Not Required Indians

Mr Ramchandra Guha, a social historian has historical branded certain people as Internet Hindus. The derogatory sense of the definition is what irks me. It’s common for three types of people to deride such Internet Hindus. First let’s start with the definition of ‘Internet Hindus’  who are sympathisers of RSS/BJP clan, who cry pseudo secularism to be only problem for this once great country which they (those who ridicule internet hindus) believe did not exist (Indian culture dates back only till Mughal times as per these three types),   and final definition of Internet Hindu is one who posts militantly on social media/web fourms against these three types. First of these three types who deride Internet Hindus are the doyens of secular media with JNU mould, second the ruling elites who get into power by milking cash votes or vote for cash in connivance with unscrupulous business class or for newly created class of Non resident Indian who leave no stone unturned to bash India for anything that happens here and compare that with their country of residence (of course there are well meaning and patriotic Non resident Indians always supporting Indian cause). Now if I were Ramchandra Guha of my school of thoughts, I would define these people as Not Required Indians.  Though I respect Guha not as a social expert he is claimed to be but for his cricket writing. I would also like to add fourth group which subscribe to groups named as ‘I am ashamed to be Indian’ and who criticize country, people and culture being culprit for all evils of India. 

This was very prominent kind of thought process in the aftermath of the Delhi rape issue. It’s good that this case has created mass awakening. This was an event when victim was one of class 3 of people as Chetan Bhagat has classified. Class 1 is politician who rule, 2 is business people who bend rules, 3 is people who are upwardly mobile based on their education and connected to social media, and last is poor in cities and rural India. When victim was from class 4 no one bothered. There was a storm created falsely by media on speech of RSS on India Vs Bharat. What he meant was nothing to do with urban rural divide. This divide exist, there are beast amongst people in both India and Bharat. But it’s very unfortunate that these people brand whole country, people and culture as rubbish. One of such characters compared US action on guns law as ideal way to tackle issues and blamed Indian people for allowing politicians to rule them badly. These people are happy to comment from outside without doing anything about it. At least much maligned internet Hindus or ‘class3 ‘ ‘painted and dented’ ‘candle light bearers with make ups’ at least go on street ( irrespective of its utility), face police and make effective pressure on government to take some action. What 'Not required Indians' do is post offensive statements against country, people and bash those patriotically involved for all ills and quote happenings in first world and how ‘we’ are different from ‘you’ petty Indians.

Anyways I did not want to devote even a single byte for these Not Required Indians but wanted to advice them. Respect Indian values and culture. India has never gone out and killed people in order to expand its religion or lifestyle. We had abundant natural resources and we are accommodative to all and sundry who came here. That is not our weakness but greatness in humanitarian terms. Please don’t treat this as our weakness though it has led to lot of problems in today’s India. But as Indian civilization has found ways to survive millions of year we will now also. That does not mean we will just bask upon past glory but we have taken upon new technology and science. Though we have many evil issues to tackle but youth of India will overcome.  Indian culture has been blamed as misogynist, caste driven. But misogamy set in medieval times out of external influences and in ancient times women were actively involved in society.  Regarding castes, it’s the biggest challenge we face as some sections had been deprived. But isn’t it common for elites to create safe bastions for themselves all over world. Why single out India? Even in today’s world doesn’t class1 people of politicians irrespective of their birth are depriving other classes access to goo life by means of corruption? But then we are patriots, we will find ways to solve issues just as Aamir khan highlighted. Let the ‘Not required Indians’ remain not required in these efforts. Let them enjoy comfort of their own cocoon.

Ganesha The God

Rains have gone by. Thought technically monsoon hasn’t retreated. Rainy season was intriguing. June July dry, wet august and steady start to sep. Dams have been filled 100% (on records still 90% as 10% was given to agriculture and downstream towns by guardian minister). The worries of dry year ahead were dispelled thanks to the almighty. The leaders and admin should thank their lucky stars for mismanagement last year when we had excessive rains as were planning paralysis especially for contingencies. We won’t learn from past. Let the lord of wisdom prevail and let there be proper approach to problems faced by our city. It is now time to welcome arrival of the Lord. Whole atmosphere has changed for something auspicious, festive and enjoyable. Though terror looms large (especially after J M Rd events on 1st Aug) but I think sense has prevailed and police seem to be on toes involving mandals and communities. Let the lord show way there to the digressed souls who don’t have any mercy to kill in name of lord. How does name or way of worship of the same lord matter. Why kill? Why insult someone’s beliefs in name of free speech. And why kill to protest same. How irrelevant. Let’s all bury our differences and live happily ever after. Just like terrorism and bad governance another obstacle we wish to almighty is to stop corruption which has resulted in loss of public money, faith in systems and has created role models for young to make big using hook or crook. And finally let there be innovation, let knowledge drive the quest to excellence and let’s break stereotypes, lets conquer our self beliefs, vices, shortcomings to really make our own selves, family, society and country a very better place than what it is now. Ganesha always comes with goodies and hope he helps us achieve my never ending wish list. Wish you a very happy Ganesh festival.


This blog enters fifth year as I complete four years on eve of Ganesh Chaturthi on 2008. This blog has following posts to mark each of Ganpati festival. Would also like to add blog for Ganpati in 2007 when we won inaugural ICCT20. This blog started in next year. What an event that was. Who can forget that last over by much maligned and forgotten Ajit Agarkar leading to bowl out , six sixes by yuvi, great catch by Kartik and great spell from RP choking SAFers, Yuvi knock against Aussies and Shreeshant bowling out mighty Hayden, and finally Gambhir’s knock and that catch by Shreeshant...

Wish all these scenes get repeated once more as this T20 happens to be in Ganesh fest. Bappa’s wish list gets added by one more item. 09 and 10 T20 WCs were followed by IPL seasons where Kirsten had complained about burn out but this time things are different and that difference is emergence of Virat Kohli. I will stick my neck out to say that he will be difference between teams in any match. Let’s get Unmukt Chand into mix as i saw the knock in U19 WC finals. But the big question remains is HIS exit. Or will He have third wind. Important home series follow after T20 WC. The final warrior of golden generation which has defined our cricket life (college and professional live for my generation) will decide upon his future course. New season will be landmark for that reason as we will witness change of guard. And let History begin with shortest format.....

The title of this blog is named after one of the few innovations i got involved with my entrepreneurship career. This CD ROM was inaugurated by Shammi Kapoor who is no more. Though was just there at right time at right place, but that reminds me back to those early IT days (pre Y2K). We all were driven by a vague zeal to be next Infosys. After interacting with young entrepreneurs of today at IIT Kharagpur alumni events and other networks, I can see now people aim to be next Apple or Google or Facebook or some new web3.0 service or some cutting age mobile app, or some new cloud based solution and so on... Things have changed drastically in last decade as we welcome Walmarts and Tescos of world to enter Indian shores. As we also go ahead on US elections, Arab Iran Pak crisis, Prelude to 2014 general elections in India, Maybe MNS-SS joining hands in state, New development plan for Pune, or when we will enact PL’s Narayan this Ganesha in society or will embrace upon new personal challenges , wish for the Lord Ganesha’s blessing. Starting from global to country to state to city to society and self, the timeline ahead is intriguing. Also awaiting start to last quarter which traditionally has been action packed and defining for next year......

Heat is On...Waiting for Rains

sorry for no show in May due to work and vacations....

There is heat all around. Summer vacations have come to an end and all kids will soon start new academic year. Summer vacations have been spent. IPL over. Travel plans executed and photo albums uploaded. Mind still refuses to come out of those nice spent holidays. Mango season in over. Summer camps, swimming classes, hobby classes all coming to an end. Aroma of new books, uniforms, bags takes you back to your school days which were simply priceless. One one thing missing : rains. Monsoon progess is studied by govts, economists, stock markets, water suppliers, tanker loobies , railways, and we all the aam people of this special country. Hope all is well on that front which will we know soon.
But all is not well elsewhere and there is heat everywhere. Common man is facing heat of inflation. Food costs have gone up. Petrol though has cooled down a bit but govt still refuses to pass on that relief. Having studied balance sheets of all oil companies one wonders whether loss accounts claimed by govt are for real. Having supported privatization and opposing subsidies, it makes any cry for government control over oil prices something of double standards. But after having studied the taxation of petrol, it highlights pure mismanagement. There are anamolies like selling deisel to mercedes over at same price as to a goods carrier. LPG distribution are marred with rackets. But who cares. On one side we had bumper crops and other side we have inflated food prices. Middlemen benefit, farmers commit suicides. Politicians thrive.
Heat is also on toll as MNS promises their style of protests. Toll is simply a big organized loot. We need to study BOT model. Build fine, opertae fine, recover money only till point cost is covered. Toll cannot be forever when we have BOT mode. Certain maintainenance costs are applicable but cost recovery and maintenance should be rationalized. Its heard that this racket goes all up till delhi with very big names involved in political spectrum. But who cares
Heat is on finance ministry when S&P has warned that India might be the  first BRIC country to fall off. I assume major ecomomic fundamentals still are ok but the problem is policy paralysis by the government. No economic decisions are taken out of politcial compulsiosn. Corruption is undermining policy making. No political will. Multiple power centers are affecting executive. Non constitutional institutions like party high commands prevailing over most powerful PMO. Heat is on Rupee which has taken serious beating.
Heat is on fight against corruption. The anna movement which gained popularity in 2011 has been maligned systematically by govt and opposition. Political class has shred crocodile tears for losing sovereignity of parliament to civil society while ignoring own abuses to same cause. Fight against corruption has lost venom. All corrupt people like kalmadis, rajas , tainted maharashtra ex cms, army officers , beurocrats are out  and acting publically as if nothing has happened. Public has lost its last hope.
Heat is on talwars in unending whodidit aarushi-heraj saga and their trail by media.
Heat is on Doctors who have decided to shoot messenger like aamir khan. Yes aamir might be taking crores for episode amd he might have abandoned his first wife but thats his professional and private life. And are all points taken up are not real? Carry on doctors...
Heat is on presidential polls as if president office matters. Even PM post can be a rubber stamp appointment so leave aside president post. By all means we can have some convenient posting. Current incumbent a clear example of whats wrong with system. President house image has taken sever beating. Dirty politics is on. Sometimes i wonder if US style presidential system can work better than our parliamentary system to help us eradicate evils of election process, have people clear say on policy matter. That can give executive clear mandate to take decisions. Ofcourse some safety intrelock like election commission like Lokpal or some watchdog to monitor executive. anyways such reforms can be thought only in dreams. Even constitutional lokpal introduced in 60s cannot hold its charge.
Heat is on in Eurozone to take some calls on reviving failing economies. Though experts prefer speculating on Eurosoccer matches over stocks.
Heat is on London as it waits for olympics. Heat will be on Indian players to compete there. But with people still at helm at IOA, no hopes can be nuturtured.
We all now wait for rains. Rains to cool us down. Rains to make farmers happy, Rains to reduce water cuts, Rains in form of govt policies to stop slide in economy. Rains to stop fall of rupee. Rains to attract foreign policy. Rains to revive fight against corruption. Rains to ease out inflation. Rains to give politicians sense to prevail in ruling matters and appointments. Rains to reduce prices of oil and rationalize tolls. Rains to solve our problems. But we have seen rains in past creating havoc as well clogging our progress and disrupting our lives. So wishing for a balanced rain needed for a bumper harvest. am i not asking for too much?

Landmark August

It was my birthday 6th Dec in 2009, Two wickets to take off srilanka in mumbai, they did in an hr to help me go ahead with usual sinhagad trip and party following. India displaced South Africa to get No1 test ranking. Its been 18 -19 months of some good cricket. Both SA series lived upto their reputation with 1-1 draw home and most imp away. srilanka can be tough opposition in lanka. They were drawn. Aussies were whitewashed though on home grounds. NZ defeated at home. Also there was world cup though in 50 overs format. It was key series with Eng in Eng. And we bungled. and bungled so badly that we went back to 90s when indians away were pathetic. Under dada in naughties we had away victories and series were tough. so what went wrong, is it begining of end as golden generation has set. (though only notable performance was from oldest member Rahul Dravid). Future atleast in tests looks bleak. Bowling looks very weak . that underline importance of a fit sehwag and zaheer to cause of test cricket. Injuries were blamed for this show. I agree totally as we had winning moments in 1st and 2nd test which we could not seize to to lack of key players. So has reality sunk in that our next gen of batting and bowling is incapable as aussies found two years back after retirement of warne, gilly and mcgrath. or is it because of IPL and its riches. Many theories have comeup. But as a fan these are disgusting times. aug was painful and even 100th 100 did not come up. Only time will tell the future but what is needed is involvement of Ganguly and Kumble in some form of authority to manage cricket. let corrupt politicians manage ' monies'. I hope BCCI comes under purview of lokpal.
That takes me to another landmark event in aug which is in news . Anna phenomenon. There are many theories one suggests it to be stage managed by super rich to sort of have check over govt to avoid arrests. some theory suggests US hand. whatever or whoever might be doing things following points are truth
1. Public is fed up with corruption and inflation which led them to roads. it was fashionable to be on roads one can argue due to media hype as we saw in world cup.
But aam aadmi suffers for sure. and that is truth.
2. Politicians have lacked credibility . There is leadership vacuum due to lazy and corrupt govt and non existent opposition. Team Anna used this.
3. Its positive phenomenon that youth have been involved in national causes. They used to shun politics. But this youth energy is positive phenomenon which can be landmark movement in Indias history
4. Strong laws like janlokpal can help on curbing corruption if not remove . But challenge is just begun to create effective system.
5. armchair philosophers, writers and so called elite failed to gauge public mood and have fallen from grace as they criticized anna movement for wrong reasons and personal vendetta. Its time to retire this useless institution of elite columnists, communists and free sensationalizers. Height was most corrupt politicians BCCI benefitted ones talking about parlaimentary system to be supreme after abusing sams system on caste and religion line....
Anna movement with all its flaws as attacked by these deadly tribes, is very landmaker event for India. We those who claim to be intelligencia, should not undermine this. Time to participate....

Diwali: Down the memory lane

Diwali brings about a special ambience, happiness, peace, camaraderie within each of us. We are sure that readers of Cityblog are excited about upcoming Diwali festival. In special theme of Now and Then where we look upon what are the key points we remember Diwali thoughout our memories since childhood.
History and Mythology: Diwali marks the return of Lord Rama to his kingdom of Ayodhya after defeating (the demon king) Ravana, the ruler of Lanka, in the epic Ramayana. It also celebrates the slaying of the demon king Narakasura by Lord Krishna. Both signify the victory of good over evil. Sociologically it was the time to celebrate four months of toil of farming and celebrating agricultural success. Historically Diwali has been celebrated all over India in various formats. Here in Pune it is spread over six days. There are historical references of celebration during Shivaji era as well as in peshwa era. In famine ridden old days of bristish empire, people needed occasions to celebrate and most importantly eat well. Faral items were made only during diwali in the entire year. Now we can eat Chakli, ladoos anytime. New clothes were bought only once a year in diwali Pre independence days saw emergence of cultural social agenda in form of Diwali magazines. Post independence crackers got prominence as well as cultural programs like music shows drama. In post liberalization era, cracker menace was identified and also a phenomenon called Diwali Pahat gained popularity.
Let us now highlight each phenomenon unique in its association with Diwali Memoirs for atleast pst 3 generations and current one.
Holidays: One semester is over and schools break after a Diwali party, for Diwali vacations of 3weeks to allow students enjoy diwali as well travel. Some schools give homework which is spoilsport. But that does not dampen spirit of chidren and parents
Nature: Rains normally subside (last two years being exception), Nature takes its own course. There is typical aroma of seasonal flowers and air. Mornings and evenings are chillier with day moderate. I am sure most people associate that aroma of nature with Diwali.
Faral aroma: Another aroma paves way thorugh kitchens all over Pune, is smell of faral items mostly fried. Chivda, ladoo, chakli , karanji etc. Chakli being king of farals as its success defines total faral to be good or average. We kids used to love tasting samples freshly made braving few scolds from parents/grandparents/aunts
Killa and akashkandil; Once we had vacations, we used to plan structure of our clay fort. It used to be a mixture of modern city scape with old shivaji era forts. In one shot you can have four wheelers plying on road where shivaji and his soldiers used to be placed atop the fort and lord Shankar in cave with tiger. Clay idols were really attractive. Getting clay is becoming a task in concrete jungle. Its also time to make/buy an akashkandil or light to be hung from balconies/window. Some people do extensive lighting. That creates ambience.
Vasubaras: That’s the first day of diwali. Only part of celebration is puja of cow and her calf organized by some local politico. But it marks the beginning of festivities.
Dhanteras: Its lady’s Diwali. That’s also mark puja of dhan (money) and dhannya (grains): symbols of wellbeing.
First Cracker of morning: then comes the thirds day of narak chaturdashi. There used to be a competition where someone who lights first cracker of morning say at 4 am is winner. Nowa days cracker menace is identified rightfully so this tradition needs some bypass but idea is to maybe write the first rangoli or something.
Rangoli is drawn in every household on everyday. Creatively inclined are popular in Diwali
Abhyngsnan: You can associate Utne (multani soil), Fragrant Oil and Moti soap with this. All men folk are massaged and idea is to take bath before first rays of sun else you will get into narak (hell) .This was some threat for young ones .
Sarasbaug: After abhyangsnan, idea is to go the dev darshan or a temple. Sarasbaug was is immensely popular for its ambience. Everybody decked up in new clothes, a good sight seeing.
Faral with friends: On return, most families have traditional get-togethers to have joint faral where the faral quality was put to test. It also used to be marked with jointly viewing special programs on TV or some Marathi play VCD. I remember PL ‘s Varyyavarchi Varat on DD. Gone are those days.
Diwali Ank: getting to sleep in afternoon is must after early rise. Best way is to relax and read diwali special magazines. Good literary stuff.
Laxmi Pooja and Haldikunku: This is the fourth day . This is when goddess laxmi pooja is done. We can remember a lot of fire crackers in eighties and nineties where there used to be competition to light biggest cracker. Great noise pollution and decibel levels were really high. All lights were lighted up and ladies used to have haldikunku.
Diwali Pahat/cultural programs: Post liberalization era identified need of people to be involved in culture, music and drama. Thus a line up of programs was held and there was enthusiastic response for such shows. Nowadays these shows are held abroad also.
Deepotsav: Mjor temples, gardens are now lit up with earthen lamps in formation. It’s a sight to watch.
Padwa: This is fifth day. Here there is big lunch with a sweet dish. This also is time for husband to gift his wife. First diwali after marriage is very important and son in law gets gifts.
Bhaubij: This is sixth and last day. Now its sisters time to be gifted from brother.
Travel Plans: Diwali vacations had a window for those who could travel to faraway destinations like north /south or near destinations like Konkan/Mahabaleshwar. Also was opportunity to go to relative’s house outside town.
Cricket: Time to play and watch cricket as this new cricket season starts in Oct.
Charity: Some people do real good work to donate faral, colthes etc for needy. This angle of celebration has caught up.

There are some post diwali rituals like Dev Diwali or Tushi marriage which are not so wide spread. But Diwali season and vacations end with bright Tripuri Pournima leaving behind great memories and leave us longing for next Diwali. Wish you very happy diwali and prosperous new year.

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.

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.

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

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

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...

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.

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....

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.

Goodbye for this year

Time to change your calendars, diaries and planners. Another year has gone by and new one seems to be threatening on all fronts: war, economy , elections.
Year gone by had three highlights: 26/11, Obama and worldwide recession. Enough has been written about these three points. Other significant events :
News: China olympics, China earthquake, China economy, Bihar floods, Orrisa violence, Blasts in : kabul embassy,delhi, jaipur, ahmedabad, bangalore, guwahati, Malegaon blast politics, Raj thackray politics, Elections in: gujarat, HP, MP, Delhi etc, Malaysian indian issue, Srilankan crisis, Amarnath issue, Gujjar agitations, Chandrayaan, Singur, Sarkozy, Hurricanes in US, zimbabwe and african situations, sudanese pirates, failed bali climate conference, US nuclear deal with india, arushi, grover, nithari cases, list goes on...
On Business side: Recession, layoffs, lehman, subprime, AIG , US bailouts, madoff, UK bailout, jaguar acquision by tata, nano, satyam, oil price and $ price flucuations, FII withdrawl . overall very negative outlook.
in IT we had all hopes pinned on cloud computing with google leading the show, saas models, yahoo takeover bids, MS trying to innovate, android, domestic scene being lucrative, china competition, tier III on onwards cities, wipro, infosys takeovers.
On sports: harbhajan issue, ipl success, australia's defeats, chennai test, ODI whitewash of england, ajantha mendis magic over india , dhoni leadership, retirement of kumble and ganguly, emergence of gambhir and ishant, Bindras gold and bronze by sushil/vijendar, saina nehwal rise, vishy anand success, sania failure, leander grandslam, epic wimbledon finals, rise of nadal, federer spirit, spains truimph in euro cup after years of failures, chinas wonderful hosting of olympics, michael phelps, chinas golds, hockey disaster for india. Guys excuse as my sports interest is only in Cricket, international soccer(excludes club soccer ), tennis , indian involved olympics sports, period. (No F1s, golf, superbowl, boxing, basketball)
On films and entertainment: aamir started the year and ended it with bang, justified decline of YRF, good movies away from formula winning audiences;wednesday, mumbai meri jaan, mithya, dasvidnya.., IPL eating into movies, bikinies, big flops, salman shahrukh fight, decline of saas bahu serials, rise of new channels having serials with new themes and reality shows, hollywood doing good in india, some hatke films from hollywood and big dissapointments there. marathi films had a good year with some good movies, and not to forget little champs wonder. News papers and media sunk into plots of sensationalism and commercialism to sell every piece of printed alphabet.
For my city pune: highlight was CYG, rise in crime with rise in murders, divisive politics, terror at doorstep, traffic and road issue becoming complex, climate pattern changes:(late and heavy monsoon, unseasonal rains in nov and mar, absence of winter),real estate slump (thankful correction after crazy rally since 2005) ..
on individual front: we being part of globalized economy have been affected, though focus on healthcare and new forays (VOIP) have been balancing. There was a news feature about us:(http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Health-outsourcing-Three-IIT-graduates-show-the-way/302814/) also a new location was added for office.
Lastly i managed to do a trek to harishchhandragad: a jinxed venture for me as i had not been able to attend twice over last decades owing to some last minute changes. My next year's resolution is Vasota. Have done some good projects at table; jeevanjyot school , 88888, good HRDs. Plan is to help my school (nerlekar) which got me into table, had family marraiges. Fitness resolutions as usual are unfulfilled, but attempt was made.. Riya is now in primary so need more attention.
Year that started on high note with sensex reaching 20k (now its at 9K), how drastic has been the change and to make it worse there was terrorism. Obama is hope, we need someone in india of that dimension but we dont see anyone in horizon across political spectrum.
welcome 2009, we will rise to occassion and meet challenges thrown...

Swept under public memory

I remember last yearend it was Nithari killings hitting headlines, then it was arushi murder. sometimes it was harabhajan controversies, then raj thakrey, cricket is perrinial, then malegaon, then finally 26/11. what happened to investigations in arushi or for nithari no one is bothered, they are swept under public memory which is as short as till the next news breaks in. Not even the journos have will to follow it. they are bound to collective mentality which serves well only when hot. else its dead issue with least TRPs.. There is is need for a watchdog on logical conclusion to these issues of public interest.

Salute to a hero

Tukaram Ombale: have you heard this name.
He was Asst Sub Inspector at D B Marg Police station who killed one and captured one of the beasts who ran amock at CST,Kama hosp etc.
here is the report
On the night of 26-27 November, Ombale and several other policemen were on alert in the Girgaum Chowpatty area. They had been told that two terrorists were on the run in a Skoda. The twenty policemen out there had a grand total of two self-loading rifles and two bullet-proof vests. The vests were given to the men with the rifles, who were placed at vantage points around metal barricades. The rest of the policemen carried only lathis (batons)); some were plainclothesmen, others in uniform.Those (virtually unarmed) policemen tried to stop the Skoda. The driver fired at them. The police shot back from the pre-determined vantage point and got him. The other man slid out, pretending to surrender, but carrying an AK-47.Ombale rushed to secure him when the terrorist started pumping away with the AK-47. Call it guts or instinct but Tukaram Gopal Ombale refused to let go of his assailant. I am told that something like 30 bullets were recovered from his body.His colleagues took advantage of Ombale's last act as they rushed at the terrorist with their lathis. The plainclothesmen were later identified as a 'mob' in grainy footage shot by someone on a mobile phone!Tukaram Gopal Ombale died for his bravery. Assistant Police Inspector Sanjay Govilkar received bullet injuries. But those ordinary policemen -- some in their forties, laughably ill-equipped -- succeeded in doing what nobody else could, they captured a terrorist on a suicide mission alive. They also recovered artillery dwarfing their modest weapons -- AK-47s, several magazines, 9mm pistols, and grenades.

Hats off: what could have made Sir Tukaram Ombale act like what he did. Attitude towards duty, love for country, hatred towards killers of his collegaues and seniors (assuming he had heard), or just plain uninhibited umbrage you associate towards cops addressing a ordinary criminal (which he must have thought). The last case seems least probable as already terror alert was there. It must be combo of above three. Sometimes ordinary people render extraordinary response in such events. Thats human spirit. Thanks to this human spirits, beasts in the world will never succeed. Normal Human tendency is to live and let live. only beasts can not value others live whatever excuse and propaganda they provide.
People will forget Tukaram Ombale amidst lists of others (whose sacrifice is no lesser). Yuvraj singh gets 6 crores for hitting 6 sixes in an over, bindra gets more for olympic gold, shah rukh, big b get 10 crores per ad, sania get i dont know how much for doing nothing but participating in first round of US open (getting lost.), local corporator gets unofficial bribe amounting to Rs 1 lakh per month from a specific builder for passing plans etc, i dont know how much MPs and MLAs earn, you can extrapolate.
what will Ombale's family got: 20 Lakhs onetime+pension:
is it proportionate? Life is unfair, not to blame film and sportstars, but definitely yes politicians who have empowered beasts to let loose amidst votebank politics, corruption, incapabilty, chaos...
hats off to Sir Tukaram Ombale..

Back to bad times, but time to act

Just as things were getting back to normal after series of terrorist acts in sep, they striked and what a strike....
Its unprecidented event and needs an unprecedented reply from all of us . Rather than blaming politicians, its time to act... enough is enough else we will meet the same end as those 200 odd people faced...
City of Mumbai which is second home city to me is bleeding. Such a great city. I have very fond and long lasting memories of Gateway, Taj ( had few events there), Oberoi (Had attended few interviews). City is so special: marine drive, sterling for movies and pubs around, we used to go from vashi to south bombay to celebrate on each friday catching last harbour local back..
in my childhood i used to be awed by skyscrapers while comparing them with old wada locality i used to live in pune. had a dream that if pune can have so many highrises...
The wedding i mentioned to you was affected by events in Mumbai. But life goes on. we tried to refuse to budge and while we were solemn in memory of those lost, we still managed to put a good show at marraige and show that we have resolve.. Just as fun quotient had gone up after a great diwali, australia win, marraige precurses, england ODI victories, we have been hit and hit very badly. But no time to cry, its time to act.
what can be done: these are government action. So as individuals we need to do a petition or signature campaigns enforcing and enabling govt for following basic steps:

• First and formost: Take help from US, UK, EU, Israel, to gather intellignce and destroy the cells within india. For those outside, for now it can wait as it tentamounts to full scale war and needs international support.
• Use the world opinion, to isolate rouge states further and install meaningful governments.
• Enpower security forces and centralization of units with single titular leadership.

In absence of any concrete visible govt intent to act, a no tax payment or a constitutional channels need to be used for putting vigilant citizen action. Lets resolve to participate in vigilant citizenship and devote some time to social cause: a meeting in locality for 15 mins a day. Its time for each of us to shred apathy and lethargy else we are doomed.

Usual Suspects at their best

How much we detest politicians and media? Both have damaged society equally. Both have enourmous powers and they need to exercise highest of responsibilties. They fail there miserably. Only thing matters for them is personal gains.
Its time for all societies (including so called forward and developed nations in west as well as banana republics if they can somehow do it), to exorcise these evils of human civilization.
I want to be more harsh on media as they claim to be sentinals, watchdogs of society but their only objective seems like to sell , sell and sell... ( and again resale, ...) One might argue fickle nature of public opinion of aam janata, and thus need felt by media to cater to their senses. No its simply not done. The media should define their outlook and present it as against vice versa. Thats how good journalism works (if it exists).
Example Maharashtra bihar issue. Nothing is happening in mumbai pune except few stones being pelt and some vagabond kids involved in some bon fire. Thats not acceptable and thats not justified at all. But full hue and cry by national media that maharashtra is burning is ridiculous. showing same shots again and again, with meaningless discussions, arguements....
Issue is simple : it has shades of US nationals VS H1bs, migration . It has to be tackled with legislation and by meaningful government policies, quotas as in US. No but politicians want mileage and media wants footage... No there cannot be easy answers but yes there can be reasonable guidelines to achieve all round development all over india reducing migration, employment opportunities all over india, restrictions i repeat legal barriers by means of taxation to use limited resources of cities for mutual common good of that city. City should have right to limit its growth and should have defined charges to use its resources.
anyways who wants to look at solution, idea is to keep posing questions and make issues burn...
On politician side: they want mileage out of everything. The government machinery is being misused by either sides whenever they are in power. Simple ATS investigation of sadhvi used by politicians on both sides to gain points..
Even US elections and media cannot be absolved of similar acts though extent and spread can vary.
And i cannot do anything against these usual suspects, so i have decided to not watch any news channels except few noteworthy exceptions (DD these days with old economy style of presentation seems most mature option at least that sensationalization , those irritating and abusive anchors, idiot correspondents, usual panelist who have opinions like they have ****hole are missing.
And on second usual suspect, i cannot say i will boycott voting them, as its crime.but i can do one thing; i will try being one of them but with difference... High hopes ... but thats what seems only solution.....if everyone thinks that way.

Half Boiled Eggs

Surpised by the title? Blogger does not allow devnagari as i would have written a phrase called as 'ardhya halkundane pivale' . If you literrally translate it, it would mean people turned yellow owing to half a stick of turmeric. It refers to that breed of people who are overrated by others for very mediocre achivements. Please note that, i believe that no one has any judgemental rights about anyone else's achievements and failures. But point to be noted mylord is that some people getting undue credit for unworthy achievements and glorified by media/public/society/friends/colleagues/family and self.
Start with those goons called as politicians whose hoardings occupy our landscape and we see those horrifying faces being termed as upcoming leaders across political spectrums. what have they done? apart from hooliganism, being at forefront at some functions, crime, corruption so on.. Most of them are second generation politicians whose claim to fame is his surname. and they come in bunches. one can atleast understand elected representatives starting with corporators , mlas and mps , but the faces seem to come from nowhere.. Its my ambition one day that on one of my birthday i will put up a huge cutout of mine and putting encircled photos of Sonia, Advani, sharad pawar, Seniormost Thakre, Raj Thakrey, Mayawati, (have i left anyone across political spectrum atleast here in Pune). Noone will have any reason to object.
Next comes those half celebrities on page3's and channels. Having featured in a half role for one of the umpteem soaps running on umpteen channels make them page3 and reality show regulars. Eg i dont know half the gang at big boss or 8 out of 10 jodis in nach baliye...
IPL has opened up this cult status for local cricketers who were left with wilderness of Ranji circuit. So you will now find more IPL starts in media glare.
Sania Mirza getting brand endorsements for winning one grandslam match 2 years back.
Software engineers who fail at basic oops concept interview questions commanding X+ 2 L as paypacket . (X= no of yrs of exp). The BPO executives demanding perks for wiling away time on facebook, orkut...
An IT evangelist attending page3 parties, an IT babu claiming to have brain behind supercomputer, Some bullshit novelist (international) asking for kashmir independance, average masala film lyricist, average secular film director having opinion on almost everything...
Self proclaimed authors writing and publishing books for most ordinary or borrowed experiences and insights. (thats includes yours truly as well but blogs is for my own sake, its for reader to find its merit)
List goes on an on:
Time to salute real heroes
Baba Aamtes of world, Abhay Bungs of world doing wonderful work in remotest areas, swaminathans of world, FC Kohlis of world who made Indian IT big, Narayanmurthys of world who positioned indian IT , Sam manekshaws, sam pitrodas, jawans and other police/military doing their duties amongst hardships , non corrupt officials doing duties honestly amidst corruptions, even politicians who contributed like rajeev gandhi for technology, Vajpayee/thackrey for roads, PV narshinarao/manmohan for Economy, profs at IITs /scientists who shy away from market riches for the cause of research out of choice, first gen entrepreuners trying to fight odds , volunteers doing traffic wardening, social servants doing honest and unpublicized efforts for various causes, our round tables building schools without much publicity, its for each of those who do their job honestly and with professional integrity to excel..
Need a media to value them. maybe some of them of above list have got their dues, but its time to appreciate each of above list and maybe ones i have missed. I feel that by doing this and glorifying these people, we can create role models and thus can spread virtues more effectively in younger generation. With these common good traits, society will improve.
It will do much better to stop glorifying these half boiled eggs...