Happy new year and decade

With 2009 almost gone, i am sure you all must have made great plans to welcome 2010 and incoming decade (i dont want to hear arguments that 2010 end marks that, as i firmly hold belief as an example that how can one consider 1990 as year in the decade of 80s).Its been eventful year which started on a challenging note. Challenges make our lives and all of us have accepted that. Lets hope you have a great year 2010 and a great decade ahead. May all your dreams come true and you have great happiness, prosperity and health.Its been an honor being associated with you, lets hope we continue remaining in touch in coming year/shappy new year 2010.

I had spent end of 1989, 1999(y2K) at some great locations. Plan to do encore. see you in next decade recharged and refreshed. Hope you have great holidays.... Eventful decade though, next one promises more so....

Return To India

Last week saw two very contrasting pictures. Both at international airports. One outside india and the other inside india. Same set of people. When it came to boarding at International airport the crowd (either NRIs/PIOs or resident indian visitors) was so well behaved. They complied to every specified norm either at security, or immigration or just were waiting. I saw a family. They had got the packed lunches. They took care to eat the same properly without spilling. They threw the disposable plates in bins. They were using Tissues. Not making much noise. All was going well. Flight was delayed. Since it was an India bound flight, the airline did not bother to make any announcement or regrets for delay.Though we heard similar regrets/announcements for flights to european or US locations even for a 5-10 mins delay. The passengers to India-bound flight were mainly indians. We were seggregated after getting boarding passes in the waiting area. Amongst say 200-300 people there was single a rest room and atleast 100 seats short. Thus many were standing. Airline did not bother after repeated complaints. Crowd though was well behaved and quiet. Soon after hr and half of delay, flight was boarded. Systematically. The flight reached mumbai. The view as you enter Mumbai airport is disgusting. All huts, unclean alleys etc get zoomed as the plane lands. added to that there is chaos. First we could not get runway so plane was circling. Then upon landing we did not get terminal. we sat there for almost 20 mins. Ofcourse with the smell of disinfectant which airlines spray as we near mumbai. Finally we got the terminal and then you could not wonder if it was the same crowd earlier. People started rushing out.They never bothered if anyone was hit by overhead cabin luggage while they were taking it down. They rushed outside. First look of Mumbai airport has to be always dealt philosophically especially returning from world class terminals like Changi. Life is greatest leveler. We are reminded that one should get inspired by a great sight but one should not get disheartened by grotesque. Mumbai airport can be defined as one such sight. The white tiles render a toiler feel for people already suffering from constrained bowel movements arising out of disgusting food, varied time zones, disturbed body clocks, intoxicants..... The same crowd gets smells of Indiaand they start behaving differently. They say when you go to Rome behave like Romans.They try to cut queues. Fight over trolleys which are outnumbered by travellers. They argue with officers. Try to use tricks to fool customs.They fight over a best place over luggage trolley. The same crowd which was so behaved turns hostile.The same family i had witnessed, started munching some snacks. They literred around. They left over some food on seat. Spilled water. they never cared. Add to all this humid, hot and polluted mumbai weather. This really gives a room for analysis and introspection. Why do we behave differently abroad and in india. Why cannot we have better planning. Why cannot we learn.We are very proud of being indians but we really need to learn to be more civil, clean. We may be a poor country to afford airports like changi but still we can atleast keep things clean and disciplined. I am sure most of travelers feel same as they return to india. All this should start with self. And miles to go before we sleep.

fevicol ad

During the cricket series, an ad released by Fevicol made me very pensive. Theme of ad is that a small girl sticks moustache for a play assumingly using fevicol and that cannot be removed throughout her life and even after that. The creaters had expected humor as tone. For me it was much deeper than that. Glancing across various stages of life in 5 to 6 seconds is what makes one pensive and closer to realities of life. having celebrated another birthday, it made me feel further pensive. Time is running out. It stops for no one. someone had uploaded a very old photo of mine from kgp hostel days during a party. having taken a look at that snap, this ad made me look at yesterdays snaps at one party. 17 years have passed. so many things have changed for good and for bad. But later i realized that what matters is journey how well you have enjoyed it. and what have you acheived. Thats what make difference. and your time is not up....

Harishchandragad: The Trekking Pilgrimage

Every year people make New Year resolution. Very few of them do materialize. It was one of those resolutions which materialized for me. The resolution was to make pilgrimage to Harishchandragad which is Mecca for all those who claim to be trekking enthusiast. Its fashionable nowadays to claim to be one. I do claim that but only blot on my trekking history in Maharashtra remained Harischandragad. This fort had been a jinx to me as thrice I had planned that trek during my college and working bachelor days. All those plans flopped for some reason or other. So for ten yrs I have been keeping this as a resolution . To visit Harischandragad was motto.
This opportunity came in through a trekking group at my health club. They had organized this trek. I jumped on this as its hard to get group of friends who are completely into a phase called Gruhasthashram in local language.

We assembled at 6 am where a 28 seater bus was waiting. The group was motley. It was mainly comprised of college and working bachelors. Harischandragad can be accessed by two ways. Tougher route is through Khubi phata khireshwar. Easier route is through pachnai but for that you need 1 hr drive extra going ahead of alephata. Looking at fitness levels of the group the organizers decided the Pachnai Route.
The nasik road journey was normal with picnic mood setting in. Breakfast of missal pav at alephata is unavoidable.

We then went across the main road and the country side is amazing. The fields, mountains, small dams. This area is remote and local villages are sparse.

We reached a very small village of Pachnai. This village does not have a chai tapri as well. We had photo session and instructions. We started the climb. The first climb really tested each one of us. Its significant climb and has great greadient. But alongwith it offered great view while climbing.

As we approached top after an hr or so, we had some respite of open plateu wherein the other route meets. The top plateu is wide and after few turns around. We reached the main section of temple and cave where most trekkers stay. The main fort is above this plateau and has another climb which we planned next morning.

It was almost 4 pm. Could not have waited to see the grandeur of Kokan kada. Had heard a lot about this overhang cliff. And after a walk of half an hr amidst greenery on the plateau we reached there. This is a paisa wasool moment. The wind, the valley, the wall, the height, setting sun all combine to make you feel different. This place has a touch of divinity. Peace of mind, perspective all things set in. setting sun adds seriousness to the moment. We reached the cave back before dark.

Night at this place is another experience. Clear sky without city pollution, noise and lights is amazing. Our talk and music were the only silence breakers. The sky was studded. There was nothing to do but to chat with fellow trekkers. And of course volunteers were busy cooking khichdi on fire. We tried helping without success.
Sleeping in cave is another experience. There were two other groups. Get your corner and enter sleeping bag only to be awakened in morning. That’s another trek experience I love. Morning challenges of ablutions were met.

After visiting the main fort, we climbed down where the bus was waiting. Another great lunch at alephata and we reached pune by 3 to join my daughter. Back to gruhshtaashram…

Cycling after long time

As per the the plans, tablers started assembling in front of the crowded SGS mall, by 430 onwards. Some had driven the cycles, some had innovatively arranged for tempos, vans to transport the cycles. The twinkers and ladies were in great number and enthusiasm. By around 5:15 we kicked off the rally which is an achievement in tabling based on past tabling time standards. Tr Jignesh Furia had printed the stickers, route-map and a cap with round table details. It was really a great design and other follow-up work. Those were distributed. Few tables also managed to get on the two wheelers. Tr Ankit had sent those placards to be held by pillion riders. There was a car behind the cyclist where the main flex was printed. To top the cavalcade of around 15 two wheelers, 2 cars and around 40 cyclists was a police van provided by the commissioner thanks to the police permission taken by Tr Ritesh. Getting the permission was a task itself to which Tr Ritesh was up to it. Normally they don’t allow on crowded Sunday evenings. The commissioner was impressed by Round Table activities. He had personally directed the staff. There was PA system warning other traffic to make way for us. There were curious onlookers at the mall and throughout asking what its all bout. We then had a pamphlet to give for such curious people. The route took East Street till the 110 hoarding. It turned on MG road, again from westend till Poona club. We had photo ops near Inox. Then we turned back near alankar talkies , sadhu wasvani chowk, Nehru memorial and back to SGS mall.
Twinklers on their small bikes were the toast of evening. The enthusiasm and resolve to complete the rally was great. Ladies added glamour quotient thus adding further curious onlookers. There was great traffic on all these roads and am sure our message must have reached at least 20 to 30 thousand people in that area. Thanks to some great traffic management done by volunteers like Tr Mohit, Tr Sagar , Tr Bijoy , Tr sanjay and other with of course help from police announcements.

Upon conclusion of the rally, there was photo session and pamphlet distribution done by Twinklers and Tablers. The twinkler enthusiasm was appreciated by large SGS Sunday evening crowd. Most tablers used the opportunity to spend time together either at mall, Mac D and RKs. The respective fellowship conveners to take on from there…..

Must say a great solidarity of Pune Tablers and a really enjoyable and effective Publicity events. Tables will attempt release the Note on 10th. Tablers will wear shirts and pins on 10th. The three hoardings are already in place spaces for which had been managed by 110 and 144 (one for 144 and other for joint tables). The tables had taken up the printing and fixing cost. So we have made great visibility in Pune …..

Decade Cycle

Last quarter of decade is one month old almost. How has been this decade: the 00 s. Started with Y2k unknown (predictions were enormous) nothing happened but helped india create a core competance. Dotcom bust was the main fallout of 00;s Bad start. Then 9/11 something which was never seen by anyone zoomed on to TV at homes. Then started afgan war, iraq war, anthrax scare, SARS, Bird flu calamities galore. Things went back to normal by 05. Then started outsourcing boom /manufacturing boom for india/china: a second wave again to fall flat with greatest recession, swine flu scare. Almost a wheel has turned a whole cycle....
whats in store for decade of 10...? Noone knows. Recovery is predicted... lets see...
For India, now our economy being connected globally, almost had same cycle economically. But to an extent our economy has fared well. Some basic fundamentals were correct.
But we had problems galore: Terrorism parlament attackes, 11/26, mumbai train blasts, various blasts in cities like delhi, ahmedabad, banaglore, so on.... Naxalism has grown rampant. Flood 26 july, bihar, famines, earthquakes, tsunami. some positive developments as well like chandrayaan, RTI, economical benefits to needy, Good network of roads. Political space marked demise of NDA and rise and rise of UPA.
Decade of Bollywood was marked by Star wars of khans with aamir doing out of box while shahrukh cannot break free of mould, Big B coming back and staying at top, Multiplex film phenomenon and some new faces tried to create out of formula succcesses. But economics got skewed and complex with many media options.
On cricket, we built a new team under ganguly for great achievements. Then all was lost by chappell with WC disaster. Rise and Rise of Dhoni, T20 and IPL.... But still we remain at 2nd or 3rd position.
In IT: after .com bust, model has to revamp around end to end solutions and cover BPO. Web 2.0 came in with social networking focus. net penetration in india, Mobile penetration in India reached scales. SaaS and Clouds will be rule breakers. ERP companies evolved onto those models. Consolidation happened in Industry. Recession impacted badly since 07. Indian story lost zing due to cost models getting offset by rising cost of people, real estate etc. So there was talk about value creation. H1b and outsourcing created bad publicity for india during US elections. Google was out and out winner through web ad models. Web is ever growing. Microsoft is still catching up after vista debacle. Open source predictions did not match the bullish trends.
Culture has changed drastically atleast here in india. new generations have taken over.. seems like our time ended last decade of 90s with toll of Y2k. Time for my daugther to take over.... No but her decade will start on 1st jan 2020. Vision twenty twenty.... So now all those born since 90 to take over.

election day

today is election day. there is a directive from govt to let all offices close and those who will not will suffer penal action. This is ridiculous. even 2 hr break is enough for voting. why a days off? its a loss of man hrs for private as well public institutions. this year they say because of this people will have no option to go to malls, theatres etc. people will stay indoors if they do not want to vote.
people have very less options. there are rebel candidates, 6-7 major parties with or without allinaces. idea is to chose lesser of evils....
we need to revamp the system. but we cannot shun voting. catch22 situation. what to do . i am as confused as anyone else....

whats wrong with Indian Team?

another major event, another buildup, another dissappointment.
Since that glorious june evening at lords in 83, i have really started my cricketultraloyalfanhood (a new word). Its been always the case of ending up disappointed : 87 thanks to gooch and some idiotic batting in semis, 92 was no hope, 96 due to turning eden gardens, 99 again no hope, 03 atleast in finals but a great innings from ponting, 07 was disasater. even in champion trophy thanks to dada's team, we went till finals twice but best we could do was to share. 04 and 06 we were out before semis.
With inaugural T20, i thought my curse has ended with a lucky, down to earth and dynamic leader in dhoni just like kapil. add to that were dream run from australia, srilanka, england, NZ, not to mention IPL. There were few blips likes tests in lanka and asia cup final where we were mesmerized by mendis. But we were on track.
Now after second t20 disasater, comes CT disappointment.
What can be reasons
1. Backup strength is negligible with sehwag, zaheer, yuvraj out.
2. Over reliance of SRT. (have just studied that SRT had a role in each of above victories since ICCT20 in 07 except maybe in lanka08)
3. inability to handle pressure
4. pathetic fielding
5. Inconsistent Bowling.
6. vague tactics (sending virat ahead of himself against pak. loss against pak hurts)
bowling weakness hurts us most. also we have seen IPL performances mean nothing for justifying selection. there is class apart.
i think we need to plan world cup11 carefully. no scheduling of meaning less matches so all team can be fit. bowling selection needs overhaul. put great work on fielding.
but still i am putting my fingers cross for WC11

Urgent Action for Future

Read somewhere that Monsoon patterns are changing and in next 15 years we wont have monsoons. Scary. One delayed month created so much of panic. time to really act now.
Politicians dont care anyways, but we should
Irrigation system to be reviewed and planning should be done based on 15-20% deficient successive years of rainfall
Rain water harvesting is must
pipeline wastage is about 30%. that should be priority to save this asap.
Ground water survey should be done and data to be handy for contigency plans
also read about an effective desalination process cost 5 ps or less /litre.
agriclutural innovation for crops as done by israel in arid zones.

if we dont do this what are we going to handover to new generation?

gautam

Soil Sport

I had an opportunity to connect with soil. Never in my life which spans more than three decades, I had this opportunity to be connected to soil. I had lived for four years at semi rural town but there we were cocooned in a campus which was modern. I had gone to various treks in western ghats or himalayas , visited villages , understood people and lives but had never been connected to soil.
Here i had a chance to be a farmer. we planted potatoes. I ran a plough ('hal') on bullock pairs. we picked tomoatoes, rajma, coriandar, banana fields. we had special farm food. took tractor ride. later we played kabbadi on ploughed fields with locals.
It was fun and i really felt connected with soil.
Its some different experience. I recommend surely.

We did it

last weekend , our table donated money to Nerlekar school. nerlekar school is located behind NDA at a remote place. Started by one man with vision from personal funds in 1985 in a cowshed, it now hosts around 600 children from around 10 remote villages. Hardships were enormous, local resistance to send the kids, local politics and corruption etc. still school has done wonderful job.
i visited school in 06 when i was going for monsoon drive on a sunday. based on that motivation to help school i joined round table india. Its been a great experience on personal as well as social side. Finally after a good years work on fundraising, coordination etc we managed to help this cause. Hope this is just a start...

Power of 9

9-9-09, fancy date is approaching. China had fancy of 8, so they launched Olympics at 8:08 pm on 8-8-08. For me its 9 which fascinate me somehow. I dont believe in Numerology (with that my lucky sign should be 6th being born on that date).
9 has various meanings for me: 1 short of best. 10/10. Our CPA was based on scale of 10. we judge many things on this scale. 10/10 is superhuman or lucky (with divine intervention). That last mark lost is reality of human limitation. I feel its the best we get. Even top rankers in IIT are called 9 pointers. Its human to err. Idea is to minimize error and that has a limit. anything above is matter of chance or superhuman accuracy. sometimes in maths i used to get cent percent as maths is only objective subject rest all subjects have subjectivity. Does that mean if things are objective then you can score 100% in life. whenever there is subjectivity we are bound to lose atleast a mark? another philosophical question but yes very relevant. so in scheme of things which are to be judged subjectively (so is life a matter of subjective judgement) perfect 10 is impossible. Even perfect characters have blemishes: be it mythalogical or historical. No one can be 100% perfect. people do get close to perfection with tremendous hard work. But one has to be realistic about limit of 9 or you can call curse of 9 for all.
Leave aside philosophical value of 9, i have sentimental factor attached to every yer ending with 9. it marked paradigm shift in 89, it marked a complete status change professionally and personally in 99, what does 2009 has done, will it stand to test will be known in these few months starting with 9th month. my father celebrated landmark b'day in 09. he got married in 69, I did a feat in 79 (childrens year) which was noted by A B Vajpayee who was foreign minister in Janata govt .
Wish you a very happy 9-9-09. a near perfect date.

Valley Of Flowers

Rains are now paving way for October heat. This is the best time to wander around hills near Pune. few sundays back we had inspiration and straightaway headed towards a destination very popularly known as maharshtra's valley of flowers. This Place is called Kas near satara. around 125km from Pune. My family shares my wanderlust so they jumped onto it. We had an inauspicious start with one of my tyres having six punctures. Thanks to tubeless technology we did not have to dirty our hands. Its been ages since i am hands on in every sense. I only manage... just joking as still i do prefer doing things hands on professionally. sorry for deviating.
it was sunny morning , but as we crossed shirval, it started raining and we could see clouds hanging around hills on the west. we knew we were destined for a monsoon drive...
after doing a bit search around for way in satara city, we reached the famous tunnel leading to sajjangad. we took right to the road climbing the hill . after turns and twists, we saw the greandeur of kas plateu. Its a flat hilltop plateau not very wide. On both sides you have valleys with big lakes. The weather was great with drizzle and clouds. Gentle but cool breeze to refresh. The flowers have just started blooming of various colors. we just lazed around. what more you need in life with such weather, great location, loved ones around, good music, good food packed, ....
we then started drive towrds kas lake. the road is great with thick forest, winding turns, ups and downs, small villages. We started climbing and entering thick fog. At one point it was almost zero visibility. There were very few vehicles operating with full lights on upper. We reached lake amidst fog. we could only see 6ft water ahead. and then suddenly it all changed. within 2 mins the entire clouds evaporated (if i can use this word). and we could see lovely landscape, lake, forests all around and few other people also enjoying this show. We then drove to bamnoli on koyna backwaters . the road is amidst thick jungle and turns scary at a point. But wonderful. weather added to the moment.
we returned back after enjoying numerous stream, waterfalls aside the road. we had lunch at satara (guy took almost hr to prepare very good food).
Suddenly we had a brainwave to go to mahabaleshwar as we were out of stock of honey we use daily. They a call from mahabaleshwar never can be avoided. we followed satara mahabaleshwar route. its another great journey. ghat is very winding and narrow at some point. thankfully road is good. (only problem with stray dogs, hens, cows to be avoided).
Mahabi was great as usual with rains. its rains something there. crowd was sparse thanks to swine flu.
after refreshments and shopping at Mapro we reached back by twilight. one highlight or return journey was a semicircluar rainbow we saw. i have never seen such panorama before. as we left rainy satara district and entered sunny pune, we saw this. the colors the range , the size etc and the backdrop was awesome...
hopefully you will like my first and maybe last attempt to pen travellogue. I myself find it bit cliche but when i comeup with original i will attempt again. They say picture says thousand words in prose. i have attempted prose. but i am against sharing snaps on open forums. so if you want to see snaps to comment, i can send you link. they are great snaps esp the rainbow one.

Time and Tide

Almost an year has gone by. I did start this blog on ganesh chathurthi eve last year. Time and tide seem to have gone beyond control. Golden years have been spent. Grey years are impending. been talking to all my batchmates and they also feel same sense of sand clock losing sand quickly. Daily chores, inertia, meaningless things to dos of routine work, hedonistic weekends of seemingly happy but empty contents; are taking toll. when was the last time you did something creative, close to heart and something real.... maybe few of us have been close to all these. or some of them have kept those feelings secret. even i was close to such moments few times and most of us are i am sure. But what % of time was that.
Time is a non renewable resource. we have only one lifetime. Time to make a meaningful things t do. Time to create real value and innovation. Time to leave legacy in any right sense. Clock is ticking and your time starts now...
Hope Lord Ganesha shows the path and gives wisdom....

State of eternal chaos

Ganesh Chaturthi festival starts from coming sunday. The destroyer of Obstacles is thy reputation O Lord Ganesha. And there is no one else to look upto.
Swine Flu, Drought, Recession, Terrorism, .... list goes on ....
The next in line after almight is the maaybaap Government who has pledged its service to aam aadmi. Is Governance in place
Example for swine flu: No one seemed to be in control or atleast making semblance of sense of urgency in decision making. Need of hour was to take quick and sensible decisions. Health deptartment , PMC, Mayor, Guardian Minister, CM, MP , no one was ready to take the buck. schools , people were left on their own to take a call . Media added to panic resulting in chaos. More than 1000 people swamped the only testing center. many people must have got infection there. at other center, to do the testing one had to cross the quartantine room. ridiculous...
And our esteemed politicians were busy at a ceremony to name the expressway...
meteriological department has to be closed down. They predicted normal monsoon. They are good at analysing but forecast is what was needed. Govt machinary has woken up last week to declare draught. foodgrains prices have reached exhorbitant level. Thanks to commodity index and hoarders we face this. (another reason i strongly recommend banning of futures trading in commodities) Govt did not do anything.
Things run on their own. No one seems to be in control. No one is interested to help aam admi. they are busy milking the system..
what are we doing: writing an inconsequential blog... Guys lets do something

Rakhi sawant fan club: reality sets in with a nostalgia

Last year in one of my postings i had mentioned about Importance of Being Rakhi Sawant (http://nayakgiri.blogspot.com/2008/09/importance-of-being-rakhi-sawant.html).
I am a firm fan/follower of Rakhi Sawant. She had her swayamwar last week and by god what a drama, what a poise. i wish i could have traded my place with Elesh (the winner).
Dame has so much guts. she is so confident. she oozes drama. Mind it she is the ugliest celebrity maybe, she is the most crass of them. But she does what she thinks and there are no double standards. Had i not been happily married (repeating old cliche that my wife is happy and i am married), i would have surely applied for a slot in that swayamwar....
Another example of how channels take people for ride. everything is managed. But so long as janata is entertained who cares..
This reality TV is not my cup of Tea. I am surprised by fan followings of all these shows. seems like people like them. thats why every channel has one. different formats (but adapted ones nothing original). Its all scripted as one can take an educated guess. nothing real about it except sms and money making. Earlier generation of reality was ok and restricted to singing competition or quiz shows: has some semblance of fair judgement system. (forget about tantrums by judges etc). This lot is more about bitching, sex, personal issues.. not my cup vulgur
Good old DD during mid to late 80s was golden era for me for TV viewer. Single channel no choice: Staring with Hum Log, Buniyaad. Ramayan and mahabharat. Short stories like satyajit ray presents, kathasagar, darpan, ye jo hain jindagi. Good serials like khandan, ados pados, mr and mrs, karamchand,kacchi dhoop, aa bail muze maar, udaan, subah, rajni, himalay ki dhara many more.. Quiz time by siddharth basu, whats the good word, sports quiz , world this week were my kind of reality shows. short films like Tamas, sandokan etc . many more. Mumbai DD programmes were the best : gajara, those great poets and singer events, much more qulaity. Technically they may not have been sleek as today but content was more rich, and most importantly Honest..

Pandemic Terror

More than AH1N1 its terror which is pandemic and damaging. Its very natural to be careful, watchful but its another thing to be terrorised.
Its rightfully said that if you keep subjects under fear they are easy to be governed. Now we dont have Kings but we have politicians who claim to be our representatives who have this policy. Its very unfair to blame politicians for everything but its the system which needs overhaul.
Having suffered the logistical nightmare owing to school shutdown, i feel panic has set in. Its correct and prudent to be scared and follow the rules. Idea should have been to educate and circulate proper information right since the day first victim was detected. (it was atleast 15 days back that a software guy had reported, things got into news only when whole class was down).
ofcourse health officials tried to do that.
But now with first death in india, terror has crept in more than panic. a slightest bout of cold, sneeze, fever will lead parents to h1n1 tests. but that needs to be done as its very tough to track how and when you would have got in contact with infected patient. offices, gyms, clubs, hotels, movies, public transport, ... where all you can establish the chain...
Now i feel we should do following:
1. Have 5 more official quarantine sections (one in kothrud, one in katraj, one in aundh, one in peth areas, one in shivajinagar) to isolate and treat positive cases
2. 2 more H1N1 testing centers /equipment should be added (at what cost will need to find out) to handle cases with symptoms (be it anybody) and rule out negatives.
3. Home quarantine of people in direct contact with H1N1 positive confirmed cases. Dont close whole school. Upon symptoms report to centers
4 Basic hyegiene to be maintained while sneezing , spitting , hand washing etc.
5. pray to almighty
its scary situation....

3.

Dark Clouds

in my earlier post i had commented on rise of Google as positioned vis a vis Microsoft. Google CEO was then bullish about Cloud computing be the next thing which will change technological landscape. Ofcourse Google is still on track with launch of O/s to take MS head on. Ms has laughed off Google O/s. Google is unstoppable. But Clouds are yet to rain. The biggest threat of security concerns were laid bare by various attacks and data thefts on Twitter . Though proponets of cloud have mentioned this as exception and have blamed twitter for lack of process. It has again laid focus on best security practices. It also has created privacy issues like corporates having access to this information. Can you imagine Google as Big brother knowing more details about you than you yourselves do. And human mind is very susceptible to greed and ambition that has manifested into greatest scams and global phenomenons like depression currently we are facing. So has cloud answered these anamoloies. Can the security systems be robust enough . Ultimately everything turns to a password. In real world you have keys to secure your valuables. But effort has to be made to break the lock, enter the premises unnoticed, manage security guards, get out with the loot unnocticed and then get absonced to avoid detection, have network to sell the valuables and remain untraced..
In online cloud world its just you need to crack the password.
Scary , not that. We still can have processes to manage the threat. But issues still unanswered.
Interesting times ahead

prohibited

alcohol is prohibited in Gujrat. But everyone knows the watering holes. Hooch tragedy has brought issue again into highlight. Modi's request to center to pay the revenue lost has also raised lot of points.
The only loser in the matter is Gujarat Govt which is losing revenue. Rest everyone is profiting based on gujarat's free market philosophy. its time to do aways with double standards. Apparently based on common sense, Gandhijis philosophy seem to have failed miserably in every sociopolitical front. whatever munnabhai team says.
its time to do away with the last legacy. ..
party anyone ???

Guru

Yesterday i celebrated Gurupournima at Riyas music school. Riya performed few songs.
Life is a great teacher, its a mahaguru. God or whatever one assumes as divine energy provides inspiration throughout. But still there are many mortals who help us acheive our path. Idea here is to thank them.
In the stream of commercialization of education: schoolastic or vocational teachers have lost the humane aura. With impersonal media like elearning, multimedia, we have standardized learning. Globalization and worldwide classrooms have added new dimensions to learning. so where do old school of guru stand today. I think its a very personal emotion which someone has for somebody as a Guru. So institution of Guru has given place to role someone plays in our lives.
The first gurus are parents. then come family members and then the rest. still a special mention to role i had with my distant cousin (but yet very close) SD dandage as friend, philosopher, guide.
For me : Kale sir was the one who first saw any spark in me.Apte sir /abhyankar from school can be termed as a real Guru who changed my outlook towards academics and gave confidence that i was somebody in scheme of things, so was patwardhan madam who made me believe i can do well in academics as well. YG Kale sir and Dharne sir with whom i started my class experience, really created that confidence in me. Khasgiwale sir, and arun belare sir (both RIP) gave that edge which helped me greatly. Rahalkar sir from JEE coaching with his any problem any minute slogan really pushed me hard. At IIT to be honest i could not get into any personal equation with profs except maybe PPK (Project Guide), M K Ghosh and B Ray(fac advisor). For the lack of same maybe my interest towards technology took backside and aspiration of Management took drivers seat.
At the start of professional life i had a great mentor in Rangan from nocil from whom i learnt project management skills. They are still handy. attention to detail etc etc. luckily i managed whole plant shutdown as independant officer and not a trainee thanks to his recommendation.
I started my enterpreunership early. My friend subrato was the one for whom nothing was impossible. My BIL was very good technically, agressive and resolution of issues, My various colleagues , clients and partners had many things i could learn.
Thanks to Mahguri shri sai and pray that he illuminates path throughout.

water world

rains have played truant and normal life is soon going to be out of gear in my city. in one of my earlier postings i had talked about eyewash about carwash. that was just one instance that we could have made impact. recirculation of water needs planning, effective distribution, leakage reduction, rain water harvesting, effective storage etc would have avoided this situation. there is no contingency planning. one failed monsoon can create so much of havoc here. politicians the usual suspects dont care , neither do we to take steps to avoid wastage. western world does not have this problem owing to better planning and less population.
issues of common life are the last priority. who will change this: you and me...

Anti Climax

After a lot of build up, indian team lost. Jury is now out on why we lost. Inquest has begun. Kirsten's theory of blaming IPL fits in the tradition of typical western condescene towards whatever indian which according to them is anything but subtle. Westerners (with exceptions) think themselves to be sublte, balanced and saviors of world. Far from it, howsoever polished they may be they can take a unidimensional view of self interest and superiority. anyways thats beyond the topic. Point is all major players except winner pakistanis were in IPL too say westindies, SA, Srilanka. so fatigue has some difference sense in modern cricket.
Other justifications are nature of T20 which has luck as major factor, wrong tactics etc are valid in bits and peices. For me following are points of concern
1. Bench Strength of Indian team is weak, inexperienced and overhyped. All past major succcess ( post ODI worldcup 07) can be attributed to individual brilliances of sachin, yuvraj, sehwag or dogged determination of Kumble, Dravid, Gambhir. The fringe players got good exposure via IPL and IPL has helped in that way. But they lack quality and approach of above mentioned showstoppers in indian team. Batsmen are flat track bullies and Bowlers are anything but consistent
2. Bowling inconsistencies: difference in winning and losing is ability to produce 6 good balls in over. You can have 4 good balls in an over with say 3 runs. if you concede a wide and a boundary on any two (in whatever order) over goes for 8 runs which is decent. We did have very few good overs in super8s. That made huge difference. We won last world cup because we were able to produce good overs (remember those which choked SA and in Semifinals against Australia after symonds wicket). Noone seemed to care about this point year after year.
3. Lack of transparancy about injuries: sehwags exit was knockout punch which boosted opposition. Has sehwags injury known, we could have requested Sachin to be a part . That would have been master strike demoralizing opposition bowling. If not Sachin, we would have had someone like Manish Pandey to create unknown factor.(just like yusuf pathan factor in last finals). These injuries affected fielding as well.
4. Tactically we did not focus on opposition weakness: In IPL, it was proven that Bravo is not a good player of short delivery outside off, but we played by piching him up. same with KP, we bowled too many leg side deliveries where he is very comfortable. No approach while batting.
5. Club level fielding: Not much to add, maybe we would have been worst fielding side in torurnament.
6. crucial goof ups like sending jadeja ahead of Yuvraj, playing out of form Ishant ahead of Inform RP, not promoting yusuf pathan.
rest as they say is history.

Foreign Bodies

In medical terminology every human cell reacts to foreign bodies. This reaction varies from cell to cell. Similarly every society reacts to foregn migrants differently. This reaction varies based on many parameters. Recent attacks on Indian students in Australia is such a typical response. same can be made out of attacks on biharis in Maharashtra or assam. Obamas policy attacks on immigration from india china to protect jobs is another manifestation of such paranoia of foreign people. Thus i was cheering when australia were knocked off ICCT20 world cup, i feel for students.
Its age old history with such migrations. Britishers have tried to nullify indian history by claiming caucascian migration in form of aryans. This is a very challengable assumption to me.
The moguls and other tribesmen plundered india. Indians had never gone out of peninsula or plains as it had all natural resources to feed them as well the attackers. Colonial powers from europe came here and ruled us. The paranoia of outsiders coming and ruling the natives is well supported in History. Now when tables are turned, Indians had to move out to meet global aspirations. Now its turn for developed countries to feel paranoic having plundered colonies over centuries. add to that a caucascian beleif of being the pall bearers of human civilization. (this is well documented by kipling as white mans burden).
We indians can also be not given clean chit on this count. we as society have different problems based on caste, color, creed, region, releigion etc etc..
Coming back to migration, its only when foreign bodies fail to assimilate in local culture then clashes occur. One very important dimension is economical situation of immigrant. If he is poor he is a problem, if he is wealthy he is worthy.
americans, the first people to fight for open economony, liberalization call for open markets from developing countries. But when it comes to reverse open policies for migration or jobs, they are protectionists. every one has right to safeguard their interest but this process has to be mutual.
Its a very complex issues faced by mankind since ages.
i think global village concept is just utopia. world can be flat so long as it does not affect my job.

Final Frontier

There is always a holy grail for everyone (i am not referring to Dan Browns take on the topic and i am not promoting Angels and Demons). There is always a final frontier to be won for everyone.
Steve waugh had mentioned about beating India in India was that. South Africa had same feeling for australia conquest. England has ashes dreams. Sachin Tendulkar feels lifting ODI world cup to be that. Federer wants French Open, Lendl wanted wimbledon, Sharad Pawar wants to be PM. Narayan Rane wants to be CM. Whole Indian film industry feels that for Oscars. Whole science community feels that for Nobel prize. Whole IT community wants to be involved in 'the next in thing' featuring in silicon valley success stories. Whole bunch of fellow entrepreuners of our times wanted to be next Infosys. the much malignes Investment Bankers wanted to be featured in WSJ, All those in Music want to perform at Sawai, All trekkers want their foot on the everest. These are just examples. I am sure every individual has that holy grail. Few lucky people acheive the grail after few attempts. But i have seen whole lifetime spent unsuccesfully. someone has a bunglow in mind to buy, someone has a brand of car to buy, someone has a country to visit, someone even wanted to meet long lost friend. These cravings are varied. Its the intensity, desire to achieve that defines the quest. The time duration required to achieve that is the real test of character. Many people give up as well as its very easy to do that. There is nothing like achieving what you want and getting it after a long exhaustive road.
There are some dangers also in this, while chasing the grail, life's other achievement (which may even be bigger than the grail) will feel like no shows. Lifes small gifts and pleasures will be lost while having a single devotion towards the grail. Its the balance is what defines success in life.
In short not to give up on quest of the grail while balancing out the life with other important facets will define success.
There is certain unfairness about life. Some things happen in such a way that a particular achievement is denied to someone just for no reason or by chance. And then maybe owing to lack of interest to followup or some other priorities , that event never happens. and at later time you realize that achievement is still missing. And then maybe in some cases time has gone or its very difficult. Then arises that quest which is very strange for others to fathom. Example: One of my friends has taken admission in IIM after 13 years of graduation leaving aside a settled career and family.
The holy grail of life is central to all of us. They define our life, they provide meaning, motivation, substance, etc to our lives ( beware of dissapointments, demotivations, obsession, guilt as by products).
My Holy Grail is yet to be achieved. But i have many role models to guide me reach there.

Flavor of season: T20

After IPL now its time to move to ICC world T20. Back to national colors after cheering for ambani, shahrukh, zinta, shettys , mallya etc. Though they talked abt citi rivalries, i feel there was nothing Mumbai style in Mumbai Indians or hyderabadi style in Deccan chargers. Last years losers were finalists. This shows very unpredicatble nature of T20 cricket. so dont be surprised if india doesnt lift trophy on 21st June. Its wide open though India and SA seem favorites. and we know what happened to delhi daredevils . One innings from people like Gilchrist, Jaysurya, or a ponting can turn any pre favoritisms. Thats a bookmakers paradise. I doubt with all ICC anti corruption machinery in place, and also with national pride at stake, there is any chance of corruption. But with IPL, owners controling monies, being a domestic festival situation anythings possible. You never know what Big Monies can do to ethics...
anyways had a month long feast of matches, coming home to tune in to something. Cricket was much exciting than IPL1. This time more friends dropped in. opening was seen at a resort outside pune. key matches someones place. I have stopped being MI fan.
Cannot wait for Dhonis Men in Blues to take on Bangladeshis on 6th. But for some schedule related issues arising, i would have been at Trent Bridge to see that. anyways....
There are many such things that have been missed and to be planned for
wimbledon match, world cup match where india is playing outside india, IPL match in India, olympics opening ceremony.
Two things have been achieved : seeing world cup soccer live (Korea02), Seeing India play at eden gardens amidst 100000 people.
My sporting world ends there; international soccer, cricket, grandslam tennis, olympics.
wish me all the luck, to follow my dreams

The Great Indian Electoral Surprise

Election results are out.
Congress has won hands down. In my earlier blog i had expressed strong desire to flush out third/fourth front antinational brigade. If need be i suggested Cong and BJP to form coalition govt in national interest. Great India has voted against these tendencies. I am not sure if that was a decision reflecting general sentiment. But election process is complex one. There are regional issues, local issues, combined with malpractices with govt blessings. Regional party equations matter most i suppose. Congress with all election machinery in hand played it well and did show good results. Gained in south, reestablished in cow belt, fell down red bastions, won major metros like mumbai and delhi, recovered lost ground in Guj, MP, Chattisgarh, Punjab, strengthened its hold on rajasthan, hariyana. Its all because of clear leadership and focus, the organization was existent. BJP had defined its leader but he did not have any organization to make people feel than trend. If BJP has to make impact it needs a clear second rung, party base and clear messages (advani made some very confusing flip flops).
And to great satisfaction of mine, these self proclaimed good for nothing leaders from RJD, LP, NCP, BSP, SP, Left have been shown their place. Regional parties have to be accepted but with a clear message that national interest should go hand in hand.
My moral of story is that you need to have a clear and well defined leadership with a coherent message identified by masses, you need to have a ground machinery in place and you need to play regional cards deftly. and you will elections.
After many years of coalition govt we will have a ruling party(front) with near clear majority and with no blackmailing from any quarters. Manmohan singh has to deliver now. If not now, then never. national security has to be addressed with first proirity, tough decisions are needed but i doubt if congress can dare do that. If not atleast they should enforce the govt machinery to deal with disruptive forces like terrorism; cross border and internal, naxalism, etc.
economy has to be boosted, reforms should be accelerated. China like model of boost to local strengths have to be pursued: eg STPI extensions, disinvestment etc.
Infrastructure has to be given big boost: Roads, Civic transport, energy.
Troubled Neighbours are a great threat: we need very strong leadership to deal. International diplomacy has to be at highest levels to get our ways in tricky issues like outsourcing, climate , nuclear deal etc.
Challenges are enormous, but now they have mandate and most importantly have got rid of anti national interests in Govt.

blog on a blog

fake ipl player blog is the main attraction of ipl season 2. There have been some close matches and there have been some goof ups , good cricket and pedestrian cricket. Politics and megalomania have been always associated with cricket since that fine lords summer evening in 83. But web 2.0 has unleashed some very intriguing prospects in cricket.
i am sure you must have heard of IPL fake player blog (fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com) if not followed it. Out of curiosity and gullibilty of a normal cricket fan, i latched on to it and have turned into a loyal follower. cant wait for the next post.
Guy claims to be a team member of maligned KKR unit. His basic fodder revolves around fight between KKR management ( shah rukh , buchanan) and dada ( bengal cult figure). Then the next theme revolves around night life of cricketers (an angle not much explored though many have guessed to be existant since that same evening in 83). He has penchant of naming the crcikerts and officials by innovative names. has good literary skills.
this guy cannot be a cricketer. he is some bengali cricket reporter who has sources within the circle. as his only motto revolves around ganguly. the events referred seem extrapolated as someone with common intelligence and some basic study can write about the events described.
the angle most intriguing is about the power of web 2.0 which can open inside views in many fields apart from cricket. wait for some more interesting blogs ...

45% people are good enough to be in Pune

Last week we voted. This 'we' constitutes only 40% of eligible voters. add to that around 5% who were turned back for lack of their name in voters list. Remove around genuinely ill people out of humanitarian grounds.
rest have no right to stay here. better they leave the country or be treated as ' non citizens'. I know there is no good choice of candidates, politics is at rock bottom, no issues, corruption. a feeling of what happens if i dont vote' etc.
But a way has to be found. a method has to be adopted. we can if we want to.
all this you have heard many times and may sound rhetoric. My suggestion is to collectively define penalties for non voting populace: or have incentive for voters. example
For tax payer: an additional 5k relief in income for voters, must record their PAN card no.
For Non tax payers: Free health checkup voucher at Govt Hospitals.
On penalty side: If a person does not vote for 2 consecutive elections, he cannot apply for passport and driving license or existing passport and driving license gets cancelled.
any more ideas?

Triumph of Good over evil

Most of the stories : cinema, novels end up in a situation which has good triumphing over evil. Infact human mind thinks that should be the case wishfully. Even there is a poem from saint Tukaram that the last day should be happy, and thats what has been my effort. There is a great song in marathi ' shevatcha din god vhava yaach sathi kela hota attahas'
But does that happen in life. all the efforts of farmers in vidharbha fighting against loan sharks end up hanging off a rope. Loan sharks are evil for sure. But do the victim signify Truth and Good. To an extent yes, they are hapless part of evil system. But there are weaknesses as well. But who does not have weakness on this planet.
So how can truth overcome evil: Patience and Belief Shraddha and saburi. Thats what makes difference. If the situation is not happy then its not an end. Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost.
Idea is to work towards that end with belief and patience.
I am sure all evils will be overcome that way.

Divinity

Human mind is very weak. It cannot cope up with external influences. It plans a lot. It has a vision. It has a rational thought process with cause and effect justifications. At the start of my adult thinking person, i used to be atheist. Intrigueed by exploits of man. Fascinated by Ayn rand philosophy about Human spirit, achievement and ego.
As life went along, there came in vast insights. a deep frustartion to let things go beyond your control and external factors defining your life. Life had shown unfairness as well as given largesses. seen the great dance of destiny in its very rude forms: accidents, calamities, narrow escapes, matter of chain of events leading into another chain (concatenation: remember that Jeeves -Bertie dialogue 'there is a cat in it?), plain luck making things big. Its all about externality. Maybe that externality is defined as God.
That exeternality does exist and so does God if thats the definition. Then if i believe so, then i cease to be an atheist. Yes ofcourse i do not believe in rituals but at the bottom of my heart i lay and behold towards the almighty (if there is 'anyone' who is in control). Or is it just random without any cause and effect. In plain auto mode. This dilemma has been experienced, shared by many before. Nothing for me to add.
Only for me to add is my own experience of solace i felt last weekend in viscinity of a public religious place. I felt like i used to when i returned home after kgp semester. At Home with closed ones. After a long time. Maybe it was my own thought process or it was influenced by ambience of divinity created (i spent whole night 20 mtrs from world renowned shrine).
have i turned into believer. My debate continues. But experience was great.
Guys i am sure you must have felt that sometimes as well. share with me if you do have

Political Mess

Is there any party which means real business of Politics . I guess not everybody is politiking and no one is seriously interested in Development, Security.
Incumbents have failed on multiple fronts. Security is one main point. Developement is still skewed. vested interests are at large. and its high time we drop secularism and social justice from political dictionary in india. secularism is definition taken by everyone conveniently and basic meaning that everyone is equal before law of land itself does not hold true in india. every one has different law. Election is all about caste equation be it maharashtra or bihar. Politicians who do lip service to remove social inequality are champions of caste polictics. eg Third front.(if it exist). But as compared to worst case scenario, current incumbents still are acceptable as they dont have disruptive values to democracy, development . Yes they have hampered security by some injudicious decisions. They have served vested interests.
Opponents are non existent. they claim support from urban educated masses. the agenda of hindutva as system of indianness against just hinduism was even supported by nehru. In its right sense as adjudged by Supreme court, it could have been a real replacement for secularism which is more opportunistic. As true sense of indianness is all inclusive and adjusting. But seems like opposition has lacked charisma of good leaders and organizational skills needed. they cannot impact hinterland but for some exceptions. They too are busy politiking and trying to set some new equations. But failing badly. there needs to be a charisma that can do miracle.
That arises a fear of real opportunist to set equations convenient post election. That might hamper national interest. each one will have its own agenda and these leaders are dangerous. They might impact democracy, development and national security by arbitary politics. nation needs a strong decisive government.
If elections spring up undecided verdict, democracy must survive and should not be left to opportunists in the spectrum. thus in national interest, we should have a national government of current incumbents and leading opposition. sounds daring but its a need of hr.

Stepping in to new year

Its time to celebrate new year. I am referring to Marathi one. we as if need an occassion to celebrate. Best wishes for marathi new year and happy gudi padwa.

New year 09 is 3 months old. Q1 numbers are yet to be out. Things did not deteriorate as was expected at the start but no signs of improvement as well on economic front. Sensex has risen. Dollar has fallen. Elections round the corner. Summer has set in. Exams will be over in a weeks time and time for kids to enjoy. IPL finally will take off in april.

Gudi Padwa means Basundi and exams. Not much difference this time. A new financial year takes of as well. March end keeps busy on numbers. Everyone hopes to do better in next year than current one. wishing you fulfil those dreams in next year.

A long summer ahead and a very important Q2 ahead for all economies. may you have all strengths to meet the challenges. ..

Pune in new Millienium

In came the famous expressway thanks to vision of Bal Thackrey. That changed Pune by having utmost linkage with sister city and all in things from Mumbai found place in Pune. Pubs and parties in pune had people driving from Mumbai coming in. Many new pubs and clubs started in Pune. Nightlife with happening college crowd is what drove people to Pune.
Old pune found this bit neocouture and wannabes there tried to match the peers. Hinjewadi was fully operational and all majors were there in Pune. Dotcom had created varying notions about epune and various portals came in lanscape. Chatting was in. Reliance and BSNL ventured into mass market for mobility bending and twisting rules. BJP finally came into power with stable support. Vision of golden quadrilateral improved other roads as well connecting Pune to cities like Nasik, Kolhapur, Nagar, solapur. Lot of migration happended from interior maharashtra to Pune for edcuation and IT jobs as well.
Then came the dotcom bust with many techies impacted. But again by 03-04 things returned to glories of 05-06-07 a bull run in Indian market. Real estate went unreal in these years and property values doubled trebled from 01 rates. Interest rates went down in these years resulting in Housing boom. drought like situation in 02-03 turned into floods in 04-05-06. Rains started changing patterns. water supply of pune was dependent on dams and rains. But for increase in polulation made these systems inadequate. Now you see tankers plying in socities in fringe areas. As we enter last year of 00's world is amidst recession and many here have suffered. Industrial belt is place for the fittest. banking is tainted, finance and markets are bad words.
Pune started with load shedding in 05 and i suffered a lot. Many enterpreuners suffered. Till now situation has not changed. This has added another dynamics in Pune life. Pune had Only one private FM channel throughout these years but since last few years there is a competition.
Mumtiplexes first started in 01, now we have 5-6 such multiplexes which are another hangouts.
Still Tapris are mushrooming esp for out of home student/professionals. Theme parks have not done that well here. Tourism has increased to places close by and its a foul if you are in Pune especially on long weekends. farmhouses have risen. Foreign population has increased.
A new positive trend has emerged on social front with committed volunteers for environment, civic groups. Its fashionalbe now. But still rampant is phsycophancy involved in flex board. Every demographic group is now militant about its pride and honour and tolerance of dissent has reduced. Old Pune was much more progressive and tolerant. But now we have a paradox; accepting each new trend, technology we have fallen back on horoscopes, superstitions. Maybe life has become more tough and human mind is very weak. And family instititions are falling resulting in support and communication systems being on downside.
People spend more time online than with family. Connectivity increased in pune. we got VOIP, chats, videos connecting to members of families overseas. A reverse migration from US started in mid 00s with many professionals coming back (after taking oath of US citizenship) to get best of both worlds (very typical to NRI mindset). many international luxury brands , malls, started filling the scene. cars came in.
Law and order started becoming issue with rampant burglaries, murders. This was an indicator of rising divide betweens haves and have nots esp migrants from other parts. Traffic now is pathetic though there are some uplaudable initiatives launched. real estate with recession has got a correction. But change has been enormous and all inclusive. name a field and you have it.
Board exam are mere formalities with multiple CETs. Many new branded schools with people preferring ICSE/CBSE over State board. admission for pre-primaries are major stress factors for parents. Hospital situation got worse with no much added capacity. Though new hospitals came in but still there is undercapacity. health insurance became more popular. But noble profession became more unethical and money minded.
Gyms and health routines like walk, etc became in thing. Holidaying abroad became more feasible than domestic tours.
On ganesh festival side, more awareness and regulations have setin. more festivals are socially concsious. But new things have arised like dahihandi, navratra toran, dandiya, year end etc. These are DJ nights with processions/celebrations.
Pune has now involved in terror activities with some evidences linking have been established. With all defence establishments and central govt bodies, it has considerable threat.
But Pune has still retained old charm in those localities, manageable commuting distances, reasonable weather, lot of avenues for professional as well extra curricular activities.
But will pune sustain this growth. whats in store post 2010 as we head into next decade?
Need some good governance, active citizenship, beyond politics forums to make that happen.
But always you have a hope. world lives on hope. Hope this recent crisis is taken care of as we head into next decade.

Pune of 90s; An outside view

Continuing on Pune city.
In came 90s with a lot of political uncertainty with eras of VP singhs, devilals and chandrashekhars. Assasination of Rajiv Gandhi resulted into congress headed by Shrewd PV Narasinharao into power. manmohan singh had no alternative but to liberalize and though not many credit PVN for what he did but according to most keen observers in politics it would not have been possible under anyone elses leadership. Coming to topic, Liberalization came in. came in MNCs, Brands, Cars , TV Channels. India was now exposed to world. Muliple channels started. I remember craze for B&B, Baywatch etc... Zee started Bollywood top ten etc with some bold serials etc. In mid 90s to late 90s pune got taste of Macdonalds, Pizza Hut, Dominos and many brands. Colleges started mushrooming. Many outsiders started sending their children to Pune in these colleges. Mainly Engg, medical and MBA.
I meanwhile did the reverse migration going out from Pune to kharagpur for education. I thus lost everyday experience of Pune in 90s till 01. But i was either a vacationer or weekender throughout this span. Thus every vacation visit resulted in finding new changes. MG Road, Deccan now were hangouts for these collegians. Flats in Kothrud, aundh etc were shared by this crowd. These hostelites acted as role model for citilities (another COEP term). Intercollegiate drama fests etc attracted more intensity, sponsorship. Ganesh festival went from bad to worse with noise and pollution levels, unrestricted crowds. This is the time there was alround development in adjoining areas like Kondhwa, wanowrie, kalyani Nagar, Viman Nagar, Vishrantwadi mainly cosmopolitan look and feel.
On IT scene by early 90s few software companies really got push from Y2k, early to mid 90s were formation years and by mid 90s we had strong bodyshopping model. Everyone had US dreams. earlier only iit/coep crowd used this route through scholarships. But now companies started sending bodies. Every house had someone sent to US. US grooms were in thing in marraiges.
Cars started rolling in. Maruti 800 was height of status till early and mid 90s. In came Santro, Zen, Cielo, esteem. But Roads were same. two wheelers came in with more than 100 cc etc. small scooties with terrorist like clad females riding them was a common site. cycles started vanishing. Then came the opiom of masses: Mobile phones. having cell phone was height of self importance. rates were 16rs/ min and cost of handset was 10 to 15 k with those bulky models.
Mumbai Pune AC coaches were introduced by Metrolink. But road travel was still messty. i was stuck many times for whole night in such buses.
Migration from peth to kothrud was not complete. Thus Kothrud, aundh societies were in things. Big builders got bigger. many big schemes were planned which materialized by end of 90s like woodlands, karishma, swapnashilp, girija shankar, parisar.
Hotels started mushrooming on J M road. Out of Pune Dhabas got popularity. Chandani chowk got prominence. Sinhagad got accessable with more vehicles. At single advent of rains people started flocking. weekend outings started to be popular to lonavala, mahableshwar, konkan etc.
We got first Pub in Pune TDS. Camp was ultra modern with fancy shops, branded stores.
Cinema was still single screen with Rahul, westend, among top. Cinema turned romantic from action in this period. Yashraj scored hot with Darr, DDLJ. Hum apke was phenomenon. Aamir, shahrukh, salman came in. Songs were big, NRI crowd tastes were introduced.
Its in late 90s that companies started making Big in Pune. Industrial belt of PCMC went through crisis in mid 90s but recovered thanks to Indica project which took off in late 90s. Plus companies innovated in energy, biotech etc. In mid 90s lot of core engineers shifted to IT. There was a craze to do SAP. Hinjewadi became operational by late 90s. expressway was inaugurated in 01 and that marked another phase of Pune of new millenium.
If 80s were meant in preserving pune of old though with a small window of growth in mid 80s, 90s meant change throughout and all around. It was the beginning of end of old time charm of Pune and ringing in of a new Pune which still has mixture of old habits out of nostalgia, new dynamics, resignation to change and insecurity of future.

Old Pune (my generation: 80s in school)

As promised in my earlier post, there needs some special mention on Pune for old timers sake.
PL Deshpande had one observation about Pune. Immense Nostalgia, a typical phrase meaning 'things were different in old times' can be heard from Pensioner block, Offices, houses, and as well schools. Even youngsters/toddlers have something defined as 'their own time' as per PL. Thus one can conclude that generation gap widens in pune after every 4-5 years. Thats a fact as we are seeing a tremendous change in our social fabric since 90's. IT is one of the drivers here in Pune. I have most of my classmates /friends coming from modest old wadas now living international lifestyle thanks to IT revolution. This is one side of story. On other side, we see a uncontrollable growth with a lot of migration from all over india zeroing on Pune. Pune did have slums and 'slumdogs' esp Dandekar bridge, Janawadi, etc. But now its expanding in fringe areas. Pune still carries old charms like greenary. In fact i can say pune is now better in terms of forestation esp on hillside. I remember that ARAI hill, warje hill were barren when i was in school. now they are green. Threat is from builders and corporators who have construction plan (DP) on hill slopes . environmentalists have objected rightfully. But city in itself has lost green cover owing to construction. But things have not gone beyond repairs. Climate has changed since 05, heavy and unpredicable rain pattern., very hot summers and non existant winters are the order of the day. Earlier winters used to be severe and we used to enjoy in our school days. it was cold , we used to wear sweaters even in daytime, nights were fun inside blankets. Summer evenings were marked by cool breeze, rains were moderate.
Old city had old wadas. wadas were lifestyle. hanging around with wada mates at sarasbaug, sambhaji park was in thing. Today it must be CCD, barista. Camp area had old city charm and outing to camp was an event. chole bhature from mona food, sandwiches from marz etc. Now camp has lost that charm a bit with mushrooming of similar MNC joints all across. Deccan was the most happening place. Kothrud, Aundh, baner were other cities just like what we have PCMC today. Sahakarnagar was the most fashionable address for middle class and Deccan for upper classes. Old city masses migrated from peths to these areas (kothrud, aundh, baner, sinhagad rd) in mid 80s when there was some boom thanks to rajiv gandhi liberal window. STD booths were around with quarter charges post 10 pm. many icecream joints in summer. Mobiles were not there (how did we live then must be question to todays gen). we used to hire VCRs to see movies collectively in wadas. ganpati fest has regained some sensibilty. in our time it was uncontrolled noise pollution etc. But we used to enjoy drama etc at our wada ganapati which many people still do even today in societies. Diwali was much polluted and boisterous those days. Today maybe due to cost or awareness its down a bit (still beyond acceptable limits). we got into hoteling in mid 80s thanks to my relatives (esp ones from Mumbai). Till then we were restricted to dosa or max a thali plate with all family together. Alka or rahul were the most happening movie theatres to see good western movies. still i remember the hype around guns of navarone, or where eagle dare or absent minded professor etc. Hollywood movies those days were much better (thats my opinion, experts may differ and debate). Hindi movies meant Bacchan. Now we have variety. Drama had only bharat, tilak and balgandharv. we preferred bharat as it seemed that a play gets better performances there. There were lot of good chidren dramas. summer vacations meant learning bicycles (by renting them for 50 ps per night), cricket at sp ground in evening, swimming batch, mangoes and playing cards. Miss those acutely. Trekking took popularity thanks to YH, Yuvashakti. Pune Mumbai journey meant Trains and not expressway. Road travel meant ST. Deccan Queen had great charm with Omlette toast as high point. Asiad Buses started in mid 80s. Shopping meant laxmi rd esp for clothes. Groceries meant local vani. A lecture/speech was still meaningful evening entertainment. Going to mandirs with grand parents meant incentive of prasad. Sunday evenings meant TV movies. We had only DD. But quality was much much superior than millions of channels today. Marathi DD was excellent: gajra, even amchi mati (agro show) had very entertaining Gappa goshti, Kilbil, Saptahiki, Chayageet. serials started in mid 80s with yeh jo hai jindagi, humlog, ramayan, kathasagar, vikram vetal and many such varied enjoyable shows. we had many quizes : Quiztime , sports quiz etc. whats the good word as well. real quality.
Experts can add more points for 80s. Next in this round will be 90s and then 00's. will talk to old timers from old wadas of what was like in 70s . seems like it was more fun then. every generation has nostalgia about Pune. And i am sure every town has that. But traditionally P L had some soft corner for Pune as he was bit harsher on Punekars and that too sadashiv pethis like me which still feel was unjustified. But PL is PL who can say a word. Buck stops there.

United colors of India

wishing happy holi to all.
I am surprised how bollytainment industry has influenced whole of India to spread this predomintantly North Indian Tradition across the nation.
Though i have to admit that underlying similarities do exist between indian peninsula and gangetic plains for each tradition.
Here in Maharashtra we used to celebrate Holi just by burning bon fire and eating Puran Polis. I remember in my childhood going to a 'wakhar' for wood/gaurya etc. Holi used to run till late nights with 'marooing bombas', 'bailachya'.... sorry for a lot of marathi words but there is no equivalent stuff for that. those who have done that need no further explaination.
Then we used to have rang panchami after 5 days . It was played with colored water, baloon, pichkaris etc.
Normally it used to be exam time but there used to be alloted time by each parents.
Old wadas in Pune were amazing. maybe another blog topic : Old Pune... sometimes later.
Then the northern influence started creeping in with all holi songs: rang barses, holi ke din, Yash raj songs etc. so rangpanchami has lost its sheen and Holi is in thing.
Earlier we used to have a Hasya Kavi Sammelan on DD on holi eve. real fun with shail chaturvedi, sushil, suresh sharma etc. somehow i dont see many channels arranging that (ofcourse maybe due to number of laughter shows).
this holi was quiet . celebrated it in neighbourhood. Riya has some fever so had to restrict her. some friends dropped in. Last year was a typical bollywood bash at Khopoli bunglow. a typical jalsa with colors, friends, beverages... year before it was with some marathi film stars at shooting location in Pune.
Holi is fun. Nature is changing. summer has now set in. But the best Holi was in Kgp with friends, processions and profs. I remember in 94 when sachin came first for opening in ODI in NZ. It was holi. all of us waited till india won and then we started the celebrations.
Today again after 15 years we had another ODI in NZ with Sehwag scoring fastest ODI hundred by India. Very Nostalgic... Those were the best days of my life.

Ides of March

March is in. last month of financial year. Time to do tax saving. Time for exams. Time for Holi and spring. Here in pune we are already in deep summer . mercury has touched 40. Time to hit the pool in late afternoons with ofcourse vijay mallya to remember. Holidays are month away for schools. Cricket time again in NZ. Ofcourse happenings in Pak are disturbing. People of Pak i think do not deserve their leadership more than india. I assume pak common people do exist to want to live peacefully. their pride getting hurt whenever indian politicos abuse them, world abuse them. Its all because of their leadership since partition which have fed them to anti india stance on religious lines. Now its time to get what they had sown. But i assume its a world problem. Developed nations can claim to have erased terrorism from their land as there has not been single strike after one major strikes they have done. For now India has to fight a lonely battle.
Coming back to Ides of March, its all happening. No signs of any revival of economies. US situation getting trickier. Elections in India zooming in... Interesting summer ahead. IPL anyone??

Hopelessly Waiting for Godot

Elections are coming. No leader to look forward. Ruling party is unacceptable. Alternatives are non existent. Threat is by antinational red agenda, social justice cum secularist champion bufoonery, eternal opportunists, region before country leaders of regional parties to seize the moment and emerge as leader on same lines like the Humble farmer prime minister we had.

No one to look forward to for aam admi, nationalists and real janta. we as a nation are hopelessly waiting for Godot. Yada yada hi dharmasysa....

Will my wishes be granted?

Traahi maam Traahi maam.. avtar gheshi deva...
But as a typical indian i am waiting for someone to help me and i have been told that god helps those who help themselves....

slumdog review by ignorant.

i need to know if i missed any point while watching slumdog millioniare. For an ignorant soul like me, its quite possible.
Whats so special about the movie. A good movie, nice premise of corelating facts about indian life with millioniare show. These type of corelation has been done umpteenth time in novels, movies (though with different events etc) , can provide you with list starting with Midnight children, rang de basanti, waiting for Godot, many many more.. Selected each form novel, movie , drama.
camera work, visuals are excellent. Acting is ordinary (anil kapoor impresses only in one shot), dev patel is horrible, irfan khan is nothing special. Music: A R Rehman has done better work for sure many many times. Direction is good. Story has a flaw of being unrealistic in the Qs and As association with past life. Ofcourse one can give artistic freedom to author of novel but not convincing in cinema which is a different medium. Its about story telling necessarily and metaphors add to the value but cannot be movie itself. Though experts can disagree..
and one line about depicting poverty in India. I feel thats beyond a point. There is a reality which needs to be addressed. To credit of film it remains unjudgemental in not singling out india for that. It also shows call centers, cosntruction economy. Justs points out paradox. Its not about western perception of india. there are ills in every society and i believe many film makers have tried to capture thoses throughout history of cinema.
and about hype around the film: I think i have missed the point. or its a plain commercial gimmick very succcessfully done.

Why NOT??

last weekend i attended HRD session. There was an exercise played. The task which took initially 30 secs was finally done under a second after say 6 attempts. In each attempt a new target was set (by team of around 15), new ideas thought and implemented. the task had no limitations as to how they should have been done. (so long as tennis balls touch each participant and reached the inititater of throwing sequence). At the end of first attempt, trainer asked if this can be done below 15 sec, everyone felt difficult.
but with new ideas and execution it was done below 1 sec. Thats what removal of constraints can do. everyone talks about dhirubhai school of management. we got a new rule 'Why NOT?'
what stops us from winning, what stops us from growing, what stops us from fulfilling dreams. The self imposed barriers of hard work, inertia, fatalistic approach.
Before the training someone had asked me
why dont I attempt to lose 10 kg? I told it was impossible for me as i am a foodie and cannot diet. Now even if someone asks why dont i attempt six pack abs: I will say Why Not???
same in business, same in personal life.. challenge thy limits (which most are mental demons)
I had earlier written about Sehwag, he thinks about winning why not???
good session. Need efforts, discipline, team work to make things possible.
I am sure each one of us has come across self imposed barrier.
ask why Not??

Parental Guidance

Dont be surprised by the ratings of my blog. I dont intend to publish any material which is rated as PG. My point is something which is an eternal dillema for all fellow parents.
Other day i saw Little champs on zee marathi. These kids are phenomenonal. they sing excellent songs. Be it classical based, folk based, emotional, natya sangeet and what not. How can they perform without fear of established guests and jury, TV audience , popularity ? God knows. God only has created them.
But i would like to focus on thought process of their parents. They had supported the decision to devote sizable months in academic calendar of their children for music show. One would argue that what is compared to this level of publicity and break. One would also argue that they will also manage the academics. But to reach that level of greatness in non academic careers requires dedication and all out approach. There is a sizable risk. I have seen many music career pursuant who wanted to be renowned performers but ended up as also rans and some at best may have reached music training. I dont want to demean job of these foot soldiers but in india we do not have infra to make a decent living. so is sports field. not all reach levels of dhoni or tendulkar. I have seen great cricketing talents ending up taking sales jobs with private bank franchisees. Are the returns so great to justify this risk. But when they succeed they are one out of millions.This is on one side of the issue
On the other hand, i have seen some who were failure in academics, but still are managing international lifestyle thanks to IT revolution. they struggled initailly but after a first break, they were persistent to look that as investment and made career. Infact in my early entrepreuner stage i was in the business of giving such people first break. So is it a safe bet to let children focus on conventional academics. They live happily but just one of the millions.
To aim to be one out of millions or to aim to be just one of the millions. This is eternal parental dillema.
My take: Its very difficult at young age to know what one loves. So its duty of parents to expose the children to various things. its our duty to find something that he or she enjoys most. (this process can start at age of 5 and can go on till age of 8). Evaluate if he/she really has the required iota of skill combined with interest after a certain years of singular exposure say at 10. Then take a call. work out fallback options. and then let it go... get her/him a great dedicated guru (thats what makes difference)
Its not very simple, thats where destiny plays major role. But dont ever teach her /him to give up on anything.

Sankalp Visit: A soul shattering experience

Many of us in Pune would have been to Panshet/sinhagad/khadakwasala side for Picnic many times. If next time you go that side, its my request to make a visit to Sankalp Orphanage just 2 km before panshet phata on right side of road. It will help you with a new shocking insight to life.
We at Round table 105 had arranged a visit to school which we plan to build near khadakwadi. Later plan was to go to Tr shantanu's farmhouse and have some fun. It was suggested by Tr Shantanu’s mother to visit and support that. And we were not prepared for the scenes we witness once we entered inside the establishment. I clicked the snaps from outside. I did not have daring and it would not have been proper on my side to take snaps of the plight of residents there. Guys, I urge all who had not witnessed the scenes, to take 10 mins out of their numereth picnics towards sinhagad, panshet, khadakwasala side to thank the almighty for whatever comforts he has provided us till date. We are sheer lucky. How unfortunate can those souls be whom we met that day. The children were orphans abandoned and add to that they were mentally challenged (here I cannot use politically correct word Differently abled: all politics can be forgotten). The stench coming from rooms indicated their failure of their control over their bodies. One guy was tied up as he did not seem to have any control over emotions. We cannot forget the five year old infant who wished us by folding his hands which was so polite (and compare that with today’s nextgen who are privileged). Then we met old people abandoned by their families. We were shell shocked as we came out. As we had already spoken to management team (who are doing excellent job in those gloomy conditions), they needed blankets. We immediately coordinated with Tr Amol to buy and dispatch 50 blankets asap. Within ourselves we promised to support this establishment in whatever capacity in coming years. There were ideas like donating monthly drinks/eating out expenses individually.
Life is unfair. Most of the time we complaint that we have not got enough. we strive for more. These scenes give you a perspective. For me it was an astound resolve to do whatever to help them in my capacity.
and i wish to almighty to grant this wish to let me help them better.

Things to do

I saw movie Dasvidanya last week. Central character is a common man who knows that he cannot live for more than 3 months max . he makes a wish list of 10 things he wanted to do before he dies. its simple and touching story about how he goes about it..
It was also shown than during his normal life (prior to the enlightenment about 3 mths deadline) he was bogged down by "things to do" lists which included silly and needless travails of ordinary life like changing batteries , buying toothbrush etc. Also there is angle to his trait of not saying no or inablity to confront situations.
Thats where the connect is. I had read in my childhood a book called 'Dont say yes when you want to say No'. Though in my life i did not implement what i had learned and failed into this trap of this inabilty until very recently. Somehow now i am much equipped to face this dilemma with some unique but not so direct (as is needed) approach to address such situations.I know of certain people who are very frank and clear about what they want. Problem with most is inability to know what you want, and a insane tolerance of someone pushing his 'to do' lists over yours.
and about the wish list or bucket list as it is called: its again our failure to see larger picture of our life which helps us get bogged in humdrum and get worried and bothered by smaller details. Yes we need ability to have attention to details and larger goals are started by taking small actions. The key is congruence of those actions with larger picture.
Life poses a very simple but yet very important question:
Question: why do you (or want to)work harder and better?
Answer1: I work because i like my work and want to grow in my field.
Answer2: Because i want to earn more money which will earn me a bigger house in better locality , with bigger car with better brand value, branded clothes and accessories, exotic holidays, ......
Answer3: Because my batchmate/colleague/brother works and i want to be better than him and want to have better life than him.
Answer4: All of above...
Probably: real answer in most cases will be 4 as its combination. How much anxiety is spurnt into this question and also all answers. Extent varies , % of importance to each varies , efforts vary, emotions vary, stress levels very. But most of our urban lives be it anywhere in the world rotate around this question.
Is there any simple or ideal answer to this?
I think answer lies in being happy with what you do: that will only happen if your larger picture matched its smaller steps in their direction. There might be failures which are devastating many a times. But one should take pride in attempts as a solace and work in same direction. and there is no morality in being justifying anybody of your priorities. Once you have that confidence then you are much equipped to attempt any thwarts of anyone else forcing his to do list onto yours.
Bahot heavy ho gaya na???...
By the way i also saw ghajini: nothing worth writing about except Asin. Aamir is as usual convincing, but nothing in story or script to write.

Dasvidanya costed me Rs 50 for DVD rental, Ghajini: Rs 450 for tickets+ Rs 40 parking+ Rs 100 on snacks

such is life.

Hope

I experienced last sunset of 08 at a very hatke location: desert (paradox being the most deprived geography landing up to be most extravagent in infrastructure and consumeristic spendings thanks to another natural resource) . experienced the first sunrise of 09. Old making way for new. Change . Wish this change is not just the change of calendar. let this mark change in self, family, sorroundings, society, country, and finally the world .
Time to change self; It takes a lot of time to correctly find one's strengths. Let us all be able to that to help us find real happiness in meeting the challenges that matter to us most based on those strengths. Let us overcome weaknesses, anxieties, strife withing oneself. Let us find path towards something which gives us real joy and avoid somethings which we do out of external compulsions .One though has to do those things as compromise, no one can run away and even while we do that let us have all the conviction that will result in clarity and peace. It was part of greater picture. let us all always have greater picture all the time..... And lets not waste time which is the most precious resource... else we might end up again changing calendars.
Moving onto family: let there be dialogue, let there be no externalities; ego, money, fame, comparison within relationships. Idea should be 100% love and understanding without any expectations. Thats the key
Then to sorroundings: lets resolve to atleast not damage sorroundings if we cannot improve: spiritual, visual, physical and chemical. Lets all have vision to be able to make positive changes to place where we live, work, commute and play.
On social side we need a lot of ground work and discipline esp here in india. We succeed individually but fail collectively. There is a need for all to contribute positively in each one's capacity. Need to take responsibilty. let there be end to the biggest blot on us: Corruption. let there be a collective drive to end that.
Let my country have great leadership and eradicate corruption. Let there be a lot of innovation in each sector of my country. let there be accountability.
On world stage: biggest challenge is conflict management. let there be cool heads to come to the table and have dialogue. Environment and resource distribution is challenge we should address else we may not leave any future for our next generations. Let the economies get rolling by some good planning and lack of greedy speculations.
Have I wished impossible things. Thats where hope is . hope is to be able to make right changes. No harm in hoping. ..