logic of 'moral responsibility' after the crisis is met and the losses are accomplished.

I mean all what I am saying!

A glimpse of some of the unmet promises would go like this........

- someone in the office asked me to give a knowledge transfer on whatever I was working on , and then was supposed to move on to some other project. A smooth transition was expected from me, and consciously speaking it was more of my moral obligation to do so. I promised to deliver, but then remained busy (more in the self-acclaimed manner) and never did it. Later I got to know that the guy had to go through all those malicious lines of codes I had written to reach closer to what I wanted to convey there in those lines, and that too without any supporting documents (Now thats very much understandable.....if I am lazy enough not to give KT, then how could I have prepared any document for what I was doing all those months!).

- Jan,Feb, and March were months when I was busy with campus recruitment. Here, on each college campus I made some short-notes based on my experience and the interaction with the students and I was all determined to come up with a full text of the entire campus story. I even worked on the same for few weeks, and after that I don't know what took away all my enthusiasm and distracted me to an extent that even after so many months the whole file remains to be in the same state in my cabinet.

- I was supposed to train some of the trainees for their better adaptability into the software environment, by mentoring them in both the core as well the soft skills. But by the time they were away from my mentoring they had very well adapted and became skilled enough in bunking the office with ease, browsing all day at office, made our cubicles sound like one of those engineering class-rooms where the teacher is yet to enter, college lingo was back into the work space, non-smokers tasted how cigarette feels like and smokers turned into frequent smokers, guys who had had a hype about drinking started developing some constant taste and started to become biased towards the hallowed old-monk-rum; and the 'core-skills' remained the same, as I always told them 'learn only when you need to work else the effort might get wasted', and they chose to stick to this golden rule and hence their technical skills remained as good as hello.c or fibonacci.c ! and when the term ended they were asked to give feedback about me and their whole experience, and one of them wrote exactly this line in the feedback form - 'We enjoyed more than our college days' { this was meant to be a respectful comment, thats what I got to know from them later!!!!!! }

- Sept was the month when Kiran actually asked me to teach him all about the Viterbi Algorithm and how does it actually function in the decoders and its C code implementation, I knew this was tough for me to do, more because I myself know that how stressful it was for me when I had started with it, but despite all the reality and my inability to do so I did shamefully promise that I will not only explain him everything but also provide him with self-made slides and reference material for future reference. Alas! after waiting for three good months he himself has started to make efforts to understand what Viterbi saab wanted to do through his 'life-time achievement' algorithm in the wireless mode of communication. (Good for Kiran, his life and time is saved now!)

- my nephew and niece wanted gifts from their their techy uncle (thats me!) on their respective birthdays, well they were eying and hoping on some techno games or toys I could offer them. And they did inform me about their expectation much before the deadline of their birthdays, but me a proved jerk by now, has made their wait longer at least by an year :(

- Garg expects me to look more like a human being, if not smart and handsome. And I promised her to deliver her the same at least twice, each week. But at the very temptation of looking like Mangal Pandey I let that mustache grow and let my hair curl along its length for months and months. All to be undone at the very moment Garg sees me in the making of 'Mangal Pandey - The Rising' getup :(

- all relatives have promised me to reimburse my telephone and restaurant bills, if only I call them in time and with some regularity (as I have always promised them). But then I am probably waiting for something else to come under the reimbursement umbrella - The Drinks and Ciggarette bills too! Although this couldn't happen in 2008, I guess 2009 would have a bigger reimbursement offer! Hope so!

Slightly ironical, but yes this needs to mentioned here, all my friends would not have much to complain against me, at least this year, I think they have seen me changing me, for sure. Yes, trust me, I am trying my best to become a team player of your definitions (the definition differs from the group to group, and I have many groups to offer my loyalty as a friend, and I currently I am adapting to the philosophy of - Largest common factor).

Hope I have not disappointed most of your expectation levels!

And before I finish writing this post - Wish you all a very happy new year, hope

you all make a genuine promise in the year to come, unlike me!

Haan haan.....kaam se jaa raha hoon!

2008-12-10T13:54:00.000+05:30

After having watched three movies back to back, and after being away from my lovely shower since past two days and itching my arm-pits at every second moment, I felt like writing something on this page, more because I myself am getting irritated over the fact that - What the hell I am doing since last two days!!!! And then I suddenly realized that all this could be for the last time, and all this would be possible only when I am back to India again...pata nahin kab!

well this could be last weekeknd before I leave India for long.......as I am actually on the verge of moving out of this country for quite some time, and there are things to which I am looking forward to, but at the same time I am sure to miss the usual life I have had for these many years. Needless to mention, but friends and relatives are the ones whom I am going to miss like anything.

kaam se jaa raha hoon.......wohi.......software engineer waala onsite assignment. I know, you are wondering that - kamaal hai yaar! isne India mein aaj tak koi kaam nahin kiya to pata nahin wahan jaa ke kya karega. Exactly! Ditto! Same to Same!!!. Even I am thinking the same. Dekhtey hain ab meri company kitne din tak tikegi!

Maintaining the tradition of not keeping any secrets about my plans, I told these things to all my near and dear ones......and a quick highlight of the conversation is captured below.......

Mummy - aise kaise chale jaaogey? aisa kya kaam hota hai jo India mein nahin ho sakta hai? Koi zaroorat nahin hai jaane ki.

Papa - Ghoom ke wapas aa jaana. Faaltu country hai wo........aur paise chahiye to phone kar dena.

sisters - You will earn in dollars!!!! Ab tum dollar mein paise transfer karna.

Ravi - yaar! I will miss you (kamine!!!!! please dont miss me ever. I start doubting myself)

Bakar Gang - *Beep* F#$% *Beep* saale.....non-veg khaana start kar dena.....aur plz wahan ki ladkiyon pe thoda sa rehem karna. {c'mon guys.....I'll miss you guys the most.....ek dum dil se}.

Manager saab - good that u r going.....at least we can work peacefully now.

Female Colleagues - We will miss your unsophesticated talks {O Really!!!!! yaar ye pehle bolna tha na}

Garg - Ab kam se kam daily ek baar to zaroor baat kar lena.

But all jokes apart, I wanted this opportunity since long, afterall we are working in Indian Software Companies and the very way of business of these companies are dependent on the work from other countries and hence going outside for work is more like icing on the cake, other benefits (like monetary benefits) are obviously there, but this one is indeed a confidence booster and a sure way to make you learn so many things in life which would remain absolutely untouched if one doesn't get such an opportunity.

There are things which are sure to be missed when I am not here in India, but then I am more optimitic about learning things right now, and getting some quality exposure is no doubt a great asset for future.

well well .... I am not really planning to settle down over there.....its just a matter of few months.....and they themselves will throw me out....... :)

and finally, before I finish writing this one, there are certain points which I wanted to say, although I am not one of those whose mother is ill and sister needs to be married soon and father needs a heart operation and younger brother still in college and needs a quick supply of college fees or else the college officials are going to throw him out and hence I should bring home some huge amount of money from Vilayat (like our hindi film heroes), but then everyone likes to earn some extra cash, and so am I. although I see it as a pure opportunity to earn confidence, skill, exposure, and some tourism along with the money and an opportunity to represent your country and showcase its culture and mannerism to others. Thanks god I got this opportunity.

PS : by the time I am posting this message, I am already sitting in Korea and since the day when I started writing this post till date so many things have changed and everything needs to be told. so just keep visiting this page.

Lunch is Free.....so is the sweetdish!

2008-12-01T21:03:00.009+05:30

Some fanatics come down to the streets of Mumbai with the most sophisticated weapons in their hands (which our army and police can only dream of), and create havoc on a fateful night, and continue to with-hold the terror for next 60 hours, and put the whole of the nation at a ransom. The whole nation watches the events on TV and keeps himself glued to the chain of events through its minute by minute updates. TV channels find a huge upward hit in their prime-time viewer ship(thanks to the timing of the terror), we all forget our daily soaps, movies and those music channels. We just want to know that what has happened in Mumbai and how things are going on at this point in time. Thanks to these 24 hrs news channels, at least now-a-days we can see whats going on and with an interpretation level decipherable by a common man (but no thanks for making the matters sound a hyperbole).

All the TV channels come out with their bit of stories and the pictures of the locations where these incidents occurred. The Journalists and the News Readers had sleepless nights, and so did the Policemen and Commandos on duty. Everyone worked day and night to either make the information available to the masses or to fight out the terror in the quickest possible manner. And it was indeed an excellent effort (and well met the end result), and any amount of great words for your exceptional work would still lack the appreciation you deserve.

The management of all these affected places (the two hotels or the hospital) made their every bit to save the maximum people without even thinking about the losses they were incurring per minute. They made the lives of all the people easier in all possible manner in their capacity at that point in time. Their business suffered, but they didn't care at all. Kudos to your spirit of doing business with a religious committment!

But while all this was happening there was one section of people (or better we should call them the demi-gods of this nation) was fast asleep. They were bothered about how to sell this incident to its people in the times to come. Someone was trying to say that 'Such incidents in a city like Mumbai are normal things', someone tried to pass on the blame and at the same time tried to self-appraise, and someone just ignored the whole event and didn't even turn up at the scene of crime. This class is none other than the Political Honchos of this nation. Who claim to be the self-acclaimed public servants, but somehow their actions differs the intended intention or the words spoken by them.

When an entire nation is working towards making India shine like never ever, and when almost all the other sectors are working day and night to make everyone think about India with a respect like never ever in the past, why does it happen that whenever one thinks about the politicians of India he get a feeling of disgust and frustration. We allvery well know that India is a nation of ironies, to an extent that it has become the most defining characteristic of this nation in front of the whole world. But still this makes me think that What could be so wrong with this particular class? Why are they like this?

What hurts this nation the most is its political system. Its political class. And the ways in which its political class manipulates things. Why don't we ever see a unanimity over any issue, even during the times of crisis? The Indian masses want to know the abyss of the bad politics these people can play. But then who is to be blamed in the very first hand?

A day after the Mumbai incident was over, and the when the introspection and analysis phase began, we got to see all possible inputs from all the domains of the society, and then, after a long time the pressure started to build upon the government (thanks to media, again). But what we saw as the first step taken by the government to tackle the issue was to sack the Home Minister (Shivraj Patil) and make someone else handle the department (in a politically correct sentence this could be written as an act of conscience and moral responsibility from Mr Shivraj Patil). And then, the Prime Minister of this nation started chanting the chores of 'Lets Unite' , 'Lets stand together', 'Its a time of crisis, and lets fight it together', etc etc.

Well well...well, I thought these guys have assembled in a room to take some strong and bold steps to fight the terror and make our nation less-prone to such sad incidents. But what I hear is noise and only noise, yet again. Incident after incident the only thing we do is to create some noise, pass on the same noise to the media, and let media churn some more noise out of the same and confuse people and then suddenly some other incident occurs and the chain of events repeats again!

But, This is what India is! And We are like this, We don't mind any amount of delay in anything and everything on this earth. We love procrastination and we also love the flowery words suger-coated with emotional value. especially at the times of crisis. We have a tradition of forgiving people, and we actually believe that forgiving is the best known human values. Sadly, we do not believe the honesty is also one of the good things, and we have forgotten the statement which tends to mean that - Duty done with utmost honest is the best service to the mankind. But as I said - We are like this, and we will never change!

(I just wonder on this statement from almost all the politicians of this nation eversince we got independence - "We are trying to start the dialogue with Pakistan"......what the hell man....since 1947 you just TRYING to start the dialogue!!!!! So when should we expect a result? Next century or after a couple of centuries?)

I fail to understand certain things - Why does the conscience of a political person awakens only after a crisis takes the form of the debate for the whole nation, and why does the person have to resign immediately after the mishap?Instead, I would prefer the same person to be in charge for some more time and bear the heat and pressure from all the sides. (By making someone resign you are actually shielding the person from all the sides, and asking him to get underground for the time-being). If Mr shivraj Patil actually had the conscience and moral responsibility then he should have resigned from the politics for the rest of his life-time, and this would have made a greater and positive impact on the future of Congress too. But, we are Indians, and we have a habit of living from Crisis to Crisis, we forget bad things as soon as we get to watch a new movie or a new TV soap, or as the festivals season approach . And I am confident that we the people of India will certainly forgive this UPA government and Mr Shivraj Patil as soon as Mrs Sonia Gandhi would start chanting the words like Gandhi, Indira, Rajiv, Balidaan, etc etc in the next election rally while acting in role of a perfect bahu for the whole of this nation. What a shame on us!!!!!

I personally believe that these politicians are to be blamed lesser than what the Indian masses are to be blamed for. Why haven't we ever asked for a better leadership? Why haven't we ever asked for any sort of accountability in politics? Why does it happen that once a government goes or a person resigns from his post, the whole trouble seems to have a 'bye bye' effect and the losses are yet again borne by the tax-payers of this nation? (would you believe that this Mumbai Incident has left behind the losses which would be at least 50,000 crores. Who will make up for this loss? Certainly it wont be the government, it will be us - the Tax Payers of this nation). Mr shivraj Patil who has resigned must be sleeping in peace now, and would sure be back into the arena as soon as the Congress starts its election campaign in few months for the upcoming election. And Mr Advani is no mood to help Congress because he very well knows that he could earn much more by giving his statements independently and putting the charges absolutely on the Congress Party Leadership.

Politics without any sort of accountability is much like saying that - 'Lunch is obviously free, but we will also make you eat the sweet-dish for free!' And I have no doubt that things will not change in times to come, afterall we are Indians and we believe in the policy of forgiveness and resilience. Keep it up compatriots!

Watch this Video, it happens to match my sentiments regarding this whole Mumbai episode here

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!

2008-11-30T14:17:00.007+05:30

A punjabi teenage guy, his friends, their pranks, and their ways of discovering fun out of their very own dilli ki galiyaan. A typical lower middle class family with their own set of troubles and fantasies of living like kings in their own domains of life and with-in the precincts of their house. This is the life of Lucky, the punjabi teenage guy. He is slightly older than his age, and he knows all the trickery to fool his father and this society. In short, Lucky is street-smart, the delhi-type street-smart!

The same lucky ages into a careless thief, who does all the nuisance out of a feeling of fun and with a soul purpose of thrill. Although, it remains unclear as to why the cute looking Lucky becomes a thief, but I guess this questions is intentionally not answered by the director. Instead the director has presented some of the traces of his dysfunctional childhood through-out the film.

Lucky goes through his own unpredictable route of robbing-loving-celebrating-and-horsing around the whole plot in this cinema, and needless to mention that it doesn't look odd even at a single point of time.

The movie starts with an unusual scene where a thug is being being treated royally by the police-walla, to be showcased as their latest catch infront of the media. And with this scene begins a laughter-riot! (pay special notice to the dialogues at this very moment and for next 10-15 mins).

Things to look out in this movie are - Lucky as a teenage (played by Manjot Singh), Abhay Deol (Lucky), Bangali (Manu Rishi) and Paresh Rawal in his triple role (and each one has its own meaningful purpose in this movie).

After having watched Abhay Deol's all the movies all I can say is that - this guy is different from the other Deols of Bollywood. He is not here in this industry to show-case his dhai kilo ka haath or kutte mai tera khoon pe jaaungaa or to show some silly dance steps and flowing hair. Since the beginning of his acting career, he has been doing films of different kind, which could be easily called unconventional. In this role too he has been a perfect fit, his boyish looks and his seamless performance as the conman. He absolutely fits into the character.

Paresh Rawal, who was probably bored doing comedies of similar kinds wanted to do something different and break that typical comedian's image. Although, he is not at his best, but is playing a new kind of image breaking role.

The biggest attraction of this movie is the background of the Delhi city, its typical accent, its people, its typical jugaadu approach. And whats more supportive is the dialogue delivery by the characters. This is one area where the director seems to have a very strong hold.

Since this is the second movie from this director after his Khosla Ka Ghosla (Dibakar Banerjee), so its almost a must that anyone and everyone would compare this movie with the first one. Although this movie can't be compared with the first ones, more because this movie lacks the connection with the masses, and its almost difficult to watch the movie again and again (unlike Khosla Ka Ghosla). This film also misses the simplicity depicted in the first one, and also the tempo.

And before I finish writing this piece, I wish to predict that - this movie is not going to create any waves in the Bollywood, instead this is just a few weeks storm for all the multiplexes. It would be a huge hit for the small screen shows either through DVDs, or through the TV channels.

Anyway, since the movie is right now up for grabs, so why not have a good laugh right away at the nearest multiplex!

happiiiiii buddaay........

2008-11-22T20:05:00.005+05:30

The dilemma of the young and still single - Yaar ek aur saal nikal gaya :( , well thats what I am thinking right now when after few hours I would be officially a year older in the Age section of all my documents. And trust me - it's slightly confusing for me to decide whether I should be happy about the fact that I am growing older and should celebrate it with a child-like enthusiasm, or should I actually sit down and jot down the things which are yet to be accomplished in life, from my end? God knows........

Since my last b'day and till date, things have changed a lot around me, and a lot means a lot. A snapshot of the changes would go somewhat like this.....

- I often try my level best to narrate a married couple's trauma in the most horrific words, and I make religious attempts from my side to make the person feel that married life is almost equivalent to crucification, and you should never ever think of marrying someone. And if my words fail to make those stories sound like one of those Ramsay Brother's horror movies then I am even ready to beg and plead that "Please don't marry". But I guess my whole 'Only Singles' community didn't take any lesson, and now most of them are ready to crash into the married lives soon. Saalon...kya ho gaya hai tumlogon ko!!!!!! And I guess the time has come when I will have to stand taller than ever and keep the 'Only singles' community flag flying high, and be a mascot of the bachelorhood. Boss its always a great idea to be single, trust me....I am loving it!

- I have seen people losing their confidence and trust on the concept of loving and marrying someone, and committing themselves for a lifelong relation. But then this year was a different year in a very special manner. I saw all those college time 'heroes' falling in love, again. And they are loving it to an extent which was probably unexplored until the recent times. I feel happy for them, and just wish that even if they can't make it to the marriage then they should at-least carry some sweet memories and a lifelong connection with those lovely people, unlike their past and the so called 'bad experiences'.

- Our whole gang has become senior in our respective workplaces, and the changes are quite evident. Our foolish discussions are turning into slightly meaningful ones, and now we sometimes even discuss things which were unthinkable a couple of years back. Its quite a pleasure to see that we have been talking about certain responsible things [although that sounds more like Rakhi Sawant saying that she will wear full clothes in her next item song]. The whole approach towards things are changing and we are able to see a shift into the better lifestyles without much effort, and this indeed is a pleasure.

- The whole gang has started to believe that going out of Bangalore for a pleasure-trip is a nice idea and we have actually actualized this idea many times in last one year. and whats even more colourful about this thought is that we have been actually adding lot of colour to our group-outings in the form of girl-friends/wives/fiancee.

* [FYI, please note the difference between fiance and fiancee. I know I know, you all like my intricate sense of English :), and have actually started to praise my skills in silent whispers after reading this line.]. *

This addition of 'c-o-l-o-u-r(s)' in the group has not only braught back the enthusiasm (which somehow was disappearing after college), but also a huge improvement in the mannerism and a deep dive in the level of cheap talks and meaningless alcholism [mind you!!!!alcoholism abhi poori tarah se khatam nahin hua hai...sirf kam hua hai...picture abhi baaki hai mere bhai.....daaru itni jaldi kaise chod dein bhaii].(And for those fans of mine...who were waiting for my Madu-Malai trip's experiences........well, not to disappoint you.......but I am slightly caught up with my life these days...and hence I am taking my own sweet time to write it. Ye Dialogue achchaa tha na!!!! I know I know.....fans ko aise hin bolna padta hai....afterall these days I am championing the mannerism, you see!)

well....that was the snapshot of things I have noticed in last one year and I am sure my whole gang would have a lot to comment on the same...so you guys are welcome.

since I started to write out this post on the evening of 10th Nov after I was back from office and was tired, and hence was bound not to complete it on the same day.........no!!! I was in complete mood to finish this post on the same day....but you all know my huge fan following.....someone wanted to take me out for dinner...some ppl just wanted me to talk to them for hours and hours....some guys wanted daaru treat...etc etc hence this post was left at the mercy of some other day to be posted on this page.

[I am fully aware that you are getting jealous of my huge fan following....so I have purposely cut-short the fan-list......you know.....modesty is my second name, and some people have actually started to call me - Sarsij Modest Nayanam].

In normal circumstances I generally talk about the movies I watch and also ask my friends to watch the same, but I guess I am slightly late in asking you guys about this movie which I watch last night - Dostana, and after having watched the movie I feel it would be a sheer wastage of time and internet space if I add one more page about Dostana. So my nutshell review/summary of the movies goes like this - This should have been a 1hr movie, instead of 2hrs. Comedy wise its upto the mark. Dont even try applying your mind to things happening in the movie. Just laugh, whenever the scenes favour your willingness to laugh. Thats it!

Well, a birthday blog can not just end unless I tell you about the bigggggg day.......so here it goes..

This Birthday was slightly different this year.....I was working in office till late......my seniors didn't even come to know that its my b'day today [more because I missed to wear that b'day waala cone-shaped cap and also I didn't distribute the chocolates/cake in the office].....most of the people didn't even realize that even if its my b'day I don't give much importance to the same [dont know what's the big deal about birthdays......and why do girls go crazy about it....... I have often heard this statement whenever I have wished some girl on her b'day - 'How Cuuuuteee/Sweeeeeeeeeeettttt of you.....you remember my budddaayyyy'.]. Anyway.......evening was a pleasant surprise for me....because Garg told me that she has sent some gift for me [which was received at my end only after 8 days from the b'day...but still the feeling matters and definitely the effort put in is quite appreciable. Thank u Garg!] . at night it was the same age old story......Chal Daaru pe ke aatey hain! and by the time the restaurant-walla collected the bill and kicked us out of their premises, I was already a day older in the new year, and the Buddayyyyy was already a 'Happily Gone!' thing

Dasvidaniya

2008-11-15T12:36:00.009+05:30

How often do you plan things in day to day life? How often do you feel that you have a lot to achieve in life, and hence keep working day and night like programmed devices, and continue living a mechnical life? How often do you forget that you should invest some time in your personal life and do some self-pampering at a times? How often do you get the feeling that - Kaash maine aisa kiya hota? How many times do you envy those guys who keep passing you on road with their girl-friends hugging them as tight as your own underwear? Or, how often do you feel that - What a boring life I have?

I don't think you need to go any far to spot a similar person,because thats the story of a common Indian man (and chances of you too becoming one is not too low). We often neglect our dreams and the personal pleasure for the sake of our day to day needs, and keep postponing our dreams and aspirations to be met only in future. We start taking life too seriously, and keep warning ourselves about so many unwanted events which might never happen, but we Indians are programmed like that. We have contingency plans and funds, which probably will never be used unless we die. And in this whole process of planning we neglect only one thing - Our Present.

And one fine day when we realise that our 'present' has aged into the 'past', we get to realise the futility of all those meaningless planning and the asset acquisition for future.

With above context in mind you see a common man Amar Kaul (Vinay Pathak) in the movie, his only motivation to start a new day is to jot down some important tasks for the day, and then go ahead with it for the rest of the day. He works like an ass in the office, and is treated as the most irresponsible street-dog by his boss. He leads a plain and boring mechanical life, and on top of that he is unmarried even at the age of 37.

Amar Kaul definitely wants to share his pain but then he has no one to share with. And he has accepted that his life would be always like this and he has even stopped complaining about the same. He would have probably lived the rest of his life making his '10 things to do today' lists about getting his gyser repaired and changing the batteries of her mother's hearing aid. But, God had some different plans for him. And for no obvious reasons known to him, he is found to be suffering from cancer, and his days are counted. And this is the time when he realizes that - " Was the motive my whole life was to make 'Things to do today' list? " And this is when he makes his 'Things to do before I die' list.

Each of those things which he listed in his to do list follows in the remaining part of the movie.

At first thought you might feel that the story is going to be somewhat similar to Anand or Kal Ho Na Ho, but you are going to get a huge surprise when you watch the movie. This story treats the 'nearing death experience' with a better sense of acceptance, and with almost no emotional drama. [It only happens in Karan Johar's movies that when a person dies, his whole family is sitting around him and they exchange some emotional words and the hero passes some promise to the girl friend before dying, but these things never happen in a average person's life.] A average person almost always dies a silent death and there is no hype about it. This movie depicts the death of Amar Kaul as a moment when the earth would not shatter and everything else will keep working in the same manner as they were always.

Needless to mention that Vinay Pathak is the one who takes the centrestage in this whole cinema, and not even for a single scene or dialogue he looses the grip of the character. He would remind you of that hardworking uncle who could not achieve much in his life, and is yet not complaining. Thats the power of this person's great acting calibre. If you liked his Bheja Fry, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Manorama 6 feet under, Jhonny Gaddar then this is one movie where you can feel his actual power of acting. I was almost taken aback to see his facial expressions and the dialogue delivery in at least these few scenes - when he expressed his love for Neha (Neha Dhupia) without speaking even a single word, When he tells about his illness to his brother (Gaurav Gera), the way he reflects his expression while talking to his boss, they way he talks to his childhood best friend (Rajat Kapoor), and finally the best one, when he tells his brother about his liking for watching the view from his balcony and then he says that - Kitni sundar hai ye zindagi!

I would definitely say that this is one movie which can't be missed at all and even if you miss it in cinema halls, then watch this movie on DVD, and if possible, watch this movie alone because this movie has got a lot to teach every human being who has lately forgot that he is not a machine but an emotional creature too.

When the time comes, we all will have to bid-adeu to this world, and then instead of saying a plain 'bye' or 'good-bye', it should always be the 'best good-bye' we could offer to the spirit called 'living life' and to the rest of the left behind living souls...which is Dasvidaniya!

sitting on the other side..... :)

2008-11-08T19:24:00.002+05:30

This post was due since March, but I could actually beat the procrastination only a few weeks back when I started jotting down my recollection, and it goes like .....

I still remember the days in college when I used to hear the most talked about things either on the campus or off the campus (while at home or with non-engineering frnds or with relatives), everyone used to talk about the hallowed campus placements. And its one reason why today in India everyone studying science at +2 level wants to get a seat in an engineering college, as studentship in an enigineering college by itself becomes a passport to a job as soon as the person clears his course. Well, I was not much different when it came to the recruitment at the campus, and the only saviour to me was the brand name which I had with me in the form of my college's rock solid standing in India as well the Global arena.

It would be an understatement if I say that I was not hopeful of a job in my final year, more because the industry connections of the institute were very well very knit and very well distributed in almost all the parts of this country. So the only fear I had was that which company would actually hire me and for what qualities in me? (This was more of a self doubt rather than a doubt imposed by others).

Well, my campus story would need a separate post and I guess I will post that one too sometime soon, but for this one, let me go ahead with what ever I had planned with. So coming back to the 'campus-mania' prevailing in India. Well, I got placed in an MNC after a slight effort (if I use the term 'making mawkery of the process' then also I would not be out of place), and did enjoy my final year in the college with a blind faith that my life is settled now and no one can question any of my actions.

Few years from then, when I have already quit that American MNC (after working for quite some time), and now working in an Indian MNC. I guess many things have changed in me and my whole approach towards things have drastically changed. I have stopped believing in the term 'Campus Placement'. Ask anyone who has been working since past 4-5 years and was selected in some company during his college days. The chances of that person sitting in the same company would be somewhere as low as 15-20%, everyone believes hat campus selection was a big compromise in his life and his career, and he was definitely not happy when he joined the organization.

Moreover, I believe that Engineering education in India has become easier than passing the class 12th board exam. Teachers dont have any motivation to teach because even they have come to know that the entire batch is going to join some software company and will not be using even 10% of what is being taught in the class-room, students are also chilled out about the fact that 'job is a surity' and hence the only need is to cross the minimum barrier of marks. Even I remember that it was only during the exam's night when I used to study a paper (at least in the last 6 semesters). Classrooms became more a place for gossips, and canteen became more useful than the class-rooms. But I guess no one is to be blamed for all this. The industry has experienced a rise in software and hence it is bound to eat-up the talents of other sectors and at the same time every student would want to make things easier for himself. But I guess the only change we could make at this point of time is that we must STOP the campus placement system. This is one thing which killing the entire engineering acumen of this nation.

Anyway, in Januray this year I was one of the panels for the campus recruitment drive of my current organization. It was indeed a great feeling to be a part of the team which would decide the destiny of the hundreds of fresh pass-outs from the colleges. And the very thought of me sitting in front of some candidate and taking the interview of the candidate took me back into my college days when I used to sit infront of some guy asking me some questions and I used to try my best to impress him by hook or crook.

The days of the interview came and went, and I alone would have interviewed at least 700+ candidates with an intent of selecting then (mind you, I am saying that I wanted to select them). In India life is often termed as unfair, be it the traffic, or a job interview, or anything else. We Indians face a huge discrimination in almost all possible walks of life, but thats how things work in India. You need to be either lucky enough to get what you desire or have to be born as the son of a rich father. I tried to kill this unfairness to the maximum extent I could have stretched, and I just tried to gauge the capability of the student sitting in front of me.

Sadly, despite all my efforts I could find only a few candidates who had the spark in them, and who need not have waited for the luck factor to favour them. Mostly, I found that the candidates are living in a self-aura that they are born in the times where they will be picked by some software company for no actually visible reasons. They were least bothered about the knowledge, instead they believed that speaking some sparkling english would do the trick. And worst of all, they were proud of the fact that they do not know anything about their branch of study (afterall they had to work for some software company, where the only thing they need to know is good english and some copy-paste tricks).

I couldn't convince myself about the fact that - if these guys have not been loyal to their branch of study then how could they be loyal to the work they are going to do in near future? I tried asking them even the simplest questions I could have asked about their branch (which anyone would know having studied those things in the very 1st semester of engineering), but they disappointed me to the deepest possible levels.

But then I guess the students are not to be blamed solely. The whole system should be blamed. Companies start hiring much before these students pass out from the college (just to get a pool of the work-force at the minimum possible expenditure in today's industry), and this definitely gives rise to the laid-back attitude in students. Colleges want that more and more companies should visit their campus (irrespective of any correlation between the branch of study of the student and the core work of the company). Colleges want to show up the placement figures in their advertisements and hence become the most sought after college among the students. Basically everything is a part of the dirty business practices. And I would be absolutely unfair if I say that its only the student who need to be blamed for all this mess up.

But without sounding like one of those planning commission officers who just push things to the next 'five-year' plan, I strongly suggest that some amendments are required in this whole campus recruitment process. And the least our companies could do is to wait till the students have appeared for their final semester exams. This would not only mean that the students have finished their engineering course, but would also mean that companies are not getting half-baked talent. And what could be a better time to implement such a corrective measure than this one, when the whole world is undergoing a recession and the hirings are at a all time low. This would not only bring more competency and talent into the selected candidates, but also the organization would be getting the right kind of talent for a long term. Which, inturn implies that the organization would be saving a huge amount of money in the long run.

This post would be incomplete if I do not mention those people who still believe that things can work the way Govt of UP works (or for that matter the whole of Govt offices in India work). and here goes a small list of my bad experiences ....

-I got some open invitations to do the favour to their students, ofcourse for some financial gains. I met placement officers at some of the colleges who if fired from that college would never get a job again in their whole life-time (I am talking especially about the one whom I met in a Greater Noida college, he is a cheap guy, to say the least!).

-I met students who talked about more about their mobile phone's looks rather than explaining me about what Bluetooth actually does.

-I met girls who wore deep neck clothes and believed in the fact that by bending over and over again they could get a favour from my end. (I remember a girl who was more interested in telling me that how much she likes to be at a popular pub of Noida during the weekends when I asked her a question in C).

-I also met a girl who wanted to let me know that her father is stinking rich and it is of utmost importance for me to know that who she is and what her family does.

-I met such unprofessional and ill-cultured teachers that they insisted that I smoke with-in the college campus itself (when I asked them a place outside the campus where I could smoke, they happily insisted that I can smoke in the very room where I was sitting with the candidate).

I believe this whole assignment was more of a learning experience to me, I got to see the actual colour of things, which I didn't even imagine while I was studying in a college. Although it would be a very hectic process, but in case you get such an opportunity, then please go ahead and grab it - You will definitely learn much more while sitting on the other side :)

Cashing on .... Fear & Hope

2008-10-13T12:17:00.001+05:30

With nicotine and alcohol level reaching high in the blood, your happiness & thought levels tends to shoot to the maximum, and then an analysis begins (while you take time to pee and relieve yourself from the pressure with-in).....and then you search for the key-board and those missing thoughts are jotted down and then in a rush to reach to a (logical sounding) conclusion you join the missing links by the sheer powers of your IQ & EQ (which developes immediately after getting a high rush of energy in your blood by virtue of those alchol's OH- ions,and then not only blood runner faster but also your mind is able to work a lot more faster). Something similar happened with me,this weekend too, and I came up with this piece....

- Ever since I have started attempting the national level competitive exams, I have come to realize one thing, that - I hate the solutions of the paper with-in a few hours after the exam(which is an in-thing these days, courtesy - The Coaching Institutes), and alongwith the answers we always have an analysis of the whole paper summed up in a few lines mentioning the difficulty of the paper in nutshell and then a manner in which the paper should have been attempted. What amazes me at this point is the futility of the entire effort. Some coaching institutes even prdeict the cut-off marks and also the favourable institutes based on the marks you score as per their answer-sheet. This whole thing looks quite a daring approach towards their attempt to present themselves as the best in the market, and there are many takers for the same.

- Elections in India always had some omnipresent influencing factors - Booth Capture & Goonda-ism, Cash/Alcohol for Votes, Blame Game on other parties, and the trademark False Promises. But in recent past there has been something more to the existing election menu - The Pre-Poll forecast. This is where Psephologist's claim to reach to a (logical sounding) conclusion using some sample surveys and other social variables of the locality. The number of institutions conducting such pre-poll surverys either outnumbers the number of the National Political Parties or at least equals them. And the best part is that each party wins the election as per at least one of the pre-poll surveys.

- Talking of Stock Markets could be an immediate turn-off these days, but then as usual I know you guys will discount me on the same. These days every news agency has a special issue of the Stocks and Finance segment (or one full dedicated channel for this cause), and needless to mention that these segments enjoy a huge viewership on a day to day basis. All the people in these channels keep on predicting about the markets, and some just go out of their capacity to predict the market trend in future.

- Talk of a Insurence Company, and the first thing which comes in your mind is that - What would happen iff.......? Trembling to the possibility of one of those 'iff' you open up your cash coffer to at least of the Insurence Companies. And each company ends-up creating a flow-chart of your life (or your asset), where they create so many 'if-then-else' markings on the time v/s money graph. Each company promises to pay you back the value of your life if one of those iffs chekmates you at one wrong turn on the time-line.

These are some of the instances where people try to predict the future based on their past experiences, and this is what is their full-time business, and each of them imposters itself as an institution which has the capacity to replace the 'mother' institution. Like, all the coaching institues are trying to replace the national level exams, the pre-poll surveys are trying to make the polling a redundant activity, the stock analysts are making the point that the whole stock market process is futile and lengthy and they are predicting things without any help of the stock market activity at all, and the Insurence companies are making a cut-short decision of your life and also evaluating the value of your presence in others life.

But looking at the results from the past, the only thing which comes into my mind is that - Truth is always stranger than the fiction. You can only simulate an environment but never Duplicate or Clone it, and all attempts at the same would always prove its futility, now and everytime in future.

No coaching institute could ever meet the paper patterns of any actual exam, or for that matter, they could not even predict the right answers in some cases, leave aside the question of getting close to the accuracy of the cut-off marks for final selection. No pre-poll prediction has ever come true, and I guess its doing more bad than anything good to the nation and thankfully the Supreme Court has put a ban on it till further notice.Talking of Stock Market analysts, they are only good at bombarding people with jargons, had they been so good then they would have been the richest people on this earth and they would have never wasted their time teaching others about the tips and tricks of the game. And Insurence Companies would have gone bankrupt from their very inception day, had they been able calculate the real worth of a human being, and also delivered the same amount to the family of the deceased.

Some people simply know how to cash on the power of fear and hope, and they do so with a complete ease when ignorance of people is also added to the system as a constant feature.

Hi! Sarsij ... you remember we met that day .....

2008-10-09T17:02:00.001+05:30

Disclaimer : All the events narrated below are based on true incidents from my life and even if things sound like a pure co-incidence or a made up story then also try to discount me and still read it till the end. Thanks anyway! :)

Scene 1 (March 2005 @ Landmark, Forum Mall) - I was busy gazing at a book in the Landmark and was so engrossed with the book that I almost forgot to pay any special attention to people standing around me. I was on a browsing spree, was reading the extracts of almost all possible books (more because I was new to Bangalore and I had all the time on this earth and no other place to kill the time in hand, hence I chose to kill a large part of my days at Landmark on a day-to-day basis). Suddenly a book drops-off the shelf after one of my unintentional stray activity. I almost rush down to get the book and keep it back into the shelf, but what I see is that a Punjabi Guy has been quick enough to rush for help and is doing the bit for me. I get impressed and exchange smiles. At the very next moment he is found talking to me, asking details about what all I do here in Bangalore and many other un-important details. He also introduced himself as Aman Singh working in the Finance department of Tavant Techonologies. Me being a newcomer to the city and the software field get impressed with things. I was almost tempted to talk more and more not only because he appeared to be helpful and a lively person, but also because I had to kill some more time. Finally after talking for more than 15-20 mins he wished to move back to his work and asked for my number before leaving. I had no second thoughts in sharing my mobile number (After all what the harm in giving your number to someone who has been kind enough to spend some 15-20 min and also, there are chances that you might get a good company later in this big bad city). But what was surprising for me at that point was that he took down my number in a pocket diary, this was slightly contradictory and confusing to me. I mean who on this earth uses a notepad to take down the number of a person when you have the mobile phone in your pocket and the ease of phone book. Anyway, we went ahead with it. And it was altogether a feel good encounter with Aman Singh.

Few days later, I got a call from him, saying - 'Hi! Sarsij.....this is Aman .... you remember we met that day.......'

Scene 2 (Oct 2006 @ Citibank ATM, St Marks Road) - It usually gets hot in Bangalore in the month of Oct, and you feel the heat only when you have to stand in a queue for a slightly longer duration and that too when you are withdrawing your own money from your salary account. What the hell! I have already sweated enough to earn that salary and now one more round of sweating to with-draw it. With such thoughts I was killing time standing in that queue and waiting for my turn to come. And I am almost doubly sure that others too had a similar feeling while standing in the queue. Suddenly I got a call on my mobile phone and I started talking in Hindi (attracting a lot of unwanted focus from others because of some typical lingo and accent which I use normally when I am talking to someone in Hindi). Once the call got over, a gentleman just approached me (he was probably standing very next to me) and smiled and started talking to me. He had already discovered that I can speak Hindi and I am quite an approachable guy. He discussed about a lot of things relating to his work, his domain, his place of origin and many other things. (In Bangalore. when two complete strangers start talking they have certain common things to discuss - traffic in Bangalore, weather getting hotter day by day, how to make things better using sofware and finally the bottom-line - Which company do you work for, and then a series of discussions relating to each other's company). Our discussion was no different. And by the time my turn to get inside the ATM came he already had talked enough to have asked for my number, and I pleasantly passed on the information to him, and then I moved ahead with my post-lunch plans. By the way the name of guy was Ranjit Singh and he was from Bihar (I have forgot the name of his native), he was married and was working in some telecom company.

Few Days later (in the evening time, while I was still playing the brain-games at office) Mr Ranjit called me saying - 'Hi! Sarsij, Ranjit here...you remember we met that day........'

Scene 3 (Oct 2008 @ ITPL Shopping Arena) - After a nice Andhra Meal at Nandini I was set-off to ITPL with my friend Yashwant for his personal work at one of the banks (By the way ITPL is a hub for almost all the banks in Bangalore. You will get to see either the ATMs or the offices of each and every bank here, and thats why its an easy target for anyone who has any work related to banks in this part of the city). While I saw Yashwant lazily filling up some documents and taking his own sweet time to calculate and re-calculate things, and assuring and then re-assuring himself that all the data he has filled up in the form is correct I was losing my nerve and I decided to wait for him outside the bank office and give myself an opportunity for some eye-lotion (well, eye-lotion is a term used by guys when they get an opportunity to see a girl who is refreshingly beautiful, and if you are successful in piercing through her clothes with the sole power of your divine imagination, or if you are lucky enough then you might not have to use the divine powers, and then feel so great about your achievement of having spotted such a pleasure for your eyes. eye-lotion is also popularly known as bird-watching in college-lingo). So in nut-shell I was fooling around the campus searching for some eye-lotion (But alas, the software companies these days are saying that - 'When we ask you to keep it short, we mean only the communication'. Such companies should be fined a heavy penalty for such an un-encouraging attitude). Having lost into my thoughts about how to sue a company for not allowing its employees to wear the eye-lotion content, I was lost into my thoughts. Bang! Someone just asked me something, which sounded like - 'Do you work for L&T?' (Man what a useless question.....or else why the hell would I be wearing a L&T tag which shows the name of the company in a heavy contrasting Black over a yellow ribbon....or else I am sure that looking at my dynamic personality and a charming face he would have thought that I am doing an advertisement and publicity for L&T - 'I work for L&T, Do you?'). Anyway, showing my fake pleasure of having met him, I smiled and then replied that yes I am working for L&T. And then started a chain of questions starting from my name (then I asked his name. It was Anil, by the way), and then he got shocked to hear such a name and then I had to explain that choosing a name was unfortunately not in my hands, or else I would have been pleased to called my self as Tom or Dick or Harry, but never as Sarsij (Nine out of ten people get horrified to hear my name. I mean the degree of randomness while choosing the six letters out of the 26 and then placing it in a string to make it sound something bizarre like 's-a-r-s-i-j'. By the way the 10th person who doesn't get scared or puzzled after hearing my name is already in a state of terror after meeting a 'chaos from top-to-bottom' person like me). Anil revelaed that he is working with Tata Elxsi and is in some fandooo domain. Anil tried to understand whatever work I do with my organization and showed a great interest in the the same. it was nothing much of a discussion because I firmly believe that discussing about different domains of work is more like discussing Hollywood and Bollywood at the same time, it nothing more than a gossip which always ends in some inconclusive statements. while all this discussion was on Yashwant finally appeared seraching for me, and I got a relief that I will also get a chance to move away from Anil and his tasteless discussion. While I was about to leave from there Anil insisted on exchanging the mobile numbers, although I didn't see any logic or a clear reason behind the same, but I couln't say no and ended up exchanging the cruicial piece of information (kya karein mausi, ab mera to dil hin aisa hai ki naa nahin bol paata hoon).

Today immediately after Anil called me, saying - 'Hi! Sarsij Anil here...you remember we met the other day.......'

There are several more instances where people have bumped on me .. talked to me as if we are thr brothers separated at birth .. and have displayed unparallel charm and mannerism while talking to me, and then have ended up exchanging the phone numbers and leaving a pleasurable experience at the end of the meeting.

By this time you must be getting curious to know about the phone calls which I had got from these people.........I am putting the gist of all such telephone calls below......

Hi! Sarsij .... I am Aman/Ranjeet/Anil .... you remember we met that day at that place. So how are you doing today? {and then some crappy discussions related to office/project etc etc which kills around 30-40 secs}. Sarsij alongwith my job I am also doing a business in parallel and we have a very strong support from people who are from IIT and IIM {a very clear emphasis is always there on the word IIT and IIM}, we have a huge support system and that why we don't need any huge financial expenditure from you. Would be interested in discussing the details of this business plan {at this point, you would ofcourse want to say yes}. Sarsij we do business in franchising and marketing the product. There is a big thing to be understood behind this business and that I can not explain you over the phone. So will it comfortable for you to meet me and my friends for the same. {and then the timing is fixed based on weather you wish to meet them or not}.

Thats the end of the first round of the discussion, and if you are tempted by words like IIT, IIM , Business plan, Franchising, etc etc then you are a sure-shot Bakra for these guys, and if nothing else they will at least take away some 100-200 ruppes from your pocket and if you are a still bigger Bakra then you can end up giving away a huge amount of money.

These guys are doing nothing but are trying to make you a salesman of Amway. If you are new to the term Amway then the only thing I can say is that you are still safe and if you want to stay safe then keep a distance from such guys impostering themselves to be some Business Leaders. What Amway does is chain marketing, and you are being tamed to start liking the benefits of Amway and then become a member of the same. But the story doesn't end here, you have to make new members (by speaking the exact same words to the other fellow and strangers) and then sell the Amway products and then get a percentage of money on each product you sell.

If you ask me, I firmly believe that Amway is nothing but a mania and an epipemic, once you become a member of Amway you get bugged by Amway-mania to such an extent that you start looking your friends as perspective members for Amway and you start searching for Bakra in the crowds. Amway guys are sick to an imaginable extent. The only thing on their mind is to make a fool out of you (after they made a fool of themselves). Be as much away from any Amway guys, as possible.

Thankfully I am still safe, and just wish that none of my friend gets bugged by such an epidemic ever in his life, and this blog is just an attempt to make you aware of the people who are searching for you day and night to spread the disease.

Added Later: Watch this Video related to Amway :)

A Wednesday ... engrossing & insightful thriller

2008-10-07T16:15:00.003+05:30

How many times have you watched a movie based on some social cause & mass injustice, in the form of a thriller? How many times have you seen a movie which comes to its main plot with-in the first 5 mins and than keeps you hooked for ever? Or for that matter, how many times do you think a movie takes a risk of skipping the age old formula of introducing the songs in the movie? How many time has it happened to you that you get so engrossed in the movie that you dont realize that its not even interval time and you have started thinking of about what would happen next or how would the story unfold from here? and without anymore quizzing I tell you with absolute confidence that this has all the above, and if by any chance you have missed this movie then directly head to a Video Parlour and rent this movie.

This movie is a different from the typical league of Bollywood movie, and it has all what I mentioned in the above lines. The story revolves around the plot created by a person who claims to have planted bombs in the different parts of the city and to save the city from the bomb attack he wants the release of four deadly terrorists. Things unfold as per the plan, but at the end. Its at the end where audience will get to see the ultimate un-expected. without revealing the plan all I can say is that - Its all about the power of a common man. This film tries to unleash the power of a normal man to get the system up and running as per the collective wish. A movie which talks no nonsense about about politics or any agenda, instead it just puts a simple statement that - A Common man is just a commom man, don't ever categorize him in the segments of caste, religion, gender or any other man-made matrix. And if the system fails to work as per the wish of a common man, then the common man himself will have to explode some bombs as a wake up call.

Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah, I guess is are two actors in this film industry who could hardly get chances to showcase their talent (barring a few movies in the past), and if I were to rate this movie based on their acting then I would say that this movie tops the chart of their all acting scores. Indeed this is a rare combination of the two ginats, and at the same time these are the only two who could have competed against each other on the screen. At the climax scene of the movie, the manner the body language and the chemistry they have displayed is a treat for the fans, and I am indeed speechless with such a power packaged performance.

Certain Unique and rare things about the movie:
1. Cast and the Crew names completely visible, and that too with an intention that everyone reads the names, this is absolutely rare and a quite thought provoking act in the recent times. As per my understanding, this just reflects that the person actually respects the work done by each and every member of his crew, and he believes in the fact that its not only the lead actors who desrve to take-away the entire publicity.

2. The very moment you imagine Anupam Kher you are reminded of a soft person who is either doing some comedy or emotion, but never the role of a person who is doing the entire stress handling in the form of a senior police officer and playing the role of a leader with a tight grip on his people. This role doesn't look unsuited at all just because of the brilliance of Anupam Kher.

3. Jimmy Shergill is an yet another actor who is known for his softness, wheather he playing the role of a corporate or an army jawaan, he has been always portrayed as someone who has a layer of emotion somewhere inside. But this movie has changed his image big time, he has been shown as someone who sends terror signals at the very sight, and he indeed reflects the same aura of teroor with his wonderfully done makeover , his body language and the background music. This is indeed a very courageous step from the director.

4. Brilliance of the script. After a long time I have seen a movie which I could say is original (at least till now). A few weeks back I was cursing about the industry for not giving us anything original and thoughtful, but I guess I have got an answer in the form of this movie. The script has been well researched for discripancies and the loop holes and everything looks so original that if I were to rate only to the script then I would given it a perfect 10.

5. Its a to-the-point movie, crisp presentation, not much time taken in building the characters and the plot, no scope for any song or glamour, and a definitie thriller throughout the 1hr and 20mins.

Although its too late to ask you to visit the cinema halls to watch this movie, but it would be equally amazing to watch this movie at home. And if for any reason you do not like the movie then you can always have a drink with me, you drink.....ofcourse for free!!!!!

Lessons from the Coorg Trip

2008-10-06T16:32:00.002+05:30

The whole of India would have missed my presence as well as the tele-presence since past few days, and I am sure that some of the girls would have tried committing suicide after their repeated attempts to contact me. But girls, if you are still alive, then get a fresh feeling of relief that I am still there in your life and I have yet not decided aboout getting married in near future. The reason behind you all not being able to contact me was that I was away from the town and I was in such a secluded place where thankfully the phones didn't ring and the traffic did not impinge into the ears. The place was Coorg.

This trip was earned on the account of the strategically placed event - Gandhi Jayanti, just a day ahead of the starting point of the weekeknd.(I wonder which other country on this earth will have hyprocracy of the Indian standards - Teach about Gandhi's principles, Talk about Gandhi during elections, quote his words to make things appear in the national intereast, and if possible kill someone at the very possiblility of any anti-Gandhi slogan......but when it comes to anything other than books, speeches, elections, rallies, political agenda or anything similar...then kill Gandhi by your own conflicting and contradictory actions and start preaching Hitler's actions.)

Going by my past standards and the self-achieved records in being un-informed and foolishly cool ... it was yet again a trip which was absolutely unplanned and a totally unkown place to me (when it comes to planning and preparing, the only thing I could do was to collect some 3 pair of clothes in my back-pack and all the plastic cards which I ever got from any bank. Only to realize it later that I have done a crime by not bringing money in the form of cash, even the ATMs didn't have money on the account of extended weekends and swipe machines were something unheard of). The first hint of foolishness appeared to me when I came to realize that Coorg is not a town, instead its a district and hence I was visiting the towns of the Coorg instead of a particular town called Coorg (thank god I never boasted about my knowledge in Geography to anyone ever).
Somone told me that Coorg is the Scotland of India (by the way, that someone is not 'any' someone). Well, I was hopeful of the fact that, even if I don't get to see enough beauty at least I will get to drink a lot of scotch (and mind you, I was talking about the beauty of the female crowd over there, I have almost no interest in the natural beauty in the form or hills and rivers), but the sad part is that neither the beauty was appealing nor the scotch was any easy thing to gain. Lesson taken from here, unsless you are crossing the Karnataka border (or for that matter any state boarder, then please carry your own quota of drinks, you never know what would happen there, and you would end up drinking anything which would cost you double its actual MRP).
While on a trip, especially in a leisure trip, never go with people who are somehow un-like you (either in the expectation level from the place, or laziness, or anything else), because you will either have to follow their rules and pretend that you are enjoying things, or else you will end-up spoiling the trip by conflicting their schedules from their trip-menu. I really do not mean to infuriate anyone here with my remarks, but the fact will remain same that - On a leisure trip I wish to sleep for atleast 20hrs a day and in the remaining 4 hrs I wish to drink like a fish. But then, when you are with people who are holding professional cameras and its batteries charged to the maximum possible - You have to give-up your plans and join the army of 'The Tourists'. Sadly, it came across my mind several times that I would have enjoyed even more had I stayed back at the place where we were staying and then would have lazily passed my entire day. This lesson would be my first priority in any future trips, for sure.

Coorg looks beautiful only while you are browsing the internet, once you are there you feel cheated and absolutely fallen down on your own expectation levels. Whatever places I visited in Coorg were all overhyped and it gave me a sheer sense of foolishness to visit here again for the sake of ANY site-seeing. Whatever places I visited were blown out of proportion on the internet, god knows why? The water-falls I saw were too small to get any attention or appreciation from me (and I am saying this because I belong to a place where there are at least ten falls which are atleast ten times bigger and livelier than these), and at the same time you are not allowed to get any closer to the water-level because of the safety reasons. The Buddhist Monestry was OK, but then I would suggest people to visit Bodh Gaya, and Rajgir (both in Bihar) and then see what a monestry is actually like. This particular monestry was almost like a commercial place where everyone was either disturbing the monks by making noise or else they were busy taking the pics in all possible poses and in all possible places. Apart from this, I tried going to some temple in the Madikeri town of Coorg which was acclaimed to be a very old temple, but the pujari was closing the door saying that god sleeps for 2 hrs in the afternoon. I never knew god also needs a power nap every afternoon (or is it the Pujari who needs the power nap....well only god would know).

Talking of the Madikeri Town.......this is one place which frustrated me to an unimaginable extent......whichever ATM machine I went disappointed me.....and when you have to with-draw something in the range of five figured sun, then it definately gives you a huge load of money by throwing only Rs 100/- notes.......so here I was, inserting the ATM card.... entering the PIN and then colleting the 40 notes, in a repetitive mode........but the story would not be comeplete unless I tell you that it took us around 2-3 hrs and at least 10 ATM centres to find that cash. And one thing more....Do not trust SBI, its service agreements get null & void once you have unfortuantely put your money into the bank's account.

At Madikeri, people outnumbered the vehicles at the centre of the road, and the number of traffic police managing the vehicles outnumbered the vehicles. The traffic police guys were neatly dressed atleast 100 times cleaner than the Bangalore Traffic Police, and then I got to know that these guys need to come on duty only when there is a Tourist seaons (which is either weekeknds or the extended weekeknds).

Before I finish writing this Coorg experience I believe its a must to mention the place where I had stayed....well it was a Home-Stay accomodation and the name was 'The Nest', and is located just after the Thithimatti town, on the highway ,on the top of a smal hill. You wont get the mobile signals here, or even the smallest thing which you need everyday in this locality, but then I would still say that this was the most beautiful part of this trip, what a place it was, .... amazing food, amazing people and amazing coziness in the environment. If I would have been alone, then I would have definitely stayed in the house for all these days without even stepping out for an hour. It was in a sense - The ACTUAL Nest.

(Enough of advertising! if 'The Nest' guys are reading it, then kindly make arrangements to pay me some money on a regular basis...or else I will start spreading the news that 'The Nest' people start beating their customers once you are caught stealing their towels and the bed-sheets).
All in all, so many lessons were taken in this trip, but I guess the biggest lesson I got was that - Never trust what you read on the internet (especially when it has a business angle related to it), always try to know about things from the horse's mouth. Or else people will keep selling you a 'Log Table' as the 'Table made of the Log', Salt as 'NaCl', Baking Soda as 'NaHCO3', and Steam Table as........what the hell is a Steam Table!!!!! (I won't get surprised if most you have already forgot about the Steam Tables by now... :) ).

Well guys......no offences meant to anyone......keep coming back.......bbye!

Kyunki Maa Bhi Kabhi Saas Banegi.......

2008-09-26T11:54:00.003+05:30

After the recent visit of my mother for a sojourn in Bangalore, and an aunt for a slightly longer stay at my place I have been able to figure out that my TV has been literally hijacked, 100% of the time during the prime-time shows are on. And the sad part is that no one can do anything about it. I have not been able to listen to the daily news or watch the market or view anything entertaining, as per my definition of entertainment. I realized this very situation when others ask me things related to some important happenings in day-to-day global affairs, and I am left absolutely haywire at their questions - How could I have missed such an important discussion last night, or for that matter how could I miss an important market prediction being discussed. But I guess the only thing I can do about it is to feel sorry.

I have come to the conclusion that the Indian women could do anything to watch the of hindi serials which are being telecasted on almost all the channels between 8 to 10pm. For that matter I have seen my elder sister watching the serials on other various channels at the same time, courtesy - The Commercial Breaks! and her multi-tasking and multi-channel skills. And, If you dare to touch the TV during these hours, you are waking up a sleeping dragon. Everything in the life of an Indian woman halts during the 8 - 10pm on weekdays. World comes to a stand still, and this is what they expect from others too. No amount of negotiation would work, so don't even try persuading them to change the channel or discuss anything meaningful while she is busy shedding terans or is emotionally inflated by the over-acting and over-hyped crap being shown on TV. So, all in all, whether you like it or not, you have to let them watch the serials.

But an even sadder part of the story is that some guys have also been infected by this serial bug, and I know at least 2 guys of my age group who follow some serial of the other on a day to day basis (writing their names could be reason for my assualt in near future, but guess it could do some good to others, hence I will prefer taking the risk. Jhingaa and Chuk Singh, I am talking about both of you. God knows saalon tumpe kiska influence hai daily TV serials dekhtey rehtey ho).

I have my deepest sympathy for those married guys who have been forcefully made watch these serials, or else their relation goes into a crisis. I remember my brother-in-law watching TV serials with my sister, but I could very well read the irritation on his face, But what makes situation utterly bizarre is when the female wishes to discuss and recollect the past episodes of the serials, and the guy goes absolutely out-of-track. But in order to prove himself to be a true follower of the serials he pretends to recollect and bleat-out some unconnected pieces. What a plight.

If all the above discussion looks very familiar to you, then you belong to a very big gang of Mentally Harassed (by TV Serials) Indian Male Community. I fail to understand (and will probably never wish to understand) the psychology behind creating such serials where at every moment you show some kind of family drama or a crisis on the screen. The scenes run so long that it takes months to finish one set of the sequence. (I remember one particular scene of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahut Thi.....when a mother kills her son. I saw that scene while my mother was almost on the verge of crying.......later, after a month or so I saw that same scene again in some shop. Thanks to the Indian Woman that such a pace is accepted and well reciprocated). The female characters in all the serials do not look more like average Indians, they look as if India is at the zenith of success and now every household has crores of rupees in the coffer. The negative characters look nothing more than a circus comedy item (if you don't believe me, try watching an episode of any serial and try guessing a negative character in it), and the male characters are always in tie-suit talking about crores, or millions dollor deals. There would be walking pieces who would always preach the whole world about morale and family values. But I fail to see any touch of real India in such things. How could an entire generation accept such trash. Is it more to do with the Indian Woman Mentality or the kind of life-style which is being shown in TV, which attracts the female audience to such a crappy hopeful life ahead? I wonder.

Not to make things sound too harsh, I would just want to say that - Ladies, and the victim husbands, Please don't try to search a meaning of your relations or your life in some TV serial......because that's definitely not real for sure (not even an inch closer to reality), its an epidemic for the society, and we males are suffering to an extent which you can't even Imagine. And if you can't stop watching it, then, for god sake, please stop discussing it with others and also stop suggesting its good points to others. Everyone has something good to spend time with, rather that watching a Hindi TV serial. It sucks to an unimaginable extent to realize that someone is actually suggesting you to watch a TV serial just because he saw a few good things in it.

Well, my father who could not bear the pain and torture any longer took a different route for this problem - He bought a new TV set! He watches his own set of programs while my mother keeps chanting the name of the TV Serial's Mother Goddess (read Ekta Kapoor) and keeps dreaming about ..... Kyunki Maa Bhi kabhi Saas Banegi.....

Movie Review : Welcome to Sajjanpur

2008-09-24T17:16:00.006+05:30

Disclaimer - No soothing words for Benegal's hardcore fans (or even for the movie Welcome to Sajjanpur) .

A film by Shyam Benegal is always worth a wait (until I watched this movie), you start expecting something satisfying and thought-provoking from it. I have seen few of his previously directed movies like - Mammo, Mandi, Nishant, Ankur, Mathan, Zubeidaa and a few more. These movies proved him to be a person made of an intricate sense of cinema and also a person with a sense of deepness when it came to displaying the intricacy of a situation. His power to show the emotions using the camera angle as well as the actor's body language was just unmatchable. But I guess that all a past now.

Having seen his 'Netaji shubhash Chandra Bose : The Forgotten Hero' in 2005, and now 'Welcome to Sajjanpur', I would say that a legend is nearing his end. I would rather say that Sajjanpur is quite an average movie with a very average performance by the actors ( Benegal's story-lines are always as simple as Sajjanpur, but then he earlier used to deal with the matter in an absolutely different and impressive manner). And hence I must say this, Welcome to Sajjanpur, is a movie which you may avoid if you wish to, the only motivation could be Benegal's name attached to this movie, else its quite an average movie.

The movie takes a very slow start, and it would be an effort to keep yourself motivated to watch the rest of the cinema. The movie takes a lot of time in building-up the characters and making the viewers adaptable to Sajjanpur's environment and culture. One this is done, the movie eats a lot of time dealing with the happenings in the day-to-day lives of people around. The songs are almost useless and also needless as per the situation. The story keeps revolving around a person named Mahadev (Shreyas Talpade), who works as a letter writer for the whole village, and is an unattachable (and an unavoidable) part of Sajjanpur. He has shown as a person who does little trickry when he can, but also goes beyond his limits to help someone. The other major characters are Kamla, Bhaiya Ji, and Munni Bai. All from different domains of life and all connected to Mahadev only because of his letter-writing profession.

Shreyas Talpade, as usual has delivered what was required/desired from his acting capabilities, but other actors are just about average (excluding Munni Bai, just because of one scene where she comes to ask Mahadev to write a letter to the commissioner). On most of the occassions the jokes in the movie disappointed me to an extent that I had to re-think weather I am watching a movie directed by a person who once directed Nishant and Mandi!!!!! Ila Arun's character in the movie is very small and very much unwanted, she could have been utilized in a much better sense. Kamla doesn't look like a village girl at all, and Bhaiyajee eventhough he has been utilized properly for those fractions of the movie but I guess his character could have been slightly more. Ravi Kishan's part in the movie just intends to make things look funny and to stretch the story, but is very average on both - acting and script part.

On the whole, the movie has nothing above average. And if you have never stayed in a village then you might even rubbish the whole story. Those who have spent some memorable moments in villages and have a connection to it till date would be in a better situation to relate to the whole story and the life-style and the language used in the movie, else it would be a pain for you to sit for 2+ hrs watching this cinema.

After having said about the movie I wish to speak about Bengal's previous and present work. Benegal was a person who gave identity to the 'middle of the road cinema' in India with his films like Ankur and Nishant. Such films were not meant for everyone, instead it has a relevance to only a certain class of audience, and Benegal was doing a great job while he made so many 'middle of the road' category cinema. But suddenly he started losing track by starting to include the matter for more and more audience and making his films for a larger audiience. And this is where he is failing. Sajjanpur for example, I didn't understand, weather its for someone who has appreciated his previous master-pieces or the ones who appreciate watching TV serials at home now-a-days? Going back to Bose : The Forgotten Hero, I was totally abashed to watch a 3+ hrs movie (and after 1.5 hrs I was almost itching to get up and run away from my seat), this movie matched more to a documentry film rather than a cinema. And I would appreciate Benegal if he can come up with something like Discovery of India (Benegal Directed it, and was telecasted on Doordarshan long back) for Bose's story, but please such things can't be shown in a cinema where people want to see the focal point of a matter rather than a hazy picture of a several things.

I just wish Benegal keeps up to his original starndards in his forthcoming films.

In New Avtar!.......

2008-09-23T12:49:00.007+05:30

Since past few days (infact, for last two weeks) I was unable to shave and hence I was looking more like those terrorists who were once shown by the media will all sorts of hypes circulating on the TV screen (dekho terrorist ka chehra or yehi hai wo darinda), and we even had a similar looking (similar to me) TV achor in Star News who used to scare the hell out of its viewers by saying - 'Sannaate ko ko cheerti huyi.......Sansani'. So since last few days I was almost a walking terror for all the people sitting around. In buses people used to suspect that I am carrying a bomb in the huge bag I usually carry, during office time the security guard used to do a thorough check before letting me in. And the best part, no one used to sit besides me while I used to take the office bus late in the evenings to back home.

Now, all that being a passe, and I am in a new avtar now. I have tried putting a mustache (as a piece of condolence and remembrance to the beard which I shed last evening), well, some reactions to what I have been listening since yesterday... (as their first reactions)

Ravi : Saale, Pehle hin kya kam chirkut dikhta tha?
Sumo : Bas ab ek kaala chasma aur ek laathi (walking-stick) le le......tujhe bheekh zaroor mil jaayegi.
Chaaya : Cool, for a change.
Mummy (on phone) : aisa beta mere hin kismat mein kyun hai?
Papa (on phone) : Grow up Varun. For Godsake, Do something serious now.
A Female Junior in office : pehle aap kamse kam Neutron (a cartoon character) ke jaise to dikhtey they...ab to wo bhi nahin.
A Male colleague in office : Stud dikh rahe ho sir, lekin ab thoda weight bhi kam kar lo.
A smoking parter in office : Did you watch Omkara recently or what? But you know what you would look better as Langda Tyagi.
Security Guard at home : Sir, ek dum achchaa nahi lag raha hai......aisa kyun kiya? (Teri to....saale! chup kar aur apna kaam kar)

and the best of all........which was not said, but was felt aloud....my manager's reactions.......and he must have said this to himself - why the hell this torture for others and especially me in this one on one discussion? And in the mean time I can see many people peeping at me and finding a moment to laugh at their own ease or an opportunity. But how the hell does it matter to me :), if you dont like my face then I am not to be blamed at all.

Whenever I have tried to bring some alterations in my appearance, I have always got some remarks (and mostly on the negative side), but I am the least bothered dog who would never care about crossing the road only when the signal is red.

I remember to have decided somewhere (finally) in the final year of my college that I will NEVER look 'conventionally smart' or even close to it by making any kind of changes in my appearance. And I am sticking to it, because I know I am un-conventionally smart. And, I do not make changes to myself to look cool or smart, but to give other guys some chance to get the attention from the girls in my surroundings ;)

The experiments I have done on myself are still in fresh in my mind and recollectablet, I remember to have got Langda Tyagi hair style almost a year back (when my mother shouted that I am looking like a chor, at the air-port while I was there to receive her), and I also remember that in the final year I got an almost-bald hair-cut just after I got placed and the whole class got numb to see someone pot-bellied with almost no hair entering their class (presumably a frustrated professor look), and then a sudden burst of laughter resonated. At one point I also tried to buy a sun-glasses, but then the shop-keeper disappointed me to all possible extents and indirectly said that I will ruin the brand image of the company, so I had to give up the thought of ruining the brand image of a company at the cost of just a single piece of its product with a wrong customer.

Looking at me in the shops, sales-people start hiding their premium products, and offer me all possible rejected and their seconds category products. This, I guess is, one of the biggest reason why I could never use Jockey underwear (I wonder how could I spoil its brand image? Unless I am stripper or someone in a similar kind of profession somewhere). Anyway, this saga will continue until I resign from all possible wordly-pleasures, and if you wish to know more about it, then stay tuned here on this media.

And before I finish writing this I must say that I am waiting for comments on my mooch/mustache avtar from all possible friends, and as soon as possible (as this is a limited period offer - A treat for not your eyes, but also to test the level of your laughter pitch), so pitch in your comments...especially, Tikli, DJ, Haddi, Nishu, Rohit, Chuk Singh, Cho, Uttu, Shaabjee, Mogli, Ravi, Sumo, Garg, Chaayapati, Das, sahu, sahoo, Singh, etc etc...............

PS: I felt like putting a recent pic of mine, but then I thought it would be a bad idea to put a warning message at the beginning, saying - 'Not recommended for weak-hearts', so the idea was ditched at the last moment, or else you all brave-hearts would have got a challenging moment of the day.

Volvo Trip @ Re 1/- .... how a purpose can backfire

2008-09-11T16:08:00.004+05:30

By now you must have come to know that I am an ardent fan of the Bangalore buses, and I try as much as possible to get a BMTC Volvo bus to reach my office almost daily. Today was no different from other normal days when I boarded the bus. As usual I handed over the usual ticket fare to the conductor and asked for the destination ticket. He smiled and said "Saar.....only one rupee kudi saar" (trying to decipher the hidden message wrapped in his kanadda accent and language I figured out that he is asking for one rupee.......for the moment I thought that - uff! why have these guys increased the price by only a rupee, now I will get a daily headache of giving him a coin. But after his repeated requests I came to understand that I have to pay only a rupee for this whole journey). I couldn't believe my ears, and felt as if he is trying to play some prank on me, and hence I had to turn to other fellow passangers, and to my surprise they were all smiling on my reactions. They confirmed about that 1/- ticket.

Well, later when I enquired about such a unique price from the passangers (who were much more equipped with information), told me that BMTC is promoting its Volco buses for a period of 4 days (till this Sunday) and during this period take any Volvo bus from anywhere to anywhere else within the city and you will have to pay only Re 1/-, this excludes the BIAL AirPort Volvo Buses. For a moment I felt good that today I have saved my 19/- out of no extra effort and its good to see such an initiative from the BMTC.

But give it a deeper thought......there is not much to be gained from this four day stint by the BMTC guys. I believe, this act of selling the tickets at 1/- is to attract the passangers to travel in Volvo buses instead of other buses, and also to spread the message that Volvo buses are costly but they have their own comforts. So basically its an act of invitation for the normal bus users to see and feel the difference of travelling in these high class buses. But now comes the points where BMTC should have given a deeper thoughts........

1. Suppose I have three hotels, each belonging to a different segment, and hence meant to serve a different class of people. suppose I wish to promote the highest quality of the hotel I own. So, in order to make it popular maong the masses will I rent it out at a dirt price? Well I guess it would be nothing more than inviting trouble for myself. Imagine a 5 Star hotel being rented out at a price lesser than a road-side lodge.....what would happen in terms of the publicity of that five star hotel is needless to be mentioned here. same is the case here. Sad, but this step definitely lacked any clear strategy, and hence this attempt of BMTC has absolute missed the point.

2. Volvo buses are already charging more than double of what a normal bus would charge, and hence already neglects a very large section of people who would have used these buses, had the prices been closer to the normal buses. And hence this stint of selling the cheap tickets is promoting a message among those people that - Ok, we are getting an opportunity to travel in a Volvo at 1/-, hence lets save even the normal bus fare. So basically this comes to them as a bonus, and to BMTC, its a loss of even the regular customers because of the overcrowding.

3. BMTC Volvo buses should find a target audience first. and I believe the target users for a Volvo buses are the ones who already own a two wheeler or a vehicle. But Volvo fails in attracting them by all known means. Volvo has a very poor frequency in my area and had it not been the presence of any alternate means to travel from my area I would have switched back to my own vehicle once again. So I guess, if BMTC wants people to use buses on a daily basis then they will have to introduce a huge number of buses in all the segments and all the routes. Inducting only some volvo buses would not serve the purpose, because their frequency would be too bad and hence people would never be able to depend on it. So first understand the need of the target customers and then do a proper marketing compaign. (Right now you are simply investing the money on a wrong set of people who are hampering even your normal day customers).

4. BMTC should encourage people on a bulk purchase. Like offering a monthly pass at an affordable price. To my surprise, last time when BMTC came up with a Volvo Buses Monthly pass they overshotted everyone's imagination, they asked for 1750/- every month!!!!!!! Now if I go by the maximum usage of a person who travels from end to end (which costs Rs 50/- at max) then travelling for 22 days (the number of working days in a month) he would be saving around Rs 450/- every month (if he travels in a Volvo everyday). But think of the number of such people? not even 10% of the people travel end to end, and hence this pricing had to be taken back immediately (more because no one even tried to buy it). If BMTC does a better bulk pricing, then I would surely see a better usability rate of these buses in near future and also a better traffic situation in Bangalore (because the car-waalas and the bike-wallas will be sitting inside the volvo). So do a better pricing first.

5. By all means please increase the number of such buses (in all possible grades and routes), your buses will never be empty (trust me, we are all here to earn money and we dont spend happily or by choice when we have to choose an auto).

By the way......I have spread this 1/- news among all the junior grade workers in my office...and they have shown an enthusiasm to use it till Sunday night......they are happy about it, and said that this weekend they will make the full use of the facility. So all you regular Volvo users, you might not have a very pleasant trips till this Sunday.

TOI (Bangalore) article : http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOI&BaseHref=TOIBG/2008/09/12&PageLabel=3&EntityId=Ar00300&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

9/11 ... 7 years later

2008-09-10T22:49:00.006+05:30

The evening of Sept 11, 2001(IST), the day when a group of fanatics demolished the three iconic buldings of the most secure and powerful nation of this world. I still remember watching those repeated TV footage of the building turning into a heap of concrete, and the whole world watching the entire episode of such a gross nuisence helplessly.

A group of few fanatics (who call themselves jehadi) hijacked not only the flights and the lives of so many people, but also the nation and the world on the whole. These few guys gave a new dimension to the lives of people who were left alive after the incident, and the new dimension has just added a greater complication for them. The saddest aspect of such acts is that the entire community of such fanatics has to face the blames and their life comes under the scanner. and this is what exactly happened after the incident all the muslims were treated as one of the potential terrorists. I fail to understand that what kind of jehad is this?

There were many conspiracy theories once the incident was over, but I guess that the role of almost all the governements and oppositions, in order to save their faces and pass on the blame. But, the losses occurred do not a need a conspiracy theory for their replenishment, thats permanent, and this is what happened then.

Including the 19 Jehadis, there were around 3000 deads in the incident, but this loss was the loss at the moment, and this was just the tip of the ice-berg, the actual losses were even huge and are still in progress, even today. Today when this incident has grown 7 years older in the worst histories of mankind, let us try to calculate the repurcussions of this particular incident .......

Muslims, and other Asians became a permanent suspect in the eyes of all the Americans. My relatives there in USA at that point in time have so many horror stories to tell. They had almost stopped coming out of their houses because of the abuse they would have faced. It was nothing less than a shame for all the Asian nd Muslim country's natives to be there. All the Americans started to see us as a partner in the crime. And probably they were not wrong in believing so. Even now when you approach a US/Canada/UK Visa office you are still doubted as a person who could give birth to a similar incident. This particular incident has left us all in shady position, probably for the rest of our lives.

Who could forget the sudden dip in the outsourcing of business from USA to other nations, and the worst hit economies were India and other nations dependent on the outsourced projects. I still remember that many of my friends ended up finishing their engineering courses without a job, which was quite unusual given the trends of past many years. But look at the motivation behind dropping all business contacts from USA's point of view - Whats the point in business when the other person is waiting to take revenge of something else? So I feel that USA did the right thing by cutting all trade relations by huge margins (at least some of the nations came to understand their true economic dependency on USA's success).

The security has become one of the major issues of almost all the developed and the developing nations, and we almost always see a special budget being braught into action just to tighten security and keep such incidents away. And who can forget that 'War against Terrorism' which agitated the whole world.

All in all, the biggest effect came in the lives all those people who saw the incident with their bare eyes and were left alive afterwards to face that trauma day after day for the rest of their life; and also those communities which would have to bear the blame of having given birth to such devils.

Finally, a question for a deeper thought - Where in Quran is it written that you brutelessly kill the people of that particular nation whom you want to teach a lesson? Such a form of Jehad is nothing but a shame in the name of Allah. In Quran its written that al-jihad fi sabil Allah which means 'striving in the way of Allah', and I am sure that Allah's doorway won't open by killing millions of people. There is someone who is definitely misguiding the true followers of Allah. And it would need a actual jehad and a mujahid to kill this dirty and defamed face of Muslims forever.

LHC (Large Hadron Collider)

2008-09-10T14:06:00.002+05:30

The very first point ... if you are not a science student (or have never been a science guy), you may not want to read anything in this post after a few line...and I need to be excused for this, because its not me who derived the name like proton, neutron, Hydron, plasma,or quark. If I were given the opportunity to name those particles then I would have opted simple names like ram shaym tom harry or ShivalingaKumar. But I never got the opportunity......

Anyway, LHC (Large Hadron Collider) is a particle accelerator complex. Its basic puspose is to collide the opposing beams consisting of extremely high energy protons (energy of the two proton beams will be equal to 7 TeV), and these two beams will be housed in two adjacent beam pipes. These two beams travel in opposite direction around a ring (of the circumference of 27Km). To keep these beams bending at regular positions (and hence travel in a circular path) there are 1232 bending magnets. Also, since the focus of the beam will also get diverted with the distance hence there are about 392 focusing magnets used in the whole 27km path.
Now, how will the particles collide if they are housed in different paths? So these two paths have been intersected at 4 equidistant points in the trajectory of the beams.

Now all this needs to be done at a temperature which is almost equal to 0K (which only theoritically achievable), the reason for near 0K requirement is that we all need a state of the protons which is as close as its un-excited thermal states (or else we will not get the desired effect after the collision, since all the sub-particles of the protons will be not as close to the core as possible, and hence will result into an exaggerated effect). So to achieve near 0K temperature supercondting magnets are used here, and this number is close to 1600 and these magnets will let the system work at 1.9K (this is the Liquid Helium Temperature).

Once the proton is accelerated to give a energy of 7TeV, the collision energy will be equal to 14TeV. at this much energy the protons move at the 99.99999999% of the speed of light. And this is the speed at which the collisions should occur for the desired effect. But what's the desired effect of this huge setup? Read on.....

It has been theorized that the collider will produce a particle names 'Higgs Boson' when there is a proton-proton beam collision (yet again, a bizzare name for the particle). The verification of the existence of Higgs Boson will help in the search for a Grand Unified Theory (which seeks to unify three of the four known fundamental forces - Electromagnetism, The Strong Nuclear Force, The Weak Nuclear Force, leaving out only Gravity). Higg Boson will also provide clues about why the gravitational force is so weak as compared to the others thre forces.

Apart from the Higgs Boson, other theorized particles might also be produced.The names of those particles are bizarre, hence left untouched here :)

So, in nutshell, LHC at its core is a proton-proton collision chamber and it facilitates the collision chances by providing an accelerating environment and sustaining the speed and focus of the particles. It aims to detect a theoritical particle names Higgs Boson, and also it aims at explaining the missing links of the Standard Model of Physics. Also, it may explain as to how other elementary particles acquire the properties such as mass.

There are also some connections with the Big Bang theory around the LHC experiment.

what was the universe made up of before the matter we see around us formed? (Big Bang would have been an event of micro-seconds, and hence it would be interesting to know how matter behaved in a tiny fraction of second after the Big Bang). The LHC would recreate all this on a microsecond scale, conditions that existed during the first billionth of a second of the big bang.

There is one more important discovery to be done with this experiment.

There are so many who believe that the Universe has more dimensions than the present four (space and time). This belief is because of the fact that Gravity does not fit comfortably into the current descriotions of forces used by the physists. This experiment might explain the existence of few more dimensions.

(The whole intention behing this blog was to make this LHC experiment understandable to the guys who are no more connected to science, but would like to know about the hype and hoopla around this experiment. Hope the purpose is served.)

Post title.........undecided......you suggest!

2008-09-09T20:34:00.000+05:30

How could peer pressure affect someone's life ...

Eversince I have been growing up I am watching people comparing me with others. I always used to feel that why this comparison? I am different and he is different. My parents are into different fields and his parents are into different fields. when my father comes back home he talks mostly about all those corrupt engineers who have been asking for more and more money, but when his father comes back home he talks mostly about the biology lessons he teach in the college, or at the best he talks about what all did his child do in his school. On the contrary my father would have never asked about the things which were taught at the school, either because he never found this thing to be his priority number one, or because he thought that I am already in the safe hands. Whatever be the reason, but this comparison always existed and it exists even now (although the parameters for such a comparison have changed now). Also, earlier I had no idea that this term is known as Peer Pressure. But sometime during the engineering I came across the word while one of the alumni speeches, where he went all out to explain that one's career is defined mostly by how he is affected by his peers.

well, during my whole college life I never ever realized that this could be such an essential and diverting factor for someone w.r.t. his/her career. Recently in one of the conversations with my mother I got to know that even now this comparison discussion with that guy remains in my life and it will probably remain until we both families stay there in the same locality and both the mothers keep meeting each other.

I dont how much you guys feel affected by this comparison factor, but I am almost always very much affected by it, and I am affected to such a level that I almost lose interest in doing anything for many days. Almost like Salman Khan would have forgot the taste of Chinkara after that Jaipur trip. (I might try to show that I am still humurous, but the fact is that I am writing this article only after such a irrittating discussions with my mother, and I hate to put it that such discussions are one thing which I really dont wish to have with anyone.....yes anyone. But ironically it always happens with my mother.)

While I was at school I was almost ill-treated for not getting good marks, and the comparison was with those guys who were studying in day schools and staying with their parents (I was in a boarding school since beginning), those guys were treated with glitters in the eyes because they were scoring too good in every subject and I was just managing to pass in all the subjects. (Without any intentions to demean their performance I wish to say that even at that time I was somehow confident that I am better than those guys, just that I am not being able to score well in my subjects can never mean that I am no good. But the sad part of the story is that I always had to do this self-motivation, never got any help from anyone else.) Somehow I had a strong belief that mugging is something which I will never do, and this is one thing which I have always hated in my life, and even now. I always had a very clear conception about the fact that a test should be meant to check your concepts and ability to use those concepts in slightly varying conditions, instead of testing a person in reproducing the facts again and again and year after year. In my view, the Indian Education system is one of the biggest culprit for deforestation since ages. Those pages in the books as well as the answer sheets did not serve purpose, and it eventually led to a national loss in terms of the greenry, paper waste and pollution, and add to that the bill of the other daily utilities which were wasted in the name of mugging a subject for its line by line reproduction in the examination hall and then forgetting it forever because the exam was done. What a shame!

I dont know how I got this thing embossed in my mind that even now I can't get rid of it. Its not that I want to get rid of it, but I want to see a person who has seen success using this method of line by line replication.

Somehow when I reached college, I got to know that all the craze we had for reaching here in this professional college was a mere eye-wash by the people who have seen this phase. I personally discovered that the effort people used to put in their school days for learning things would be just too huge, because in a professional college you are taught how not to make effort. The lesson which every person gets is to - How to avoid learning opportunities by using the decade old notes and decade old question banks. Everything is readymade for you, and once you go on crossing the hurdles after each semester you just become a part of one more batch will be awarded a professional degre and you become eligible for an adjective of Engineer, Doctor, Lawyer, etc . But if you ask about the learning from the past years in that course the only answer your should expect is that - 'It was a night out paper, and I forgot everything just after the exam'. Here too the sole purpose of the degree was to make you a better memorizer rather than applying things which could actually test your understanding.

My comparisons went on with others during the college time also, sometimes I had to face the questions relating to when and how will I get placed. Sometimes my parents quoted unimaginable salary figures of other's sons in the very first year. Sometimes I was asked a simple question that why I am not doing as good as I can do in the college exams (how can one answer such questions when I had already lost all my faith in the engineering education to be something which was about to build me so called career. Instead I had started to believe that if the only job I was supposed to get after my engineering degree in electronics was in a typical software company and that too something like TCS or Infosys then doing engineering was a big mistake. )

Although I would again say that I had my own time introspecting myself at that point of time when I decided that I would not even sit for companies like Infosys and TCS where all they need is the quantity of people and not the quality of people, and my self-belief always said that I do deserve something better than doing a donkey job which an average Indian Software Engineer does. My decision not to sit for the companies like TCS Wipro Infosys etc attracted a lot of criticism from my parents because those were the only companies where his colleagues son's were working and those were the undoubtable best companies anyone can get into. Sadly, I had nothing to exaplain and I guess any amount of explanation would not have served the purpose.

Whatever had been my state at that point during my student life, but one thing I had decided - Now onwards I will do whatever I feel is right, and I need not depend on my parents for their advice, more because the only advice they can give will be biased by the next door uncle or aunty. Sad, but true, I always felt this lack of judgement and an ability to choose happiness in my parents decision. They always had and still have a herd mentality.

Recently, and that dates back to few months (and till date) constantly I have been getting advice (and sometimes an unsaid pressure) from my parents for buying a house here in Bangalore. I dont know weather this is a right thing to do or not at this point of time, but then I am sure of just one thing - I can't afford it right now. But the sole reason why my parents have been creating this pressure is that their other acquaintainces's sons have baught their homes (mind you, those guys have already worked for almost a decade now, and have accumulated a lot of onsite black-money), but still I am put in the same category as their's. Its not that I dont wish to buy a house as soon as possible, but now with things changing with-in me I am getting a feel that I want this house only on my financial capabilities. I might be wrong in not taking a house right now, but I am damn sure that buying a house just because others are buying is definitely wrong.

there are so many other things which people do compare you at this age, and to me all that sounds too ridiculus. People often quote that my son got a job in Infosys/TCS/Wipro/xyz company straight in campus (Plz ask them that who doesn't get a job these days? so why the hell this whole hype creation around a company?), my son is getting a starting package of 5 lacs in Infosys/TCS/Wipro (uff!!!!! this one actually kills anyone who is in the starting of his career, How will you face your parents when you hear that a guy just starting a job is getting this much. But often such mothers who create a hype of things forget that the day she will ask for money from her son out of that 5 lacs, then her son will be the first one to tell that all that money thing was a hype).

I dont know why I wrote this lengthy article, but I am sure that when it comes to comaprison of your child with others (without any logic), I guess I am not alone. And if anyone of you is facing the same kind of internal trauma then I guess you would be able to understand me better, and at the same time now you are no more alone suffering that frustration.

and before I finish writing this, I must say that its difficult to change our parents now, and probably at that age you shouldn't even expect the same. But I just wish to say that whatever things you hear about other's son is 90% times exaggerated figure by all those aunties and kitty-party mongers. So never believe them, they are just here in this world to see you unhappy, and they want you to chase a goldpot which will eventually turn out to be a shitpot. Better, do only what you makes you happy. Money and all could look appealing, but trust me, there is nothing like doing what makes you feel satisfied and gives you a sound sleep at night.

(When I started writing this then I thought I will write about peer pressure, but ended up mixing so many things...hence the post title remained undecided till the end....you suggest something if you wish to.)

A day in India

2008-09-09T11:11:00.001+05:30

- Jaya Bachchan Says something to the public and media related to her speech in Hindi (somewhat like this "We are from UP, so I will speak in Hindi, and since the film is also in hindi hence I should speak in Hindi, and I believe that Maharastra people would just excuse us for this". She was speaking to people during the promotion of Abhishek Bachchan's upcoming movie 'Drona'.). I really couldn't understand why was her action detested to such an extent by the arrogant Thakre junior. And he was all mad for this sentence from her. I could not understand wheather he was disappointed by the fact that she used the word 'UP' in her statement or she spoke in Hindi? Whatever be the reason for his short-temper-timeout, but this is a sure indicator that people in India are too naive to believe such people and start an agitation (which has already started yesterday). Also, I believe that we Indians (including the politicians) are hypocrites of the worst kind. Did we oppose Bill Clinton when he addressed the joint parliament in English back in 1990s (we should have said that if you speak english then please go back to your videshi-land), or did someone stop Atal Bihari Bajpayi from speaking in Hindi when he was addressing the UNO summit in 1970s (they should have clearly said that if you have to speak in Hindi then go back to your country). Or do we say that we will do no business with people who do not understand our native language? (Please have the guts Mr Thakre remove all those MNCs at least from Maharashtra.). We all Indians (and hence the politicians.....because they are our sole representatives) are opportunists to the core....we sell all our so called 'moral-vales and nationalist/regionalist' feeling, once we see our profit in it. And the very next moment when we don't see a gain in something we make it a national/regional issue, and we make this very sentiment as a sole purpose for our existence.
I just wish that our masses had some more courage and will power to ged rid of spin-doctors like Mr Thakre, who has nothing else to do but to win an election, by hook or crook.

- Tata not included in a decision making meeting for its Singur Plant. Well this is absolutely the case where I feel like saying "It happens only in India". Take a short example here, A wants to do a business and hence asks for permission from B, B grants the permission (because its only B who can permit such a thing) now C is one other fellow who is in touch with D, E, F and G. C says that G will have problems if A starts business and hence C should not be allowed to do a business. But B says that he has already permitted and so nothing can happen. Now C says that whatever may come, I will not let A do his business here. B gets softer and says that we can talk. in the mean time C stresses out everyone and keep on saying that we will not let A do its business here. after repeated efforts from each one of A and B, C is not ready to hear anything and is fixed that it will not allow A. Ok Fine. B says that A will provide all possible compensation to not only G, but also D and E. But C keeps repeating the original slogan. Ok fine. Now B is convinced that something is terribly wrong with G and hence holds a meeting with C and reaches to a conclusion. And now C is happy.

A asks a question to itself - 'Ultimately its my business or their business?' and says that I am no more putting my business here. Now everyone of you should be happy because the root-cause of the problem is gone. Now B & C feel sad because they can't get a pie from the apple. And D,E,F are left in the same state they were always. G was happy.

Confused! well dont be.....this is India. no need to tell that who represnts TATAs, CPI, Mamta Banerjee and the farmers.

This is the story of a progressive nation where we are leaving no stones unturned in making this nation the world's richest nation. This country will be free from hunger, corruption and poverty.

- Sachin Tendulkar in, Saurav Ganguli dropped! Well, I am no big fan of cricket, but this question always haunts me that why do some players always get a favour when they deserve the least? And some other equally talented people almost always have to depend on someone else's mood and emotional attachment.
The bigger question I wish to ask here is that why do we Indians almost always keep emotional vaue ahead of anything else when the only thing we should be caring about is merit. Its not the matter of Sachin or Saurav, but its something even more deeper. why we have to fall short each and everytime we get an opportunity to choose talent and only talent. Why do we give in to nepotism or other means of favouring someone? Well, we must think about it. Or else, we will soon have so many Thakres ruling this nation with their marathi-manus chants.

Wall-E

2008-09-07T15:03:00.007+05:30

What would happen if someday all the human beings had to leave earth, and somehow they forget to switch-off a robot machine which was programmed to do a certain set of things each day; and in the mean time the robot is able to develop some intelligence and emotion in the process, ofcourse, with the help of the circumstances and such motivating factors for learning (much like human beings of the present day). (Talking about machine generating emotions and intelligence in present day doesn't sound too alien, and it looks very much possible in near future).
With this context the movie starts and we get to see a fragile looking robot working on a huge pile of trash and is collecting and processing the same. He has the name WALL-E written on the body, and he has been shown to be quite selective while picking up the garbage. He is capable of preserving things which could be useful to him later (like the spare parts which could be useful to his body when damaged from his present machine body), or things which arouse some interest in him (like the plant which he pics up one day). He has been designed in way which matches the human actions of the present day, and his reactions are much the same as of a kid today.

WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) is one of the robots who has been doing the same stuff for years and he would have continued to do the same for the rest of his machine life but probably this WALL-E had a different purpose for its existence which he discovers only when he meets another sleek and smart machine named EVE (who is on a search mission to earth - 'weather life is possible on earth or not? '). While WALL-E instantly falls in love (as an effect derived from the video movie he used to watch every night), but EVE acts much as an obedient servant to her masters, but develops an unsaid bonding with WALL-E. In the mean time, WALL-E presents EVE with a plant which he has found somewhere in the trash and he had replanted it in his house. He gave it to her a piece of gift and as soon as EVE gets this gift from him she discovers that life is possible on earth and gets deactivated (while her memory and internal camera mechanism remains active). and then a spaceship comes to take her back. But this WALL-E had been madly deeply and silently in love with her byt this time, and hence he decides to follow her till she reaches her destination. and once this journey across the space begins it becomes a unimaginable story where the director has shown unimaginable futuristic view, not only about the machines and but also the behavioural aspects of human beings.

Needless to mention that this is one of the best comedy films (with a tinge of sarcasm and a pinch of salty reality) presented to us without the help of any human emotions on the screen. The director desreves to be appaluded for anythhing and everything which has been shown in the movie. Director silently wants to pass on the message to we human beings that our future is as bleak as the future of earth, so beware.

The animations and the sound effects are matchless with any past efforts in a similar direction. The dialogue delivery and the robots conversation has been desinged in such a way with looks as if two different type of things are trying to communicate , but the effect is delievered more by the actions and emotions rather than the verbal communication.

If I were asked to rate it on a scale of 10, then I would give it a neat 9.75, deducting 0.25 just because movie gets slightly out of grip for some 2-3 mins towards the end when the robots love story turns into a Bollywood Hero-Heroine scene. Otherwise this movie is an exceptional movie by all standards and deserves an Oscar. Must watch!!!!!!!!

Now coming to the Indian cinema. I really wonder where has the Indian creativity gone? If not a equivalently technical presentation of the story, at least we can expect a movie which has an original concept and an original presentation. why do we always have to copy from others? I have serious doubts over the fact that we will ever be able to make an equivalent movie even in coming 10 years.

past few weeks.......

2008-09-06T22:44:00.002+05:30

- I have been working more than the average (although I still need to catch up the average working hours of my organization), but in past few weeks I have realized what it means to have a peaceful sleep. I guess I catched this line sometime back when a very hardworking theatre person said that - "after tiring myself for the whole day, the reward of sleep is the most precious reward". Well I wont say that I have been working too hard, but then I am in the phase when I have started to get the taste of the blood, and I am raring to go ahead working for the success of my project. And mind you, I am with a set of people who are too experienced and had the confidence in me. So all in all, I am loving this workholic life.

- Every friday night I have been running to my friend's house, more because thats the only way I can reclaim my life back, and also the recollection of the memories from school, college, and gosspis is a definite bonus. and needless to mention that I do get a company for all my fruit-juice sessions by default (fruit-juice!!! yes you are smart enough to figure that out).

- I have been watching a lot of movies these days, its not that watching movies is a new thing for me, but watching movies in cinema halls is something new for me and I have never done it so frequently ever in my life. Earlier when I was a student then the cinema halls were not too glamourous to attract me every week. When I started working then the price of the tickets were too high to be afforded every week, and to add to that, even if you felt like watching a movie in a Bangalore's multiplex, the chances of getting a ticket were equivalent to watching Mallika Sherawat in an emotional scene and feel like crying (no, you actually feel like crying when you see her doing anything other than shedding clothes, but in an emotional scene.....ufff! ); lately things have changed a bit, and I have been able to find people who are movie enthusiasts and somehow manage to get the tickets and then bundle me in the same stack, and thankfully I am in a position to afford the movie tickets. So I watched these memorable movies - The Dark Knight, Mumbai Meri Jaan; and some forgetful movies - Bachna aye Haseeno, Ugly& Pagli. There are many more, but then they belong to a class which is more like the Indian Middle Class, which get no value unless quantity is the only thing we are talking about.

- Travelling in buses (I am doing this since past few months after a chain of mishaps), and by now I have used all possible buses in Bangalore......from the AC Volvo buses to the ones which could collapse at the very next speed-breaker. but if I were to sum up my experience, then I would just say that Buses in Bangalore are more like RestRooms, when you need one you will never get, and when the need is not so urgent or un-important then you will get all those flashy buses passing by, and the end result is that after getting routinely frustrated you start catching auto-rikshaw for few days. But one fine day you get a volvo at the right time and your belief in Bangalore and its traffic system comes back, but only to last till the end of the day when you struggle to get the bus back home.

- travelling in buses has given me a quality training in Indian music, and here goes my experience. When you are travelling in a Volvo you get to hear that FM Radio for the fatafat generation, but then you will find out that anyone is hardly interested in that music because either they are using their iPod/Mobile for their taste of music or else concentrating on the Tom & Jerry cartoon being shown on the display inside the bus. So its only people like me who occassionally get the Volvo buses who listen to that Radio for fatafat generation and it airs mostly kanadda songs (trust me I am developing a taste for the same, I guess I would have heard almost all the popular kanadda songs of the recent times), and apart from the kanadda songs there is a daily dose of the same hindi film music which is otherwise aired by my team-mates in the office, after the boss is gone home. The other buses which I use are not only unpredictable in their playlists, but also in the quality of the sound based on the traffic conditions and also the roads. I often get to hear some 90s hindi music from movies like Phool Aur Kaante, Ashiqui, and other Salman Khan hits (I guess those drivers and conductors are either big fans of those heros or they have been unable to buy CD/Cassettes after the inflation fever has hit India.). Apart from the songs picked up from movies, I also got to hear some amazing stuff while on the wheels - on cab-waala actually played Hanuman Chalisa atleast thrice in a row, one private bus guy actually broke all previous records by playing a Rajni Saar's movie and it was amazing to see that people sitting inside the bus were no more interested to know anything else all sat quite and with excited expression till they reached their destinations.

- alongwith the diversity in the quality of vehicles I use for commuting, I also end up watching a lot of diverse people around me in those buses/cabs.

First kind of people are those who are not only well dressed but also well scented and well prepared for the day, they would be sitting silently and will be either reading a newpaper or taking a nap. These are the guys who will wake up everyday at the same time in the morning, will take the same bus everyday, will carry exactly the same amount of things, and in the evening will take the exact same bus. These guys must be either family guys or manager level guys in their offices (who dont want to leave a stone unturned in proving that they are very well managed in all aspects of life).

The second class is that of the females. By default, they are equipped to invite eve-teasing in their offices, and they start their day with the statue posture in the bus where they will be either talking to someone or the other over the phone (it realle amazes me to see that how can someone talk with such a low voice and still the person on the other side is able to make out some sense out of such a conversation!!!!), this class of people do not care about others, and they will continue to do whatever they feel like, and even at the slightest of the intrusion in their periphery could lead you into a huge trouble. Often you will get to hear this word from them - EXCUSE ME! and by then you should be ready to move a step backward or else wait for a collective abuse from other co-passangers.

The third set of people are those who are in the bus but dont know why they are in the bus, where is this bus going, or who is sitting next to them, they are just bothered about just one thing - is everything running fine in his business/office and they will be found constantly talking on their mobile phones and keep shouting at people. such people are mostly those average businessmen or those people who have been able to rise in their career ladder but not being able to catchup with the level of mannerism required to excel from this level (this is one class where I just wish I am never classified as).

The last category of people are the ones who are just carefree, smart, and use the deodrant based on the popularity of its TV ads. These guys will talk everything on this earth but just never discuss about anything related to any serious stuff. These guys will be helping all old guys in getting a seat, will be helping out all ladies and will keep on trying create a good rapport with all the people around. These are the ones who are doing the actual stuff in all the offices and are the ones who are actually moving this world, these are the ones who are the actual customers for almost all the popular products in the market. And yet these are the guys who dont have an air about the same.

Well, reading those words (smart carefree & confident) you must have guesses that I belong to this group, I knew you will be able to guess it.

there are many other things to be picked up from the past few weeks, but I guess I should leave it for the next post. In the mean time keep coming back here.

Bachna Aye Haseeno

2008-08-17T00:21:00.000+05:30

If you have only pizza to sell and you wish to open shop in Punjab and Ludhiyana.......how you will sell it? well, the answer is simple...you will start selling Tandoori Pizza.......and I Yash Chopra House has picked up the same formula.

The only product they have to sell is a love stories shooted at romantic locations which are either full of greenery or snow. And this time they were either short of locations or of stories....and that's why they took up the scenes from their old hit films and mixed all in one and presented a three hours confusion.

The movie had nothing exceptional to offer.......infact the word exceptional is an overstatement....it didn't even have average things to offer to the audience. Story is all about a guy who falls in love (or pretends to be in love) with three girls at different stages in his life......and he realizes about the pain he had given to the two girls while he was being rejected by the 3rd girl......and then he gets this instant feeling that he should look and complete the stories he had left incomplete years ago......and he does that in his utter boring and lengthy way.

On the whole audience have nothing much to watch rather than watching other people's faces over silly jokes and waiting for the interval. (before going to the cinema hall I was told that second half has something new...and thats why me and all my frnds kept waiting for the interval).....but the second part of the movie was even more silly and even more disappointing. I guess I would have given 2 out of 5 if the movie would have ended at the interval......but after watching the second part I would give it only 1 out of 5.

There was a joke while this movie was being promoted......Bachna Ae Hasino has 4 female actors......and then my frnd said....Nahin Yaar..sirf teen hain.......then the answer comes - Yaar Ranvir bhi to hai. And I could relate to that joke very well while watching the movie. Ranvir's debut (yes debut....because I dont think Saawariyaa was a movie and hardly any one watched it) was as pathetic as the acting of the other three girls........no one is able to arouse anykind of emotion or feeling while on screen...jokes are too bad....and worst, they are very badly timed. Seriousness appears ridiculuos on the screen and does not match the emotions of those actors.

Anyway....avoid this movie......dont watch it in a cinema hall.....you can wait till the cable-walla shows it on TV or else rent a DVD. But dont even buy the DVD.

Spare your 5 mins to kill the Quota system in India

2008-06-17T19:08:00.001+05:30

Hi!

Please spare your 5 mins, and I am sure that we can eliminate reservations from this country forever. If you are ready, then please read on…..

What could have happened if

- Dr B R Ambedkar would have never let reservations find a place in our constitution.

- Govt of India provided free education to all those who are financially weak.

- Our politicians would have really thought about the upliftment of this nation.

If any of these things would have ever happened, then I am sure that the present discussion regarding Reservations would not have taken the centrestage. And specially not after being independent for 55 years.

Its been really long since we got independence, and till date we are not being able to provide the basic education to a large portion of this population. So is it the fault of those people who belong to the other section of the same population [so called higher class], who worked hard to get his share of education. Or is it the fault of the those who could not implement their strategy well.

Had uplifting the backward class be an agenda for these politicians, then I am sure that it would have never taken 55 years to come up with such a disgusting proposal, instead they could have easily made certain provisions long back to do the ground-work first, by making education a bit easier for such people in the primary and secondary level. (Even now its not late to do so - Provide free education to the needy). But why is it that they have targeted the top of the pyramid? The answer is that - it would result into an easy publicity for them and also look as if they are the most caring people on this earth. And that fulfills the sole purpose their existence - to be in Power. Power is everything for such people, be it at the cost of diving this nation on the basis of caste or anything.

Britisher's ruled us on the basis of their philosophy - 'Divide and Rule', so is happening right now (or at least an attempt is being made) to divide the nation into two large sections and then keep them busy fighting with each other. Does it not sound like we are again into some kind of British Period, and this time the rulers are really smart because every five years they get back to us to say that 'We have done a great job, so bring me back to rule you again'. Only the people of this nation are to be blamed if they can not understand this vicious cycle being controlled by few people.

At this point of discussion I would let some figures do the talking for me - In India only 0.2% of the population goes for the higher education, and if 50% of these total higher education seats are reserved for backward classes then it would mean that 0.1% of the backward classes would have a higher education. Now just tell me does this talk of bringing any equality in this nation where just 0.1% of the people are being benefited? Or is it not just like showing the magnified image of an atomic to compare it with the size of earth? This is beyond my understanding that why would anyone talk of doing such a thing in the name of bringing equality. Is it not foolisness to satisfy Crores of people with a mere few thousand seats of some premere institutes. Does it not smell like something is being cooked deep within the minds of such people?

I also wish to raise a point - When did you see such a consensus over an issue among all the political parties, eversince independence? I guess none. Does it not hount your conscience that - ' it is ethically wrong to give opportunity to a less deserving candidate', but why does it not look wrong to our esteemed political parties? I leave this to be answered by you.

If all that has been mentioned above looks wrong to you, and you feel that Reservations should be there, then I guess the points mentioned below should make some sense to you.

Some proposals (If at all the Higher education is to be provided on the basis of Caste ):

1. Whichever SC/ST/OBC family gets the benefit of Reservation System, that family should not get such benefit in any form in future.

2. All those benefited by such a proposal should remain indebted to the entire nation, and hence they should be made to sign a bond that they will work in the intrest of the nation throughout their life, and they can't leave this country for any kind of their profitable intrests.

3. Goverment should show commitment to their concern for the backward classes, and they should provide a time-bound plan in order to uplift all the backward class people of this nation. And they should also produce quarterly report for the same, throughout their tenure. If they fail to show the desired results for two Qarters, then their candidature to hold the seat of being a policy-maker should come to an end by default.

4. After 55 years, when the present upper class will be relatively at a lower level (compared to those who are right now from Backward Class), what does the government plan to do with these people at that time? Implement a similar Quota at that time or some better plan? This should be made clear right now so that no confusion is created at at that time.

{ if the Government agrees to abide by the points mentioned above then it has all the liberty to implement the reservations}

Please Pass on this message to every Indian

Thanks & Regards

Sarsij Nayanam

Being twenty something......

2008-06-17T19:07:00.002+05:30

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn’t know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren’t exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don’t recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren’t really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at wat ur studyin or ur job… and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.Your opinions have then stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn’t. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can’t meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better.Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself… and while winning the race would be great, right now you’d just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that every one reading this relates to it.

We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out. …Its called “Quarter-life Crisis.”

nothing is constant, except change. Whats life without a few risks? Keep playing the game! “

(For your Information, I have not written all this……I got it as a email Forward, and felt like posting it for you all)

Blogger's Psychology

2008-06-17T19:06:00.000+05:30

This evening I was thinking about some hidden facts of blogging……and it somehow reflects the entire ‘personal blogging’ community’s face to me. Blogging to me has been a way to say that what I write is useful, whether anyone accepts it or not (worst, sometimes no one even bothers to read my blogs, even after repeated reminders that ‘I have updated my blog page’)…. :-(.

Isn’t it a reflection of loniness? To me this is what blogging shows without showing. Yes I know there is nobody around to talk to…..hence I blog…..

The ultimate refuge of lonliness, the internet…..an alternate life, may be better, may be not…..but here I am, ruminating to the Net because I do not have anyone else…..

Something new for me here……..a place to scream, to shout that THIS IS NOT FAIR, Why this is not running fine…..or sometime talking like experts - ‘Why Google will sink’ and at worst moments I go on at length to say that Why is everyone getting so immoral. But at the end of the day I know that I am still alone and I am living a kind of dual life. In the actual life I know that I am quite a normal person, but I guess I never wanted to be just normal and thats why tend to talk something hyper-normal in the Net-life. I guess this explains almost every personal bloggers psycology. True?

SNARF ... from MicroSoft

2008-06-17T19:04:00.000+05:30

We naively use Windows but never get tired of praising the Google Technology and it products, and at the same time we never miss a chance to curse the Microsoft Products. I guess this has been hurting the Microsoft guys a lot and thats why they decided to come-up with something which could be termed - as fundoo as Google, by their users; and they decided to come up with something called SNARF…..Social Network and Relationship Finder.

In nutshell this is a tool which will collect the information from your system regarding your network and relationships you maintain; and whenever something new happens this will be reflected in an Interface according to its priority for you. And this is done through Microsoft’s own Outlook 2002 & 2003 ( but it does not include Outlook Express).So as and when you get a new mail from anyone this mail will get a priority of its own and hence reflected in some User Interface created by this application. This software has got to do everything with mails only, and that too, Only unread mails.

Now coming to the practicality of this software…….well, as of now I have not been able to see any use of this tool. Afterall, today we never know which mail has got higher importance for me (my manager could send me a regular ‘Good Morning’ mail and some unkown user could send me something as important as ‘New Job Offer’…..in this case if I go by just checking the priority mails, I will miss something important……so the case remains the same……..To be sure of the importance of the mails I will have to go through the entire mailbox. So how can this tool be accepted in a system which already runs something as Resource-hungry as Windows XP. Need an answer from Microsoft Guys.

This project might have a high academic value, but least practical value…….Thats all I can say.

After Writing all this, I feel like asking you all to measure the suitability of this software on your own……may be, it work better in your case. (You can download the software here).

Take Care

Bye!

New face of the IT industry.....you will be shocked!

2008-06-17T19:03:00.001+05:30

hi all,

While I am writing this Blog, I am almost in a state of shock. What is most shocking is that this news is related to the industry in which I am currently employed, and this indirectly leaves me vulnerable.

Well, I will quote two examples to leave you people shocked too…..

First, One of my friends works for an Indian MNC, I feel quoting the name would have a better impact, The name of the company is Satyam……well how much do you think could be his salary…all the non-IT people have started to envy the IT guys just b’coz of the salary we get, but I am sure that you will start to have sympathy over the issue if I tell you the salary he has got this month (and what will really leave you helpless, will the reason why he got this salary)…..he got just Rs 6000/- as his salary and this was all b’coz he missed the office on all the Saturdays and Sundays…….I wonder how could this happen to anyone……what does the company expect out of him….should he attend the office 7 days a week? Should he forget all the pleasures of life? And all this for a peanut salary? I belong to a place which can be termed as a cheap city……there also an amount like 6000 is not enough for a month, how come they expect a person to have a life in an expensive city like Hyderabad/Bangalore with just 6000/- in hand? I can term it as nothing more than the lack of respect for the Human Resource. And this also reflects the face of the New IT industry, in the name of cost cutting they have started to decrease the salaries and increased the work-load, is it cost-cutting or rebirth of Bonded Labour……only you can answer, I am left speechless!

Second examples comes from the closest neighbour of the heart of India…..NOIDA……again, I find it essential to mention the name of the company…..HCL Tech.

well, before I continue with the story about HCL Tech, I would like to tell you the philosophy of recruiting the employees direct from the campus (in their final/pre-final year of college). Well, companies have to follow a standard for their operations…..and one of the latest names in that list is CMM level 5, this standard says that - a total of 20% of of the total number of the employees should always be in free-pool…..so that whenever there is some uneven work-load it could be distributed over these employees…..such that there is no delay in the delivery of the peoject. This free pool thing is known by several names - on bench, shadow, etc etc.

Now let me continue with the HCL Tech story. This company recruited the employees from several colleges in order to meet the CMM level 5 standards. But even after so much time after their joining they could not be alloted any work; now, this has started to pinch the organization because these employees are eating away a large amount of the earnings against no contribution from their side. So the company has decided to put such 20% guys into their Call-Centre division.

The question which arises here is that - Has the company gone bankrupt of vision/innovation that they have decided to take such a step. Will this not send a wrong signal to the masses? And next year they might not even get an opportunity to visit several campuses. In addition to this they are losing the hard-earned good-will of the market.

Also, it implies that companies are getting so desperate towards their financial gains that they have absolutely neglected the issues concerned with their employees. In a way, what HCL Tech is doing is not only unethical but is also a crime. First, you are giving very high hopes to the person while you visit the campus and then you suddenly shatter their dreams. This is surely an unethical way to meet your Business Goals.

With such incidents taking place in Big Oraganization like Satyam and HCL Tech, I can’t even try to imagine the scenario of smaller IT companies. But the implication are that this industry too needs something like a mass-revolution or a sever make-over. I might be exaggerating the issue w.r.t. to the present issue, but I am sure that day is not too far. Keep Watching!

Guys, these two are the real incidents, and my friends have been victimized……..and thats why I wanted to bring this to your notice.

Real History of Taj-Mahal

2008-06-17T19:01:00.001+05:30

It is proved Taj Mahal is not a burial of Mumtaj but an ancient temple of Lord Shiva. Sufficient proofs and website links are with this mail.

U can try this link (text and photo) before/after going through this mail:

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/was_the_taj_mahal_a_vedic_temple.htm

“The Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal built the Taj Mahal. It was built in 22 years (1631 to 1653) by 20,000 artisans brought to India from all over the world! . Many people believe Ustad Isa of Iran designed it.” This is what your guide probably told you if you ever visited the Taj Mahal. This is the same story I read in my history book as a student.

NOW READ THIS…….

No one has ever challenged it except Prof. P. N. Oak, who believes the whole world has been duped. In his book Taj Mahal: The True Story, Oak says the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz’s tomb but an ancient Hindu temple palace of Lord Shiva (then known as Tejo Mahalaya). In the course of his research Oak discovered that the Shiva temple palace was usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh. In his own court chronicle, Badshahnama, Shah Jahan admits that an exceptionally beautiful grand mansion in Agra was taken from Jai SIngh for Mumtaz’s burial. The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur still retains in his secret collection two orders from Shah Jahan for surrendering the Taj building. Using captured temples and mansions, as a burial place for dead courtiers and royalty was a common practice among Muslim rulers.

For example, Humayun,Akbar, Etmud-ud-Daula and Safdarjung are all buried in such mansions. Oak’s inquiries began with the name of Taj Mahal. He says the term “Mahal” has never been used for a building in any Muslim countries from Afghanisthan to Algeria. “The unusual explanation that the term Taj Mahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal was illogical in atleast two respects. Firstly, her name was never Mumtaz Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zamani,” he writes. Secondly, one cannot omit the first three letters ‘Mum’ from a woman’s name to derive the remainder as the name for the
building.”Taj Mahal, he claims, is a corrupt version of Tejo Mahalaya, or Lord Shiva’s Palace.

Oak also says the love story of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan is a fairy tale created by court sycophants, blundering historians and sloppy archaeologists. Not a single royal chronicle of Shah Jahan’s time corroborates the love story.

Furthermore, Oak cites several documents suggesting the Taj Mahal predates Shah Jahan’s era, and was a temple dedicated to Shiva, worshipped by Rajputs of Agra city. For example, Prof. Marvin Miller of New York took a few samples from the riverside doorway of the Taj. Carbon dating tests revealed that the door was 300 years older than Shah Jahan. European traveler Johan Albert Mandelslo,who visited Agra in 1638 (only seven years after Mumtaz’s death), describes the life of the city in his memoirs. But he makes no reference to the Taj Mahal being built. The writings of Peter Mundy, an English visitor to Agra within a year of Mumtaz’s death, also suggest the Taj was a noteworthy building well before Shah Jahan’s time.

Prof. Oak points out a number of design and architectural inconsistencies that support the belief of the Taj Mahal being a typical Hindu temple
rather than a mausoleum.

Many rooms in the Taj ! Mahal have remained sealed since Shah Jahan’s time and are still inaccessible to the public. Oak asserts they contain a headless statue of Lord Shiva and other objects commonly used for worship rituals in Hindu temples. Fearing political backlash, Indira Gandhi’s government tried to have Prof. Oak’s book withdrawn from the bookstores, and threatened the Indian publisher of the first edition dire consequences.

There is only one way to discredit or validate Oak’s research.

The current government should open the sealed rooms of the Taj Mahal under U.N. supervision, and let international experts investigate.

Do circulate this to all you know and let them know about this reality…..

Hey please check this link ……..it adds as a visual proof ………

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/was_the_taj_mahal_a_vedic_temple.htm

If u dont believe the article above, and have faith upon BBC, please visit their website in this link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A5220

This came as an email attachment to me, I found it intresting enough to share with you all. Hope you enjoyed it too…so just share it with others too!

His Principle of peace was bogus

2008-06-17T18:54:00.000+05:30

Hi all...I am attaching an article from TIME asia magazine, this is an interview of Nathuram Godse's Brother, who was also a partner in his endevour to kill Gandhi (whether wrong or right). He is not at all regretful of what they had planned and delivered.

I just want that you should read it, and think it before passing on the judgement.

May be, you too will feel that 'Gandhi' was just a hype created by the Congress Party....and they buried the facts and real-issues of the Nation. They had certain motives to achieve and thus they tried to achieve all those motives using his name, and also they didn't leave even a single stone unturned in publicizing his name like heroes.......like Gandhi going for a fast....Gandhi going for a 'maun-vrata' ..... all this was just to gain sympathy from the masses. Why didn't they publicize the hanging of Bhagat Singh in the same way? Probably thats what Indian Politics is all about. Make someone the hero of the nation, and then use his name to meet your personal motives. This has been done in the past, and by now it has become a ritual of all the parties.

Eversince it's inception, the Indian Democracy has been defunct and corrupt, and what gives these politicians even more courage is the sympathatic approach of the masses, and the literacy levels. Kudos to politicians.....you people really know how to Fool, but just one suggestion......better, get down to business or least start writing books on strategy making etc etc.....you will gain even more. May be, even you too will achieve the status of Gandhi someday....or at least after you die.

Well, I am waiting for the feedback from you all, after you read this article.

TIME Asia story

FEBRUARY 14, 2000 VOL. 155 NO. 6

W E B - O N L Y I N T E R V I E W
"His Principle of Peace Was Bogus"
Gopal Godse, co-conspirator in Gandhi's assassination and
brother of the assassin, looks back in anger--and without
regret

Fifty-two years ago, on Jan. 30, 1948 , Mohandas
Gandhi was shot dead by Nathuram Godse, a
Hindu extremist. Godse believed that the Mahatma,
or great soul, was responsible for the 1947 partition
of India and the creation of Pakistan . Godse and his
friend Narayan Apte were hanged. His brother Gopal
and two others were sentenced to life imprisonment
for their part in the conspiracy. Gopal Godse
remained in jail for 18 years and now, at 80,
lives with his wife in a small apartment in Pune.
He is still proud of his role in the murder. Although
Godse is largely ignored in India and rarely talks to
journalists, he agreed to speak with TIME Delhi
correspondent Meenakshi Ganguly.

TIME: What happened in January 1948?
Godse: On Jan. 20, Madanlal Pahwa exploded a bomb
at Gandhi's prayer meeting in Delhi . It was 50 m away
from Gandhi. [The other conspirators] all ran away from
the place. Madanlal was caught there. Then there was
a tension in our minds that we had to finish the task
before the police caught us. Then Nathuram [Gopal's brother]
took it on himself to do the thing. We only wanted destiny to
help us -- meaning we should not be caught on the spot
before he acted.

TIME: Why did you want to kill Gandhi?
Godse: Gandhi was a hypocrite. Even after the massacre
of the Hindus by the Muslims, he was happy. The more
the massacres of the Hindus, the taller his flag of secularism.

TIME: Did you ever see Gandhi?
Godse: Yes.

TIME: Did you attend his meetings?
Godse: Yes.

TIME: Can you explain how he created his mass following?
Godse: The credit goes to him for maneuvering the media.
He captured the press. That was essential. How Gandhi
walked, when he smiled, how he waved -- all these minor
details that the people did not require were imposed upon
them to create an atmosphere around Gandhi. And the
more ignorant the masses, the more popular was Gandhi.
So they always tried to keep the masses ignorant.

TIME: But surely it takes more than good publicity to
create a Gandhi?
Godse: There is another thing. Generally in the Indian
masses, people are attracted toward saintism. Gandhi
was shrewd to use his saintdom for politics. After his
death the government used him. The government knew
that he was an enemy of Hindus, but they wanted to
show that he was a staunch Hindu. So the first act
they did was to put "Hey Ram" into Gandhi's dead mouth.

TIME: You mean that he did not say "Hey Ram" as he died?
Godse: No, he did not say it. You see, it was an automatic
pistol. It had a magazine for nine bullets but there were actually
seven at that time. And once you pull the trigger, within a
second, all the seven bullets had passed. When these bullets
pass through crucial points like the heart, consciousness is
finished. You have no strength.
When Nathuram saw Gandhi was coming, he took out the
pistol and folded his hands with the pistol inside it. There was
one girl very close to Gandhi. He feared that he would hurt the
girl. So he went forward and with his left hand pushed her
aside and shot. It happened within one second. You see,
there was a film and some Kingsley fellow had acted as Gandhi.
Someone asked me whether Gandhi said, "Hey Ram." I said
Kingsley did say it. But Gandhi did not. Because that was
not a drama.

TIME: Many people think Gandhi deserved to be nominated
TIME's Person of the Century. [He was one of two runners-up,
after Albert Einstein.]
Godse: I name him the most cruel person for Hindus in India.
The most cruel person! That is how I term him.

TIME: Is that why Gandhi had to die?
Godse: Yes. For months he was advising Hindus that they
must never be angry with the Muslims. What sort of ahimsa
(non-violence) is this? His principle of peace was bogus. In
any free country, a person like him would be shot dead
officially because he was encouraging the Muslims to kill
Hindus.

TIME: But his philosophy was of turning the other cheek.
He felt one person had to stop the cycle of violence...
Godse: The world does not work that way.

TIME: Is there anything that you admire about Gandhi?
Godse: Firstly, the mass awakening that Gandhi did. In our
chool days Gandhi was our idol. Secondly, he removed the
fear of prison. He said it is different to go into prison for a theft
and different to go in for satyagraha (civil disobedience). As
youngsters, we had our enthusiasm, but we needed some
channel. We took Gandhi to be our channel. We don't repent
for that.

TIME: Did you not admire his principles of non-violence?
Godse: Non-violence is not a principle at all. He did not follow it.
In politics you cannot follow non-violence. You cannot follow
honesty. Every moment, you have to give a lie. Every moment
you have to take a bullet in hand and kill someone. Why was
he proved to be a hypocrite? Because he was in politics with
his so-called principles. Is his non-violence followed anywhere?
Not in the least. Nowhere.

TIME: What was the most difficult thing about killing Gandhi?
Godse: The greatest hurdle before us was not that of giving up
our lives or going to the gallows. It was that we would be
condemned both by the government and by the public. Because
the public had been kept in the dark about what harm Gandhi
had done to the nation. How he had fooled them!

TIME: Did the people condemn you?
Godse: Yes. People in general did. Because they had
been kept ignorant.

Write to TIME at mail@web.timeasia.com

Murphy's Law revisited

2008-06-17T18:53:00.000+05:30

Whats the worst thing you can expect if you are standing in a queue.....in a bank, or at ticket counter....or somewhere else. The tickets get sold-out, or the office timings get over before your turn comes. Today it happened with me, yet again. I was standing in a bank queue and the working hours of the person sitting at the counter got over, and there was no one to take charge after this person....my bad luck. But at that point of time just one thing came to my mind, and that was Murphy's Law. Only god knows why it happens with me again and again. But then no one is to be blamed....I should have been prepared for this. Next time I will be on time.

In the mean time I would like to bring to your notice that one of my old blogs (regarding Nathuram Godse's defence speech in the court) has been read by hundreds of people by now, and as I wanted a debate on this fact which has been mutilated by the historians...has achieved it's purpose. Thank you people.

But what is more important here is that you guys should accept this as just a fact, instead of getting emotional about the issue that whether Gandhi should be called Father of the Nationa or not, or whether he should be Mahatma or not. What Nathuram Godse did was his way of fighting against the injustice. For that matter, why Forget Bhagat Singh, Ramprasad Bismil etc etc. Britishers called them terrorists (including the majority of Indians). But now the times have changed, and we Indians have so many things to fight against, population, poverty .....the list is endless, so we may drop this discussion and concentrate on how to fight these current issues. Gandhi or Subhash Chandra Bose or Bhagat Singh could become big because they fighted the current problems of their times, and gave a new direction to the society.....we again need some leaders like them......do we have the same will to fight the current issues, and give a new direction to the society.

Hope to hear from you soon.

(When I am writing all this I am on a leave from my work, getting treated in a reputed hospital of India....and whenever I visit the doctor I can see India in it's true colours.....people lying everywhere on the floor not even being attended....all those people could be potential contributors to this society, and they all have so much with-in, to contribute in their own capacities and in their specific domains.......but for them life right now has condensed to just hope that they will be here in this world even tomorrow, living......are we so incapable that we can't even turn their most basic hope (or I would like to call it a basic right of everyone) into a reality. )

Think over it.....Most of us are fighting over issues that are somehow or the other not so relevent today. Come, lets unite and make things better, and only we can do it for ourselves.

Hope to hear from you all!

Fools save for others

2008-06-17T18:52:00.001+05:30

Japanese save a lot. They do not spend much. Also Japan exports far more than it imports. Has an annual trade surplus of over $100 billions. Yet Japanese economy is considered weak, even collapsing.
Americans spend, save little. Also US import more than it exports. Has an annual trade deficit of over $400 billion. Yet, the American economy is considered strong and trusted to get stronger. But where from do Americans get money to spend? They borrow from Japan, China and even India. Virtually others save for the US to spend. Global savings are mostly invested in US; in dollars. India itself keeps its foreign currency assets of over $50 billions in US securities. China has sunk over $160 billion in US securities. Japan's stakes in US securities is in trillions.

Result:
The US has taken over $5 trillion from the world. So, as the world saves for the US, Americans spend freely. Today, to keep the US consumption going, that is for the US economy to work, other countries have to remit $180 billion every quarter, which is $2 billion a day, to the US! Otherwise the US economy would go for a six. So will the global
economy. The result will be no different if US consumers begin consuming less.

A Chinese economist asked a neat question. Who has invested more, US in China, or China in US? The US has invested in China less than half of what China has invested in US. The same is the case with India. We have invested in US over $50 billion. But the US has invested less than $20 billion in India. Why the world is after US? The secret lies in the American spending, that they hardly save. In fact they use their credit cards to spend their future income.
That the US spends is what makes it attractive to export to the US. So US imports more than what it exports year after year.

The result:
The world is dependent on US consumption for its growth. By its deepening culture of consumption, the US has habituated the world to feed on US consumption. But as the US needs money to finance its consumption, the world provides the money. It's like a shopkeeper providing the money to a customer so that the customer keeps buying from the shop. If the customer will not buy, the shop won't have business, unless the shopkeeper funds him. The US is like the lucky customer. And the world is like the helpless shopkeeper financier. Who is America's biggest shopkeeper financier? Japan of course. Yet it's Japan which is regarded as weak. Modern economists complain that Japanese do not spend, so they do not grow. To force the Japanese to spend, the Japanese government exerted it self, reduced the savings rates, even charged the savers. Even then the Japanese did not spend (habits don't change, even with taxes, do they?). Their traditional postal savings alone is over$1.2 trillions, about three times the Indian GDP. Thus, savings, far from being the strength of Japan, has become its pain.

Hence, what is the lesson?
That is, a nation cannot grow unless the people spend, not save. Not just spend, but borrow and spend. Dr. Jagdish Bhagwati, the famous Indian-born economist in the US, told Manmohan Singh that Indians wastefully save. Ask them to spend, on imported cars and, seriously, even on cosmetics! This will put India on a growth curve. "Saving is sin, and spending is virtue." Before you follow this neo economics, get some fools to save so that you can borrow from them and spend.

Agriculture -> Manufacturing -> Services

2008-06-17T18:51:00.000+05:30

hi friends, yesterday I wanted you all to read about the IT guys and their present state through an article which appeared in rediff.com recently. Well, today's topic is just an extension to yesterday's thoughts.

Recently I got in touch with one of my school friends who has recently launched his own organization (Known as Techkriti Software ). I put the same question before him, and he had several things to say, as was expected from him. He was optimistic about India's growth and independence in terms of innovation and quality work being done here. I just would like to wish him luck, may his organization become a forerunner in this cherished endevour.

you can read my firends reply here. (I would suggest you to go through my earlier blog before reading his reply.)

I really admire the thoughts of my friend and all those young entrepreneurs who are all set to change the future of Indian Economy. But my bigger concern is related to an issue which is really fundamental in nature and it has nothing to with a particular industry.

So before I can begin with my concerns, I would also like to bring upon some economics in this discussion. I have tried to analyse China economy a lot and I really admire their way of managing their economy. If I have to explain their economy then I can sum-up saying that : China Believes in this Philosophy.... "any economy can achieve a balanced growth through this path.......first Agriculture......then Manufacturing.......and lastly Services". Which is the case with China........as it has revealed its entire strategy showcase to the world.......it was definitely a closed economy till recently..........when it was at the peak of manufacturing.......and now when Services have come into the picture,it opened up.

well my point is just that in India there has been little done for Manufacturing........and it has straight-away jumped from Agriculture to Services........I really can't anticipate its future consequences, but definitely its having some ill-effect.......like why are we still dependent on other countries for most of our needs.

Now I would like to leave this question to young entrepreneurs - how to nullify the effects which could effect our economy b'coz of our large dependence on other nations for even the basic needs.

What we say in support of the services companies is very true, that we have to first concentrate on the mundane job (in order to employ the large population and several other reasons), and then concentrate on the Quality of Work........in lay man's language......first I have to fulfill my day-to-day needs and then only I can concentrate on the Long term goals of self-dependency (or in other words relying on my innovation).......but how long will it take for companies like Techkriti.....or TCS.....or Infosys......to get going with their own products and refining their technology base in order to produce something which becomes an Intellectual Property or their sole proprietary.

There is no doubt that Services are rocking right now and it has been a boon to India (because of so many reasons), but what might happen if something like 9/11 happens again? So, wont it be a great idea to act in a proactive manner.......by having something like a subsidiary in each organization (which is around 5-10% of the total organization, in terms of size as well as the financial share)........I am definately not trying to say that a company should blindly get into this field but is it not worth a thought in order to become self dependent?

give it a thought. and if possible do write back.

Bangalore : Cyber Valley or Coolie Valley

2008-06-17T18:50:00.000+05:30

hi all......recently I read an article on the web, it just made me think about the future of we IT guys......where are we standing today.....and where are we heading to. I differed from the views presented by the author in some ways....but also, there were several points where I absolutely agreed with his interpretations.......with these mixed feelings I just wanted that there should be a healthy debate on this matter. And thats why I have attached the original article here in this blog. Please read this article and send your comments.

Bangalore: Silicon Valley or Coolie Valley?

March 01, 2004

Politicians, bureaucrats and residents of Bangalore take pride in the fact that they live in what they call the Silicon Valley of the East. The city is considered high tech because of the number of software and software services companies located here.

But is Bangalore really Silicon Valley?

California's Silicon Valley

In 1933 Frederick Terman, a professor of engineering at Stanford University, mentored two undergraduates named Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, and was instrumental in getting them to start a company.

They went on to form the company Hewlett-Packard. This was the first seed from which Silicon Valley grew.

Today around 2,000 electronics and information technology companies, along with numerous services and supplier firms, are clustered in the area.

Silicon Valley contains the densest concentration of innovative industry that exists anywhere in the world, including companies that are leaders in fields like computers, semiconductors, lasers, fiber optics, robotics, medical instrumentation, and consumer electronics.

Some products that went from dream to reality in Silicon Valley are the first video game, the ink-jet printer, the video recorder, the mouse, the personal computer, and much else that we take for granted in the information age.

Here's a sample of some Silicon Valley firms, familiar to most of us because of their products: Adobe Systems (Acrobat Reader), Apple Computer (computer), Hewlett-Packard (printer), Intel (the CPU in your PC), Netscape (Internet browser), Seagate Technology (the hard disk in your PC), Yahoo (Internet portal), VeriFone (credit card terminals in shops), Symantec (Norton anti-virus software), etc.

Such firms are called technology companies, because their chief resource is the technologies that they develop and own, not the real estate that they are sitting on or the equipment that they possess. Stocks in a technology company are called 'tech stocks.' Scientists and engineers working in these companies are called 'techies.'

Indicative of the inventive spirit is the fact that residents of Santa Clara County, which includes San Jose and other Silicon Valley computer hotbeds, were granted 27,617 patents during the 1990s.

Silicon Valley thrives on risk. Business in the Valley is about placing bets on people, ideas and inventions.

If the Silicon Valley were an independent country, its economy would be about the tenth largest in the world.

Bangalore or 'Coolie Valley'

If you ask the president of any of Bangalore's software development companies what his company does, he'll say "We provide end-to-end solutions for Xxxx." Xxxx could be any or all of these -- e-commerce, banking, telecom. . .

What he means to say is this: 'We'll do the software coding in any of these areas for you. Just tell us what you need. We have a huge mass of engineers who know various programming languages.'

These companies do not develop any technologies or products. They provide development services. They have engineers who specialize in programming languages rather than in technologies.

Their chief resource is the huge mass of low-cost labour that they have taken the trouble to recruit.

Ask them about patents, and you get the reply "Huh, what's that?"

These companies start with zero risk. They do not bet on their ideas or inventions. A company is started after getting some contracts in hand.

A typical engineer in these companies has no specialization in any technology. He does not use his engineering knowledge. You could say his body is employed, but his brain is severely under-employed.

Here is a sample of some prominent Bangalore software companies with what they specialize in: Tata Consultancy Services (end-to-end solutions), Wipro (end-to-end solutions), Infosys (end-to-end solutions)

DSQ Software (end-to-end solutions), Kshema Technologies (end-to-end solutions), Ivega Technologies (end-to-end solutions), MindTree Consulting (end-to-end solutions).

The comparison

Silicon Valley companies are based on 'know what.' They know the market, they know the technology and they know what products to make to earn money.

Coolie valley companies are based on 'know how.' They do the software coding for other companies that have the 'know what.' If you tell them what to do, they know how and will do it for you.

Silicon Valley companies invest huge sums of money on R&D. They generate new ideas and are constantly developing new ways of doing things.

Coolie Valley companies have nothing called R&D. They do not generate any new ideas.

A typical Silicon Valley engineer is a specialist in a particular technology, like inkjet printing or virus detection. He spends all his life working in this technology area.

A typical Coolie Valley engineer is a specialist in a few languages. He is not concerned about the technology that he is working on and is willing to develop any software with the languages that he knows.

A typical Silicon Valley engineer's education and work experience all relate to a technology. When he changes jobs, he changes to another company working on the same technology.

A typical Coolie Valley engineer's work experience does not teach him any technology. He may be a mechanical engineer currently working for three months on banking software, and then the next three months on shoe retailing software.

Silicon Valley is all about the excitement of creating things out of nothing. Companies like HP actually started in the garages of their founders.

Coolie Valley does not know the meaning of creativity. Some companies are started by people who quit other companies and take some of the parent firm's software development contracts with them.

Silicon Valley's entrepreneurs bet on people, ideas and inventions.

Coolie Valley's entrepreneurs bet on certainties. They start a firm after getting software development contracts.

Silicon Valley's firms are about technology management.

Coolie valley's firms are about man management.

It is extremely presumptuous to compare Bangalore with Silicon Valley, so all you Bangaloreans, please do me a favour and

Don't call your city Silicon Valley ('pub city' or 'garden city', I have no problem with -- lots of pubs and lots of trees, but very little silicon).
Don't call one of your new software companies a 'high technology start-up.'
Don't call your engineers 'techies.' They've forgotten their engineering long ago.
Don't say you've invested in 'tech stocks' ('body stocks' maybe ?).

If you are from Delhi or Mumbai and encounter a Bangalorean 'techie' spouting off about his work or about his Silicon Valley, you no longer need to develop an inferiority complex.

G V Dasarathi is director of a software products development company

What keeps you working at office?

2008-06-17T18:49:00.001+05:30

hello friends.......having gone through some tough times at my office in recent past I just wish to pose a question to all of you.........What do you think can make you work at your office?

I will give your several options in order to answer this question, do send me your reasoning for your choice of answer in the feedback.

My options are:

1. Financial Gains.

2. Satisfaction from the work you are doing.

3. The Response and appreciation you get from your seniors, (also includes the positive criticism).

4. Possible Future gains (like increment, switch to better organization etc )

If your reason for the above question is different from these four options then do send that to me.

Now you would ask me that why am I in a different mood today.......but the fact is that I really wish to know this from all of you ...... b'coz at this point of time I am really not happy with myself and my working conditions........so I just want to know whether I am at fault or my employers.

Something which has been irritating me since long is that people in the corporate world do not know 'how to smile'.....each time you look at them and smile, and expect that to reciprocate......you are mistaken.......why so......Was college the end of life? or, are we on some wrong path by choosing this career path? I am sure that there is something wrong......either in me or with this life, Else how can people forget the simplest lesson of life. After all an employee just wants to see an environment which is amiable and energetic......is it too much to ask for? I need an answer for this from you all.

At this point of time I must tell you something about my future goals and aspirations.......in future I wish to be a decision maker, and not a part of some decision. I wish to makes rules which provides the work which is customised for the person and not like a mechanical assignment of work, as if the managers are programmed to distribute tasks in a random fashion.......something which is happening to me.....this really leads to a dis-satisfied employee who starts hating the system......and works only for the sake of completing the task, and never puts his 100% effort. It's really difficult for me to understand that why do we always have to be a 'Square Peg for some Round Hole, when there are already some Round Pegs being tried to fit into Square holes'........why this mismanagement?

well, before I end......I want to remind you all of something which I saw in the movie 'The Matrix'......are we really into some kind of Matrix? If NO,Then why can't we do something we desire .......is there actually some programme which is running in the back-end which forces us to do things which we don't wish to do.....but still have no option because our thoughts have been impaired by the malicious code running? Why Does life appear to be stuck-up but we still pretend to be moving!

hope to hear from you all.....take care.

Good Night

Nathuram Godse's defence speech in court

2008-06-17T18:47:00.000+05:30

(This is the speech given by Nathuram Godse in the court when he was tried for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi)

Born in a devotional Brahmin family, I instinctively came to revere Hindu religion, Hindu history and Hindu culture. I had, therefore, been intensely proud of Hinduism as a whole. As I grew up I developed a tendency to free thinking unfettered by any superstitious allegiance to any isms, political or religious. That is why I worked actively for the eradication of untouchability and the caste system based on birth alone. I openly joined anti-caste movements and maintained that all Hindus were of equal status as to rights, social and religious and should be considered high or low on merit alone and not through the accident of birth in a particular caste or profession. I used publicly to take part in organized anti-caste dinners in which thousands of Hindus, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Chamars and Bhangis participated. We broke the caste rules and dined in the company of each other.

I have read the speeches and writings of Dadabhai Nairoji, Vivekanand, Gokhale, Tilak, along with the books of ancient and modern history of India and some prominent countries like England, France, America and' Russia. Moreover I studied the tenets of Socialism and Marxism. But above all I studied very closely whatever Veer Savarkar and Gandhiji had written and spoken, as to my mind these two ideologies have contributed more to the moulding of the thought and action of the Indian people during the last thirty years or so, than any other single factor has done.

All this reading and thinking led me to believe it was my first duty to serve Hindudom and Hindus both as a patriot and as a world citizen. To secure the freedom and to safeguard the just interests of some thirty crores (300 million) of Hindus would automatically constitute the freedom and the well being of all India, one fifth of human race. This conviction led me naturally to devote myself to the Hindu Sanghtanist ideology and programme, which alone, I came to believe, could win and preserve the national independence of Hindustan, my Motherland, and enable her to render true service to humanity as well.

Since the year 1920, that is, after the demise of Lokamanya Tilak, Gandhiji's influence in the Congress first increased and then became supreme. His activities for public awakening were phenomenal in their intensity and were reinforced by the slogan of truth and non-violence, which he paraded ostentatiously before the country. No sensible or enlightened person could object to those slogans. In fact there is nothing new or original in them. They are implicit in every constitutional public movement. But it is nothing but a mere dream if you imagine that the bulk of mankind is, or can ever become, capable of scrupulous adherence to these lofty principles in its normal life from day to day. In fact, honour, duty and love of one's own kith and kin and country might often compel us to disregard non-violence and to use force. I could never conceive that an armed resistance to an aggression is unjust. I would consider it a religious and moral duty to resist and, if possible, to overpower such an enemy by use of force. [In the Ramayana] Rama killed Ravana in a tumultuous fight and relieved Sita. [In the Mahabharata], Krishna killed Kansa to end his wickedness; and Arjuna had to fight and slay quite a number of his friends and relations including the revered Bhishma because the latter was on the side of the aggressor. It is my firm belief that in dubbing Rama, Krishna and Arjuna as guilty of violence, the Mahatma betrayed a total ignorance of the springs of human action.

In more recent history, it was the heroic fight put up by Chhatrapati Shivaji that first checked and eventually destroyed the Muslim tyranny in India. It was absolutely essentially for Shivaji to overpower and kill an aggressive Afzal Khan, failing which he would have lost his own life. In condemning history's towering warriors like Shivaji, Rana Pratap and Guru Gobind Singh as misguided patriots, Gandhiji has merely exposed his self-conceit. He was, paradoxical, as it may appear, a violent pacifist who brought untold calamities on the country in the name of truth and non-violence, while Rana Pratap, Shivaji and the Guru will remain enshrined in the hearts of their countrymen forever for the freedom they brought to them.

The accumulating provocation of thirty-two years, culminating in his last pro-Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the existence of Gandhi should be brought to an end immediately. Gandhi had done very well in South Africa to uphold the rights and well being of the Indian community there. But when he finally returned to India he developed a subjective mentality under which he alone was to be the final judge of what was right or wrong. If the country wanted his leadership, it had to accept his infallibility; if it did not, he would stand aloof from the Congress and carry on his own way. Against such an attitude there can be no halfway house. Either Congress had to surrender its will to his and had to be content with playing second fiddle to all his eccentricity, whimsicality, metaphysics and primitive vision, or it had to carry on without him. He alone was the Judge of everyone and everything; he was the master brain guiding the civil disobedience movement; no other could know the technique of that movement. He alone knew when to begin and when to withdraw it. The movement might succeed or fail, it might bring untold disaster and political reverses but that could make no difference to the Mahatma's infallibility. 'A Satyagrahi can never fail' was his formula for declaring his own infallibility and nobody except himself knew what a Satyagrahi is.

Thus, the Mahatma became the judge and jury in his own cause. These childish insanities and obstinacies, coupled with a most severe austerity of life, ceaseless work and lofty character made Gandhi formidable and irresistible. Many people thought that his politics were irrational but they had either to withdraw from the Congress or place their intelligence at his feet to do with, as he liked. In a position of such absolute irresponsibility Gandhi was guilty of blunder after blunder, failure after failure, disaster after disaster.

Gandhi's pro-Muslim policy is blatantly in his perverse attitude on the question of the national language of India. It is quite obvious that Hindi has the most prior claim to be accepted as the premier language. In the beginning of his career in India, Gandhi gave a great impetus to Hindi but as he found that the Muslims did not like it, he became a champion of what is called Hindustani. Everybody in India knows that there is no language called Hindustani; it has no grammar; it has no vocabulary. It is a mere dialect; it is spoken, but not written. It is a bastard tongue and crossbreed between Hindi and Urdu, and not even the Mahatma's sophistry could make it popular. But in his desire to please the Muslims he insisted that Hindustani alone should be the national language of India. His blind followers, of course, supported him and the so-called hybrid language began to be used. The charm and purity of the Hindi language was to be prostituted to please the Muslims. All his experiments were at the expense of the Hindus.

From August 1946 onwards the private armies of the Muslim League began a massacre of the Hindus. The then Viceroy, Lord Wavell, though distressed at what was happening, would not use his powers under the Government of India Act of 1935 to prevent the rape, murder and arson. The Hindu blood began to flow from Bengal to Karachi with some retaliation by the Hindus. The Interim Government formed in September was sabotaged by its Muslim League members right from its inception, but the more they became disloyal and treasonable to the government of which they were a part, the greater was Gandhi's infatuation for them. Lord Wavell had to resign as he could not bring about a settlement and he was succeeded by Lord Mountbatten. King Log was followed by King Stork.

The Congress, which had boasted of its nationalism and socialism, secretly accepted Pakistan literally at the point of the bayonet and abjectly surrendered to Jinnah. India was vivisected and one-third of the Indian territory became foreign land to us from August 15, 1947. Lord Mountbatten came to be described in Congress circles as the greatest Viceroy and Governor-General this country ever had. The official date for handing over power was fixed for June 30, 1948, but Mountbatten with his ruthless surgery gave us a gift of vivisected India ten months in advance. This is what Gandhi had achieved after thirty years of undisputed dictatorship and this is what Congress party calls 'freedom' and 'peaceful transfer of power'. The Hindu-Muslim unity bubble was finally burst and a theocratic state was established with the consent of Nehru and his crowd and they have called 'freedom won by them with sacrifice' - whose sacrifice? When top leaders of Congress, with the consent of Gandhi, divided and tore the country - which we consider a deity of worship - my mind was filled with direful anger.

One of the conditions imposed by Gandhi for his breaking of the fast unto death related to the mosques in Delhi occupied by the Hindu refugees. But when Hindus in Pakistan were subjected to violent attacks he did not so much as utter a single word to protest and censure the Pakistan Government or the Muslims concerned. Gandhi was shrewd enough to know that while undertaking a fast unto death, had he imposed for its break some condition on the Muslims in Pakistan, there would have been found hardly any Muslims who could have shown some grief if the fast had ended in his death. It was for this reason that he purposely avoided imposing any condition on the Muslims. He was fully aware of from the experience that Jinnah was not at all perturbed or influenced by his fast and the Muslim League hardly attached any value to the inner voice of Gandhi.

Gandhi is being referred to as the Father of the Nation. But if that is so, he had failed his paternal duty inasmuch as he has acted very treacherously to the nation by his consenting to the partitioning of it. I stoutly maintain that Gandhi has failed in his duty. He has proved to be the Father of Pakistan. His inner-voice, his spiritual power and his doctrine of non-violence of which so much is made of, all crumbled before Jinnah's iron will and proved to be powerless.

Briefly speaking, I thought to myself and foresaw I shall be totally ruined, and the only thing I could expect from the people would be nothing but hatred and that I shall have lost all my honour, even more valuable than my life, if I were to kill Gandhiji. But at the same time I felt that the Indian politics in the absence of Gandhiji would surely be proved practical, able to retaliate, and would be powerful with armed forces. No doubt, my own future would be totally ruined, but the nation would be saved from the inroads of Pakistan. People may even call me and dub me as devoid of any sense or foolish, but the nation would be free to follow the course founded on the reason which I consider to be necessary for sound nation-building. After having fully considered the question, I took the final decision in the matter, but I did not speak about it to anyone whatsoever. I took courage in both my hands and I did fire the shots at Gandhiji on 30th January 1948, on the prayer-grounds of Birla House.

I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to millions of Hindus. There was no legal machinery by which such an offender could be brought to book and for this reason I fired those fatal shots.

I bear no ill will towards anyone individually but I do say that I had no respect for the present government owing to their policy, which was unfairly favourable towards the Muslims. But at the same time I could clearly see that the policy was entirely due to the presence of Gandhi. I have to say with great regret that Prime Minister Nehru quite forgets that his preachings and deeds are at times at variances with each other when he talks about India as a secular state in season and out of season, because it is significant to note that Nehru has played a leading role in the establishment of the theocratic state of Pakistan, and his job was made easier by Gandhi's persistent policy of appeasement towards the Muslims.

I now stand before the court to accept the full share of my responsibility for what I have done and the judge would, of course, pass against me such orders of sentence as may be considered proper. But I would like to add that I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me, nor do I wish that anyone else should beg for mercy on my behalf. My confidence about the moral side of my action has not been shaken even by the criticism levelled against it on all sides. I have no doubt that honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof some day in future.

-NATHURAM GODSE

(One of my friends posted this to me, and I felt like worth reading by you all, thats why I have posted it on this page.)

Murphy's Law

2008-06-17T18:46:00.001+05:30

why does your mobile phone ring when you are driving? Why does the door-bell ring when you are in the bathroom? why are you urgently required when you are on a leave? Why does your boss calls you when you are sitting with your date? Why does traffic jam occur when you are getting late for the office?
Well, I always wonder that why do these,so called, wrong things happen to us almost daily when we are least expecting them to happen. And it happens to each one of us, for some this has become a part of daily scedule and for others its sporadic. But the fact remains the same that however hard we try to come up with a reason for such occurances we are unable to get any concrete reasoning behind it.

Lately, something simiar happened with me.

this weekend, after some persuation from my friend I aggreed to have a bout with alcohol....things looked pretty normal and I was very excited because after some long gap I was having it, looked like some birthday party during my college days. After excessive drinking we all surrendered to our beds, hoping that the next day will come with some more independence and celebration.
Next day, I was woken up by the irritating ring tone of my cell phone, Some Prakash Patil was on the line. And before I could gather all my energy and concentration to understand what he wanted from me, he almost cried and begged for his child's life. Actually he wanted me to donate some blood in order to save his 13 yrs old son. He got my number from some Blood Bank, and he immediately wanted me to come down to a hospital near by. I immedaitely agreed to do him this favour, and promised him about my presence within haif an hour.
After he hung-up the phone something immediately struck me, that yesterday I had an excessive round of alcohol, which means I can't donate blood for next 72 hrs.....O Shit! what have I done? and I had to gracefully say sorry to Mr Patil, regarding my inability to contribute to his child's cause. He almost cursed me right at the moment for commiting such a henious crime. And I was ashemed of myself.

Later while introspecting things I just got this answer that ... 'something which has to go wrong will go wrong. So there is no point cribbing' .... (although I could console myself, but I am still worried about that child, god-willing Mr Prakash must have someone else to do him this favour and child must have been saved.)

But I have strongly started to believe that there is no point in cribbing about whatever is going wrong in your life, because life is like that!

So if the next time if your phone rings while you are driving just pick it up without cursing the person who called you. Or if you are in bathrom let the person on the door wait for some more time until you are done.

Afterall Murpy's Law also states the same - Something which can go wrong will go wrong!

Life is Like That......

2008-06-17T18:37:00.000+05:30

Sit by night think of life
get the feeling that its not going right
having trouble finding what it is
its all going strange for no reason

lifes been sweet, lifes been strange
times of pain and acts of fortune
have all been part and played their tale
game of life has caged the smile

stars are shining so in the moon
darkness transcended all over the space
love is smilin so is she
sadness filled in every bit of me

shaky hands with tears filled eyes
wait for comfort in ocean of pain
only companion cold cold rain
washes my mind of all its pain

wind blows by across the ears
bringing cold waves of sin
warmth is spread by a hand on my shoulder
or is it a trick of mind over matter

still thinking of who made this happen
how did the kite of life get stuck over a flower
no fault of mine none of hers
may be thats life and love is like that!

Shaurya

2008-05-12T00:24:00.000+05:30

Shaurya - It takes courage to say Right_Right.

Having watched this movie recently without having seen any of its promos properly (because they were either too confusing or boaring), I didn't even know the cast/director/songs/context about the movie. All I knew that Rahul Bose is in the movie, and this was the sole inspiration while I was buying the DVD. And the movie didn't disappoint me.

The movie starts with a scene of crime which acts as a base-line for the things to happen for the next two hours in the movie. The entire first half is spent building the characters, and thats when you get to see that Javed Jaffry is also in the movie and does not look out of place (inspite of his totally different personality, as seen on TV and media). The first half depicts Rahul Bose as a person who is quite unserious about life and is only interested in persuing his interests and a life with no responsibilities. (Rahul and Javed are friends working in Indian Army as Lawyers), and then suddenly they are found standing against each other in the court on the same case (where the movie started).

With the case taking new turns and bringing out revelations Rahul Bose becomes serious and a completely changed personality. And this metamorphosis has been well capatured and very much noticable in the movie. (It is the strength of the actor and the story-line which could make this change quite visible to the audience).

Kay Kay Menon has been once again extra-ordinary with crisp dialogue delivery and a matching performance with his acting. He makes you feel as if you are actually sitting infront of a Army Honcho. His presence on the screen is not more than 15 mins, but then he actually steals the show in those 15 mins.

Apart from this, other actors have not been utilized properly - Seems Biswas, Javed, Minissa Lamba; all these have been either ill-treated or probably their scenes have been edited. There is no memorable song in the movie (there are only two songs, so thats a saviour for the audience).

All in all I must say that its a movie which you must watch (unless you are someone who is addicted to only masala movies amd hates to watch any sort of parallel cinema).

While watching the movie I got a feel that this is an Indiannised version of 'A Few Good Men', which is true once you reach till the end of the movie. But this adaptation is still worth watching.

'Jag Vella praani' = Mr Pondy Nayanam!'

2008-05-08T00:25:00.000+05:30

I know, I know.....I really know that you all miss me, and you all miss me the same way as we used to miss sleep while semester exams used to be on the next morning, and sometimes like a 'sutta' when even our mess-workers refused to give one to you all. I am really happy to see that if I don't send an e-mail to all of you for a week, then you people start itching to know about my whereabouts. But let me tell you that - I am still single and rocking as usual, albeit, getting rocked these days with the heave load of work and some newly gained responsibilities at the work-place; So, girls, no need to feel bad about my seclusion I am still the same - single and ready to mingle! And guys, no need to envy me, I am still not decided about marriage, and I think I will need some more time. So just chill!

Daddu saale......Whats this 'Jag Vella praani'!!!!! what made you conclude that I am a vella? ees baar India aake dikha......London wapas jaane ke liye visa pe mera stamp lena padegaa. But Daddu, really love you man (no! I am still straight), will give you a missed call whenever I see a bengali now-onwards. (for all those who don't know who is Daddu -> Daddu is one creature, and probably the first and the last one, who can miss his class just because you asked him to draw your Engineering Drawing sheets, he is the one who will attend the class but will not respond on his turn during the attendance call.....b'coz he would be 'proxying' for Maadu/Cho/Haddi/DJ/, but people never understood the love he carries in his heart for THE BAKAR grp, but Daddu still loves them....and ye jaan bhi de sakta hai )

Anyway, coming back to the main agenda......Vella! Yes, I used to be a vella until first few years of my job (even now I have traces of a vella, but now I have discovered it to be of a first-order-dying-radioactive-characteristic element, with a half life of 1 year (plz! koi gandaa gaali mat dena) ), and the only respite while at office was that - a software engineer has all the liberty to be in touch with his other vella friends through e-mails, and I was a champion in this vella-giri. I have no doubt when I say that I have sent tonnes of e-mails to all my friends eversince I got the tag of a software engineer. And mind you, I am not the ones who will keep shelling the mail-boxes with forwarded content, instead I give a personal touch to all the mails by self-typing them and making them even more attractive.

But recently I myself I have observed that I am losing that 'vella-giri' tag, don't know when did I lose the desire to send e-mails and irritate my friends. Don't know when did it happen that I felt a complete loss of desire to ask my friends that - 'how are u doing?' or much in my own style 'Kya haal-chaal hai bhailog' (since there are no behen-log in our group). Suddenly life takes so much from you in the name of work/responsibility/growth/career/etc-etc that you feel like asking yourself - 'Was I working for this seclusion?' or 'Does career means being loyal ONLY to the organization?'. Well, I really don't know weather this is just a starting of the decay process, or is it the end of the communication process? Whatever be the case, I know that none of us are happy about the latest developments in our lives, but then thats 'life' and thats what is known as 'advancing in your career'.

I am suddenly reminded of those college days when we all used to talk in dis-belief that 'Yaar humlog kabhi alag ho sakte hain kya?' (its not that we are not together, but then communication process has been dying like a first order chemical reaction).......probably life is giving a stronger answer to all of us, and then I am reminded of that 'Dil Chahta hai' dialogue - 'Saal bhar mein Goa aana to kya, shayad ek baar milna bhi mushkil hoga, hum sab us ship ki tarah hain jo apne apne safar pe nikal chuke hain'. Hard to believe! But thats the fact. We are all sailing in different directions and probably for the good!

Vella, signing-off! Don't know when will I be sending you all a mail with my stylish subject line - 'Kya haal chaal hai bhai-log?' (saalon, agar ek-ek ladki pata lete to kamse-kam mai to pakka mail karta rehta.)

Back to basics.....

2008-05-04T00:28:00.000+05:30

A time comes in the life of all the guys and gals sitting at the edge of their twenties and yet single. And it requires an effort to spend time once you are free from the daily chores of life. Internet and virtual world stops to give you a kick/pleasure (or for that matter the computer itself) and life seems to be dull, boring and, suicidal.

If you felt like your current story, then welcome, Join the gang of millions of youths who are waiting to enter into thirties and have nothing to do which gives them the kick of happiness and ecstasy of joy. Most people start indulging into alcohol (like I did), rest keep searching for hobbies (which dies with in weeks), and some finally make up their mind for marriage.

I am going through a similar phase, and I have no option but to try out something to kill time. I used to booze from morning till evening, and yet used to keep working, but now even it has stopped giving me a pleasure which I used to derive in the initial days, hence planned to drop it, and now I am back to my social drinking days. The new problem which has popped up is that I have nothing much to do now. Reading, surfing, Writing and music are things which I do in parallel, and after an hour or so I feel like doing something more and yet remain creative.

I gave a lot of thought to this and finally I got the answer in one of the photographs dating back to 1993 when I was studying in a boarding school (Vikas Vidyalaya, Ranchi). Our days used to be very very action packed and tightly scheduled. We were all perfected in the art of multi-tasking, and it was encouraged that we take part in as many things as possible. It was during those days that I developed a desire to make friends beyond the boundary walls of my school and to learn better English. And that was the time when I got to know something about 'pen friends', the idea almost instantly excited me and I started looking for sources through which I might get someone to talk to. And then I got to know IYS (International Youth Service), a agency which used to provide the addresses of people who shared similar thoughts and interests. Mind you, those were not internet days and hence each and every step used to take at least a week to happen, and I enjoyed the whole process of searching and then communicating with my pen friends.

The longest communication which I could maintain was almost for 5 years with a Malaysian girl of my age and my interests. Then one day her home address changed and I lost the contact, more because my address was also changing very frequently in that phase.

Pen-friendship means a lot to me, even today, its just that I have not been able to devote any time to it since last many many years. Ans as I wrote in the starting, I am looking for a new engagement for myself, this happens to be a tried-tested-and-engrossing hobby, and I am almost raring to go again.

I have already started working on it, but this time I have the power of internet with me. A popular notion is that no one will waste time writing letters these days, but to those I would say just one thing - Do you still feel possessive about the letters which you used got many many years back? I am sure you must have got your answer.

So guys, I am again going to re-live my childhood days, and experience the same ecstasy when I used to get mails from people all over the world. :)

Tashan!

2008-04-29T00:29:00.001+05:30

Tashan! ... as this movie says Tashan is all about style (a word very much aboriginal to North Indians) ... and the movie speaks volumes about style and only style.

Dont have much of expectations when you are planning to watch it, neither do have lot of hopes about the logic, but do HAVE a lot of expectations when it comes to displaying Tashan in 'UP ka Bhaiya style'. Almost looked like Omakara at several instances with the only difference that Saif was replaced by Akshay and well placed.

The movie has nothing much to offer when it comes to Kareena, neither does she look sexy at all, and actually disappoints when you realize that her last movie was 'Jab we met'...but never mind, the other lead characters in the movie will keep you entertained enough.

I have always been a big fan of Anil Kapoor and Akshay Kumar and they have remained upto the expectation (at several instants they do great job), and Saif is only bringing the style quotient into the movie (even more than what Kareena does). The background music is great and you can be almost sure to pick up that title song 'tashan mein...' once you are done with the movie.

You wont carry any classic moments once the movie is done, but then you will surely be reminded of the character Bachchan Pandey, and Bhaiya Jee again and again. The music is matching the pace and situation of the movie. Fight scenes are absolutely unrealistic and a ugly copy of Matrix fight scenes at many points (but then I warned you - do not search for logic anywhere in the movie, just sit and enjoy what's being offered), story is acceptable if you dont think much about it, and some of the songs are above average.

All in all, a watchable movie, only if you have a taste for 'UP ka Bhaiya jee' style and some ear for the slangs and an eye for the desi-style. (Ok! here is one more litmus test, weather you will like the movie or not - if you liked the first half of 'Omkara' and the action parts of 'Race', then you will surely watch this movie till the end and would hopefully like it).

Tashan!

Krazzy4

2008-04-20T00:31:00.000+05:30

krazzy4! the way director spells the word 'crazy' is itself unique, and the way it has been depicted and pictured proves that the director needs a break from his job.

A movie which has nothing to offer when it comes to story-line, its one of the worst written stories I have come across and it would really need a krazzy mind-set to go ahead to make a movie with it, and the director probably has proved the same.

A film which has nothing to show during promotions, it just shows the three 'item songs' again and again. Giving the audience no chance or reason to attract to the cinema-halls. If one is only interested in item songs, then he/she would probably switch on the TV instead of going to the cinema-hall.

Even if I wish to write anything more about the movie, I can't. Because there is actually nothing worth mentioning. It has wasted all the talents of some very potential artists. All in all, I would never recommend this movie to anyone, because its an absolute waste movie. Never even think of watching it!

Race

2008-04-02T00:33:00.000+05:30

Race :

What will happen if you shake a champagne bottle many times? The answer is simple - the fizz goes after a couple of times.

The same happens in the movie.....the two directors have tried to shake the champagne bottle after ever 10 mins, and thats the reason why an average audience (like me) is also able to guess what going to come next. The saddest part for a 'suspense-and-thriller' director is when audience can start guessing about the story to come.

I do appreciate the director and the story-writer for their effort in creating in such a story, but then at the same time I really want to kick them for over-doing the drama and the same trick after every couple of mins. After every 5-10 mins the audience gets a shocking revelation. And it appears really exciting for quite some time, but after that every one starts to feel that its been done too many times.

Music no doubt great.......specially the title song, and 'Pehli Nazar...', but then I must say that the background music has been matched with the pace of the movie.

The female actors have done NO job in the movie, they are merely getting the footage for showing the skin.........Saif would get some great reviews from her feminine fans for his as-usual fantastic looks.......Akshay is so-so.....Anil is as-usual doing a dynamic job (although he would not get any award for this...as usual).

Finally, I believe the name of the movie should be changed to something else....because it does not look like a movie which represents a theme of 'Race'....instead it represents something else......hatred and frusutration of the younger brother. So, if possible change the name of the movie when the movie comes in DVD print :)

all in all : could watch the movie.....if you have any kind of attachment for the thrill and suspense, although soon you will discover that you are being fooled, but still on weekends if you have some spare time you can watch it!

It happens only in INDIA

2008-03-01T12:21:00.000+05:30

Budgets have almost always left at least a section of the population unsatisfied or mildly satisfied, buts thats past. Coming to the 2008-09 Union Budget presented yesterday leaves almost every section of the society pleased with the efforts made by our Finance Minister (FM).

Before I proceed anywhere from here let me quote a statement which was told to me when I was a kid........No one can satisfy the needs of everyone, but if you are trying to do so, then its probably election time.......so true, when I see this in the light of the recent budget.

I am aware of the fact that our FM has got appreciative remarks from all-over the world for having done a great job in the past, and no one can deny the fact that he is capable enough to guide the finance dynamics of such a huge nation. But at the same time I am also aware of the fact that he belongs to UPA, the ruling side, and the Congress(which is the major chunk in UPA) is under a lot of stress to win future elections after several defeats in the recent regional polls. And hence the role of our FM changes from managing the 'Finance Dynamics' to the 'Vote Dynamics'. All the effort goes in collecting the votes rather than giving a long-run financial strength to the nation.

As a person everyone would be happy to get more money in his account, and no one can deny the fact that given an opportunity no one wants to pay-back their loans. And finance minister having done that (for farmer) has set a wrong example for the generations to come. With this decision they are passing these two messages - 1. We can't actually do anything to improve the status of Agriculture in India, and hence this bribe for the time-being, later if required we will pay more, probably during the next elections. 2. We just want that you be at the same level, from where you started, probably few decades back. We don't want you to be hard-working, because we are always there whenever we need votes from you.

Look into the human psychology, what would run in the minds of several hundred thousands of farmers whose loans have been waived-off...'Thank God! Its over, my responsibility is gone'....and once the responsibility goes off the human mind tends to be more and more satisfied with his current state. I have no doubt when I say that there wont be any effect in the productivity of Agriculture in the coming year and there wont be any decrease in the number of farmer's committing suicide. This step also sends a wrong messages to the Banking sectors. Do they provide loans to someone just because someday govt will pay back for them?

Before I finish writing this I have only this much to say - If I were FM, and if I were to take this step of waiving-off the loan amount then I would have it in steps, waive-off only a part of the amount, and not the whole amount. Responsibility should be shared, and not taken-away.

Just think of our cricket team where 10 guys are performing well, and the 11th guy who has the potential to contribute, but is unable to. But when the match is over the 11th Guy gets the Man of the Match! It can happen only in India.

Sitting on the other side :)

2008-01-25T12:24:00.000+05:30

hi all.....its been long since I wrote last.......the reason being that I am out of station and internet connectivity has been poor through-out. but right now I have an opportunity to share my thoughts with you all, so let me make the most out of it..

I am currently in the NCR region, since 12th Jan, and will be here for few more days, and I was here for the Campus Recruitment in the engineering colleges........well, in short my experience has been a great learning opportunity. but a longer answer to this would need nothing but a complete book. {I am actually attempting to write a book, and I have also given a name to it - Sitting on the other side.}

I had all sorts of experiences - good, bad, ugly, awkward, etc etc and I will share all of them in days to come. But I am in a fix at this point in time that I will share all this experience with you all, either through the web-logs or through the book (dont worry, the book would be free of cost......it will be a soft-copy).

Right now I am in the last leg of this drive, and I am almost exhausted with the process. Let these few days get over and then I will be back to my Bachelor's apartment in Bangalore where I will have all the time on this earth to share my experiences.

Keep coming back.

bye bye!

I Love you too

2007-12-18T12:25:00.000+05:30

The best way to discourage tele-marketing calls is to stay cool and unsettle the caller!

I was in a business meeting when my mobile rang. A twenty something, telemarketing for a foreign bank cooed: Sir, we have a personal loan mela. And? I lost my cool, shouted at the caller and disconnected. After the meeting one of my colleagues took me aside and gave valuable tips on attending telemarketing calls. ever lose your cool; make them lose theirs? were his clinching words.

I got a chance to put this advice to use the very next day. As soon as I heard the sweet voice talking about personal loans, I told in a sweeter voice that I was the Commissioner of Police and could I do anything for her. The line went dead.

The next time I used a different line. When asked whether I would be interested in availing personal loans, I said an enthusiastic Yes! The lady on the other line got excited.
Sir, how much loan do you want??
Rs 15000 crores.?
sir... what...?
I told her that I am working for such and such bank (their competitor) and we could not use any thing less than that. She promptly disconnected.

This is ?from ?. We see that you have bought a car last week. Would you be interested in some loans on it??was how the next caller began.
yeah, I would love that. By the by, whats your name?" She said something.
Are you married?? Are you dating some one?? Do you have any plans to date?? Sir, why are you asking such intimate questions to me??I was happy to see annoyance in her voice.
See, lady, how irritated you are with just a few questions. And just imagine how irritated will I be when I get a call from a perfect stranger telling me about the car I have bought and offering something which I don't need?? There was a deathly silence and then a disconnection.

Now I have started looking forward to these calls. They are the ultimate tests of my creativity and histrionic talents. I passed the test in flying colours last week.
Sir, will you be interested in some personal loans?? Yeah, I love roses very much.? Sir, this is ?bank calling. We are marketing loans. My favourite actor? The Big B.? Sir, we are giving loans to professionals.? I love you too.?

---------------------

This article was published in Deccan Herald, and can be read here too :http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Dec172007/editpage2007121641550.asp

I don't want to believe in God!

2007-12-15T12:32:00.001+05:30

Starting from the moment I wake up I have to always pray to god for everything, and out of no actual logic behind it.I pray to god that ?God, please make my day. When I actually mean to say that ?God, give me something which I have been craving for. Even though, I am not working for the same at the fullest of my potential to achieve it, but I need it somehow, by the force of THE god, which I choose to call a iracle; or a od gift?in our human language.

Believing in god has made me stick to optimism, especially when it comes to examinations or the results. Why don I remember you when I am bunking those classes or making a mockery out of the whole class-room or when I am wasting time in other pleasures which can do any good to me? Why the hell on the exam day my mother asks to me have dahi and then only leave the exam centre?

Lately, when I have joined office I have started to feel that coders actually need the help of god in order to execute their codes in a proper manner or for delivering the codes in time; or else why would everyone sitting around me needs an idol at his desktop. Probably those idols keep a close watch on the code and send an instant warning signal to the coder to make changes, even before the code has been compiled.

Leave coders and software, believing god makes me loose all my coins while I try to navigate through the traffic signals and give a failed attempt of passing by those beggars. Alas, those beggars end up earning more than me just because people like me believe in god. And why only beggars, our politicians work on the same principle ?unite people who believe in god, and since there are so many gods, so create so many groups, and then ask them for a knock-out tournament. And the group which wins will be ruled by the set of people who united this particular god followers.

After Beggars and Politicians, I believe the one who has commercialized god are the priests, who always preach about idealistic things, but when it comes to talking about the preferential treatment of the devotees or the performance of rituals then everything is biased by the financial status of the devotee.

Don know how can one differentiate between the degree of devotion between a person who comes through a general darshan or a special darshan or a VIP darshan or a VVIP darshan?

God, I have made my mind that I will no more believe in you, because probably you were created by a man; a man, much like me, who wanted to make some personal gains out of your omnipresent and omnipotent existence.

God, you don't exist! And I don't believe in you any longer.

Ethical Managers :)

2007-11-24T12:35:00.000+05:30

Last Saturday I was putting my thoughts about the larger picture of CAT and about the mad-rush towards MBA exams.....well, a week has gone since then and the CAT and IIM story is already over for many, and some have a flickering hope for the same. Now comes the other exam and tomorrow almost one quarter of the CAT aspirants will appear for the IIFT exam. By all standards IIFT is a great place to be at, and many people will try their best to actualize their dreams. And I wish all luck to them.

Tomorrow, after the exam I expect the same drama after the exam which I expected after the CAT exam but at a very very low scale (when compared with the CAT exam), and this is when I start to feel even stronger that CAT and MBA on the whole has been projected as a business by a set of people. How come suddenly a week later the whole drama loses its whole charm and charisma (given the fact that even IIFT is a highly acclaimed institute), probably because the coaching institutes have hyped the CAT as something 'larger than life', and this has become the 'bread-and-butter' and they are doing their best to keep promoting the core thing and keep rest of the things in the background. I am personally not against anyone's bread and butter, but then these are the guys who are preparing the future managers and they themselves are not following the ethics of a process. Its looks like our bollywood promos where only the main/funniest portion is showcased. Anyway, whatever be the case and whatever be the outcome of the whole process one who definitely wins is the one who is into this business, and not the aspirants.

Changing the topic to an orthogonal issue, dont you think that the institutes should be asking the students to apply only after the exam scores are available? As it normally happens anywhere else in this world. In other countries the institutes ask to apply only after they have a valid GMAT score(or any recognized score), but come to India and you see something unique, Every institute wants to make the most out of the situation, they make it compulsory for the students to apply even before the exam is over (although there are a very few exceptions to this). And I personally take it as a lack of ethics from the people who are claiming to teach 'Ethical Business' as a part of their curriculum.....surprising! And whats even sad is that no one is ready to bring any difference to this already worse situation.

All the points which I have mentioned above are just an indication that MBA is India is nothing but a flourishing business, and everyone wants to make the most out of it. And to me, it looks as if the Indian Govt is a part of this business.....No wonder our politicians want to invest in Educational Institutes....... thats what I call.... !ncredible !ndia...... :)

All the best for IIFT guys.......just take the exam well......forget about whatever I have written here, because I know you will also do the same when you are an 'Ethical Manager' after an MBA degree.

Good Night!

Thoughts before the D-Day

2007-11-17T12:36:00.000+05:30

By the time you would read this page probably CAT 2007 would have dampened the spirits of around two lac aspirants of IIMs. And still we would see a huge media coverage of this exam for coming few days or weeks. Every news channel will come up with the footage created just after the exam going live with the candidates and getting their immediate reactions, and by the time the candidates would return home they would see the breaking news regarding the expected cut-off scores. Each coaching institute would start-off with its own original figure for the cut-off, but soon with-in hours or a few days they all will stream-line to the most popular notion of the season.

And I have a strong intuition that with CAT there will be some discussion/debate regarding the reservation issue again, but thats just a intuition.

While all this action takes place on the television so how can your mobile phone remain out of action? Soon people will start getting the cut-offs on their mobile phones and since this figure will keep changing almost every hours for at least the first day, so you will keep getting an alert message almost every hour.

And in days to follow you will see some full-page advertisements for the Group Discussion and Person Interview coaching in the newspapers.

Well, all I have written above is my experience and observation from the last years CAT. And I believe that this year this industry must have at least grown by 2-3 times richer and hence I expect at least double the drama, after-all a whole bunch of people are doing their business based on this particular exam. So expect....Umeed se Doguna....

Really CAT has become an action packed event for India, and there is no point in blaming the Media, or the people, who should get all the credit for making this exam appear larger-than-life. I personally blame the education system and of-course the Mob-Mentality of Indians (including me). The first thing is that Indian Govt is really not interested in taking some time to think about meeting the market expectations and thats the sole reason why we still have only 1200+ seats in Indias best Management Institute, neither we see any steps being taken to increase the seats nor do we see any effort from the government to increase the number of such colleges. So in such a situation what should happen is already happening. And the worst step from the government comes when they want to worsen the system by making the exam even more difficult for the general category students and give way to less competitive students on the basis of caste. Anyway, I don't wish to give a wrong direction to this very important issue.

Now comes the most important issue. Why all of a sudden everyone wants to pursue MBA? Although its a fact that all the dynamic economies see a crisis of managers, but then even this figure is too high for a most accelerating economy in this world, both in terms of size and the rate of growth. There must be some other issue. And according to me, I feel that We Indians are more and more dependent on others for our own decisions. If it would have been possible for me to ask a simple question to each of the applicant tomorrow after the exam - Why do you want to pursue an MBA degree? In 9 out of 10 responses you would hear money as the only reason. And probably this is one big mistake those 9 out of 10 aspirants are making.

This question - Why do you need to pursue an MBA? needs a greater insight and a lot of self-introspection, which one should do infinite number of times before actually taking an MBA exam, and keep refining the purpose every time you do that.

God knows what holds in the minds of those 2 lac aspirants tomorrow while writing the exam but I am sure that one who knows why he needs to do an MBA will perform better than those who have not, and in almost likelihood will get selected finally.

All the best (to everyone... :) )

Indian Tech Sector - Where is it going?

2007-11-15T12:37:00.000+05:30

I got this piece of though as one of the email forwards, but this deserved not be deleted, but worth spreading, and thats what I am doing here.

Views on the Indian tech industry:

It's a topic that has been oft debated - that India 's tech industry is a lot like the Chinese manufacturing phenomenon - Low cost, reasonable quality, minimal innovation. I was an employee of a huge IT company in India (what the heck, it was TCS ) and have, in the two years in their employ, developed certain opinions and concerns about the direction of India 's IT revolution.

Here's how Indian IT companies operate (Infy, TCS, wipro and the second string such as mastek, satyam, patni etc). Hire engineers in bulk, never mind that they are not computer scientists or electrical engineers - if they can write a few lines of code in C/C++ and are academically decent, they're hired . After all, they dont need brilliant engineers - just people who will do as they are told and reasonably intelligent enough to get the client's work done, and bullshit their way out of it if they don't. They'll rarely make CAD software for Electrical engineering or mechanical engineering. Instead they will develop "end to end solutions" for banking, finance, inventory management, website development, etc. By develop I mean code, not design - there is a huge difference between the two, something which I will touch upon shortly. One important thing to note is that the HR in most IT companies dont give a damn about individual interests. They will put you wherever they need someone to slog for

them . I've had one HR person tell me that they will put me in a project where they get maximum money, regar d less if I am interested or not. And they wonder why so many people leave!!!

What is the nature of the work? At least 70% of the international projects in most indian IT companies is maintenence - i.e someone else has already developed an application.. All you need to do is add more

features/change behaviour as per client's request . Then there's production support, which is worse. It is almost call-center work - ensure that the application runs normally and if it fails, get it up and running ASAP. Take calls from the client, update on the status. In a sense, like a car mechanic - I didnt get an engineering degree to be

a car mechanic - I got it to design the car! Finally, if you are lucky you get development - write code.. But then, writing code is easy - it is like manufacturing a car. What is not, is designing a system that works efficiently. Typically, foreign clients get the design done by the likes of Accenture, IBM, etc. The designs are then sent to desi

companies, who actually do the coding at a cost much cheaper than IBM or accenture. Thus, all we do is donkey work. It is not technology - it is programming. Technology is a new idea, paradigm or design - programming is implementing that design. Thus, most of the people in IT waste their engineering degrees, doing mundane programming, until they are made project managers - after which they spend their lives approving timesheets, conducting appraisals and sucking up to the client . Wait a second - shouldnt an experienced IT professional be

doing advanced stuff and leave the bullshitting to MBAs?

Why is it so hard for desi companies to do design? The've not tried hard enough (yet) to get into this space. They just dont have the competence to get the job done. Desi companies are amazing at procedure oriented projects - if there is a procedure in place telling us what to do, we can do it. They dont have the experience (and therefore the brand equity) to attract IT consulting projects. Consulting is largely a reputation driven business. In order to build such a reputation, desi companies need to hire high-flying consulants - they dont come cheap. Even after all this, there is no guarantee of results! (Lately, Infy is trying to get into this space, I'm told, so good luck to them. I dont think TCS is though ) How many software products come out of Indian cos? IFlex is the only company to have a product successful worldwide. Making products is expensive and again, there is no guarantee of success - why risk it when services give me an assured income?

Why do we need to get into high end IT - consulting and products? Simply because the algorithm of low cost, low margin services will run it's course in the future. As payscales rise in india and the rupee appreciating wrt the dollar, margins become more and more slim. In time, India may not be as competitive as say Brasil or Russia - the

American cos will take their projects out there! U can see trends in the manufacturing sector - earlier Taiwan was the manufacturing base for American cos, then SouthKorea and then these days, China For too long have we been stuck in the procedure oriented IT services. It is time to invest in consulting and products, and take Indian IT to the next level, or else I fear we will remain stuck in this low end nonsense. . Indian companies thus have 2 choices - identify and set shop in countries where the low cost, low margin algorithm can be applied (TCS

seems to be taking this route) or enter into high end IT, which is independent of geography (Which Infy is trying) . I believe the latter is the better route - it is a high margin business and reasonably high tech. What is even better, is coming up with technology - like Java, efficient databases, advanced operating systems (Like Sun, Oracle or

Microsoft). That is real tech. It's not that we can't do it. It's just that we dont want to risk it . But, nothing venture, nothing have! Desi companies' dont even do proper R&D!

Finally, a true story. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) was huge in the chip manufacturing industry, making almost 60% profit. T h ey could have got into chip design, and potentially,

designed low cost chips. However, design is a risky business - what if the chip bombs? TSMC chose to stick to it's core competence - fabrication. In time, TSMC's profits have declined to 20% or so... they're still number one, but don't make as much money as they used to... Are we learning yet?

PS: Work at TCS drove me so crazy; I quit to do a PhD