CnC

Entertainment Is The Reason Why We Exist

2011-03-23T20:28:00.000+05:30

Justin Bieber - Making It Big In The World Of Entertainment

Karunanidhi may be a really old man but he knows just what the people of his state want. Color TV is not just about a simple gift it is much more than that. When DMK decided to gift those color TVs to the people of Tamil Nadu they knew that entertainment was the key to success and money in all states of India. People want drama and the means to it (some might argue that this is the primary reason why people decide to get married in the first place!)
Compare the salary of the top CEOs of Indian companies (which tops at around 10-15 crores, including incentives) with the amount of money that our film stars get paid for a single movie or one episode of some lousy show on the TV. The most ingenious invention in the world of beverages might just be the Coka-Cola (my appologies to the Vodka lovers) - fizzled sweetend water! You ask 10 people why the fizz is there and you would get 10 different answers. Whatever the makers of this fizz thought about it, one thing that it promises is entertainment the moment you open that bottle.
It is cricket season and nothing moves India like cricket does. Sachin is God and all this God does is open for India. Cricket is a powerful entertaniner and all people associated with it are millionaires!
Bertard Russel wrote in one of his essays that the force that inspires most actions from humans is not reason or desires but instinct. Entertainment is instinctive. From the days of the collosium to the modern day freak shows of underground places in Thailand, entertainment unites. Facebook has made more billionaires than any other company this year and if you think about it, all it does is provide entertaining solutions to getting connected with people you already know.
The reason why we read, the reason why we play is always entertainment (that is the impulse, you might also relate it with reasons of benifit but the underlying reason is entertainment). Think of this - most couples make love about once in a week and you thought that the 'reason' behind sex was making babies! Animals mate for regenerating, it is our priviledge to do it for entertainment. And if need was the only reason behind it what would you tell the gay and lesbian couples?
Entertainment is the reason why we choose to go to fancy restaurants to eat our food. Entertainment is the reason why we follow that pretty lady till the point she feels obvious (or oblivious) of your presence. Entertainment is the root cause of almost all our daily activities and yet we tend to ignore this force.
All the pursuits of man - music, art, culture, war, peace - are based on one fundamental platform of entertainment.

PS: I selected the picture of Justine Bieber for 2 reasons: 1. No matter how much one denies it, he is the entertainer of the year! 2. JB goes to show that one does not need any other capability to live it big in the world, all you need is the power to entertain people!

Munni And Sheila Are Saviors Of India

2010-12-26T18:34:00.000+05:30

Munni and Sheila have done an impossible task to take India to the future. One of the things that India suffers with is the hypocrisy that has become part of our culture and both these ladies of glam are here to shake it away.
I remember the times when I was a kid and the Television got switched off when 'Choli ke peeche' or 'Lotan kabutar' used to get aired (and I'm not even sure what was wrong with the second one). Compare that with today when people are openly discussing and debating on who has more oomph - S vs M. 'Beedi' from Omkara is a song that gets played in 'decent' marriages and small girls love to dance on it.
We, as a Nation, have the reputation of being excessively hypocrite! We talk about 'greenpeace' and always insist on taking a carry bag from the shopkeeper, we talk about the pride that we should take in our own language and culture and happen to get overtly impressed by the girl who manages to roll her tongue around her "R" like the British do (or is it the Americans - nah, we don't quite like the Americans actually!), we can talk endlessly about how corruption is choking India and in the end carry some 'change' with us to give to the traffic police because our insurance has expired last month!
India and sex has a massive connected history. There was a time when 'outsourcing' was not a word known to the west and they identified India with 'Kamsutra' and the 'culture' at Indian homes made sure that the newly married couple mated only when they wanted to have kids and that it was done miles away from home! For such a Nation I think Munni and Sheila are a boon. They are changing how we react to explicit content and are making sure that the average Indian male is more comfortable around women in general. Over the years many more 'item girls' will hit the screen and take the taboo topics into the dining areas of Indian middle classes. What is fantastic about these songs is not just the way explicit content is handled but who does them. It is easy to ignore a regular item girl doing a peppy number but when the woman who's poster dons your teenager's walls does a shake of the hip you cannot just keep things in the closet anymore. You have to acknowledge the fact that the society is moving forward and perhaps it is time for you to do the same.
If the naysayers happen to read this post they would attack it and they would bleed at the idea that I am endorsing 'cheap' content and heralding an era of cultural destruction. If I were a popular man and this blog was famous they would even go to the extent of burning my posters in public and burn the posters of the movies I mentioned for good measures. But, thankfully, I'm not all that famous and the fact is that most of them must have already danced on either of these songs themselves by now in some party.

What Can We Learn From The Day Of The Ayodhya Verdict

2010-10-01T17:40:00.000+05:30

A day after the Ayodhya verdict, I'm happy to be in office just like any other normal day. I'm glad that the trouble makers were kept happy (or under control by force) and that all the state governments and the central government made sure that the deplorable Indian media was kept starved. The Ayodhya case will go to the Supreme Court as expected and it would be another few years before the final, all abiding, verdict is given. I'm hoping that the effect of the verdict of the SC would be even lesser disruptive and there would not be any necessity to shut down school, colleges and offices on the day of the verdict.
The big question is, "Have the people of India moved on after 1992?"
How did such a religious debate create such unfortunate incidents in 1992 and had no visible effect after 18 years? We have moved on (and ahead) in these past years, a statement which is bolstered by hard facts and figures but has religion really lost its hold on people? Does the young generation have no stand on religion and religious matters? Or as a few might want to say, "Have we lost faith?"
I would be more than happy if a loss of faith leads to peace and tangible harmony. To a large extent this is in fact true. The young generation of India wants progress, they are more concerned about the flak that CWG is gathering from the world due to corrupt and inefficient bureaucrats, more concerned about their favorite cricket stars performing when required and worried about their own role in the future of the country's progress in science, technology and social behavior.
There is also another reason for the calm that prevailed across the Nation yesterday (and hopefully will continue to be so). Not many political parties saw it as a big issue that could be leveraged for their personal gains! All the state governments wanted peace above all and they made sure that the law enforcing agencies were doing their duty with full dedication! I don't think the security agencies conjured up a miracle, they just performed their duty! That is all it takes to keep India crime free - a dedicated effort from the police and other institutions of India with a political will to establish peace.

Ayodhya Verdict Is Pro-India!

2010-09-30T21:30:00.000+05:30

A 60 year old court case can only be settled with a verdict that supports peace and the Allahabad High Court's decision on Ayodhya has done just that!
I have always been proud of the judiciary of India - we are a corrective system of justice and not a punitive one! One of the principles on which Indian judiciary is built says that we should hate 'crime' and not the 'criminal'. In a case like Ayodhya what is a crime? The crime is not encroachment of one religious group or the other on a 'holy' land, it is the idea that religion is bigger than the Nation. And criminals are all those who fume this idea!
For most Hindus, Ayodhya is part of the biggest legend of all times - Sri Ram. An illiterate son of illiterate parents knows the story of Sri Ram and such is the strength of his faith that he would find it hard to believe that Ayodhya, the place of birth of Ram, can actually still exist in this present Nation of his where kids are dying of hunger! If Ayodhya is still here should we not be the best Nation of the world! If Sri Ram's Ayodhya is still on the map of India why are we so poor! If Ayodhya, the land which gave birth to Ram, is still a part of India then why do we rank so high in infant mortality rate!
I am a hindu. And like all Hindus, I believe in Ram. I don't find Ram some imaginary figure, I find him an ordinary human being who became extra-ordinary by his deeds and principles! I don't believe that Ram can do any miracles in the current world but yes I do believe that if a person has faith in his principles he can do miracles! And the most important principle of Sri Ram was to lead by example. Mariyada Purushottam Ram - was the best of men, not just by his birth but by his deeds. Ram's legend does not speak of any miracles - it speaks of a man who had courage to achieve what was right by means of sacrifice and perseverance. If we can learn anything from Ram it is to become the good that we want to see in people around us.
The verdict on Ram janmbhoomi is clearly designed to keep all the 'parties' happy! And I support this judgement for the simple reason that the most important concern for all should be peace and harmony. I'm happy because the trouble makers are (relatively) happy.
It is time for India to build better roads, bigger buildings, lengthier bridges, stronger bonds with the powerful countries of the world and fuller values and morals in her citizens - when there are so many important things to build why should you and I be concerned about building a temple or a mosque? It was time to move on towards a brighter future for India and the verdict is a step towards this direction. I am happy!
Jai Sri Ram.

Unlike CWG, Aadhar Meets Deadlines And Delivers!

2010-09-28T14:49:00.000+05:30

Too much of CWG and Ayodhya has clouded more important news like the implementation of the Aadhaar project (Unique Identification Project). I didn't want the readers of CnC to miss out on things that will impact the future of our Nation in a much more comprehensive and positive way like UID project hence this article!
29th September, 2010, the UID or Aadhaar (Aadhaar - आधार - literally translates to 'basis' of things) project will be kicked off in a small village of Maharashtra, Nandubar, with the distribution of these biometric identification cards by PM Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
While several deadlines have been missed by the CWG committees, the UID project has been right on track and it is much more complex and challenging a task than building resources for a games competition and conducting them smoothly. The Union Government may have done many mistakes but the UID command and assignments are one of the major achievements of the Congress government.
An India where each individual is identifiable and no 'fake' citizens exist would be a much more secure India and would become a Nation on the path of success and glory! Kudos to the chairman of the UID project Mr. Nandan Nilkani and we wish him all success in the National roll out of Aadhaar!

Punishment For Corruption Should Be Same As That For Treason Against The State!

2010-09-27T15:36:00.000+05:30

In the light of the recent events concerning the Common Wealth Games, Delhi about the misappropriation of public money and rampant mismanagement, the punishment for corruption should be reconsidered. According to the current law of the state (IPC), the only punishment for corruption is dismissal from the services! This is true irrespective of the amount of money involved.
While this leveling of punishment has been adopted to make sure that cases where smaller amount of money is involved are not treated lightly, this law largely overlooks the cases where a lifetime of wealth is created and a dismissal of service is not only a weak punishment but it in fact encourages the crime!
Especially in cases like the CWG, where National pride has paid a price, the punishment should be similar to that given for cases of treason. The punishment for treason can be life imprisonment or more! And if a leveling is necessary then all cases of corruption should be treated the same.
The fact of the matter is that corruption is actually an act against the Nation and her pride. Corruption pushes India backwards and chains down her aspirations of becoming one of the greatest of lands. When the Nation is paying such a huge price for the acts of corruption then it is but natural and sensible to equate it to treason. The fact remains that almost all people in positions of power are corrupt to a certain degree and the framing and imposition of such a law would be a rather tough job. However, India still has a lot of people (mostly those who do not don any such position of power which can be corrupted) who are not corrupt and a mass opinion formation is the first thing towards this noble step.
Personally, I would like to see every corrupt official who brings shame to the Nation stripped down and flogged in full public view so that each and every power wielding citizen of India thinks a million times before taking a single rupee to which they do not have a right! Imagine what a sight it would be to see the house of Kalmadi flooded with common people with lathis and chappals in hand asking for an explanation and showing no mercy for the shame that India has to bear. Imagine the golden sight when the likes of Mayawati, Jayalalitha, Mulayam, Lalu, would be treated with similar dose of Indian anger. If we can get angry with our sport persons for failing in cricket or hockey why do we not close in on these corrupt officials and politicians with the most fierce attack and bring them down?

'Paan' - National Symbol Glorifying CWG!

2010-09-27T10:14:00.005+05:30

'Paan' - the National symbol of India - got its real boost last week when the paan tainted wash basins and walls were posted all over the Internet!

Paan has long been ignored by the Indian media and people of the world at large though it is one of the most important elements of Indian framework. When you think of it a little, it is impossible to imagine any thing in India without that glamorous and magical bundle of colors. Right from its place in 'puja' where it is offered to the Gods while asking for their blessings to the offices where it becomes an essential tool to mellow down the ever so unyielding 'babus', paan has an authority to it which is far beyond any other chewable object of the world.
The CWG village's pictures depicting paan in all its glory is the treatment it should have got decades back! The pictures have offended a few 'foreigners' but the fact is that deep down every Indian is thinking that this matter has been blown out of proportions - what is wrong with a few paan stains here and there after all? We have come to live with them in perfect peace and harmony and they may look a little out of shape but they, in fact, are our favorite design patterns on walls and streets! I would be little surprised if most of those paan stains came from some minister or a senior authority inspecting the village for its cleanliness! After all, no official visit happens without the offering of a paan to the authority first! (My sources tell me that leaving a few festive days, Ms. Shila Dixit does not usually eat paan which is the reason why she has been chosen to do the final rounds of readiness checks!)
We have often paid heavy price for our these stains of paan but our love for the magical flavour and the laid back life that it advocates and instills has always won over those minor hiccups. Filthy trains, stations, roads, offices, homes, buildings, an occasional red color shower sprinkling on the road commuters from atop a bus or truck are but a few of the things we have been willing to accept in lieu of giving up paan. If you question the public of India in private (anonymously) they would tell you that they would rather give up CWG than chewing (and most importantly, spitting in most awkward of places) paan!
Long live the Indian culture, long live paan and the colors of joy it brings with it!

Mandir Aur Masjid Ki Kahani

2010-09-22T21:29:00.000+05:30

What is the best possible solution to the Ayodhya case? While the judges fight it out tomorrow in Allahabad High Court, the solution quite clearly came from an unidentified school boy studying in Std. 7th in an unidentified school of Allahabad. The topic of discussion was not a 'Mandir vs Masjid' but whether the school would be open tomorrow so that the inter-house basketball match could happen for which they had been practicing for a long time!
The solution which everyone agreed to (without an exception) in the class was to construct a lush green park where the children could go for a picnic!
This was a low cost and effective suggestion for the resolution of a conflict which has taken many lives already. The apt thing to do with the land which has brought so many troubles in the name of religion was to make it 'religion-free'.
History is a potent inspiration for the man of action and at the same time can prove to be the mistress of the person incapable of action. Giving a judgement on the basis of history would be lame, what we should be concerned about is the present and the future or our country and her people!
The best possible solution for everyone in the country would be to forget and move on. While one sect needs to forget the 1500s 'history' the other sect needs to forget the 1992 'history'! Religion in modern India is not limited to Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian - it has expanded into a host of glamorous religions like doctors, lawyers, engineers, actors, architects, craftsmen, educators, industrialists, scientists, and so many more vibrant other religions. These religions live in perfect harmony, allow 'inter-religious' marriages, live, eat, sleep, travel together and contribute to the land which gives them an opportunity to excel in life!
The structures that should be of any concern to us right now are the ones that fall for no reason on workers and passers-by in embarrassing situations - the flyovers that collapse, the railway tracks that give way to tragedy, the roads that get filled with potholes within days of being made and above all the bridges and false ceilings that collapse in the games village in Delhi right before the CWG!

Will Jugaad Work For CWG?

2010-09-22T15:22:00.000+05:30

Will Jugaad work for CWG?

India is known to run on 'jugaad'. Never has a lack of perfection been glorified more than in the case of this classic Indian way of doing things - come up with an ad-hoc fix and complete the task!
Jugaad has been such a huge force for India that people have nothing against a movie which depicts a baby being delivered by a vacuum cleaner (3 Idiots?). A student who lazies around for the whole semester and happens to pass 'magically' by jugaad is not just never questioned but rather appreciated by friends, family and the teachers! Jugaad is never a word that people frown at, it is a wonder way of fixing almost any problem in the least of resources possible. And with such a huge population and so less resources (less because they have been jugaad'ed up the corrupt asses!) jugaad is often needed to make things run from day to day.
CWG is in a mess. Anyone who has visited the site or seen it on TV or newspapers will tell you that CWG 2010 needs God's blessings more than anything else now! Had it been any other country, the hope would have died long back but not in India. The hope for a successful CWG lives on because we have a massive belief in jugaad. Deep down inside each of us is a feeling that tells us that it would all be fine ("ज़िन्दगी में भी हमारी हिंदी फिल्मों की तरह last में सब ठीक हो जाता है"), CWG 2010 will be an event which will be remembered not for its folly and corruption but for its grandeur and excellent show of our athletes.

For the first time, I do not want things to work for India! I want CWG to be scrapped off!

I want all this to fail so that we start appending our beliefs and theories of jugaad. We know that many people have amassed huge proportions of money, destinies have been made, responsibilities insulted and a whole Nation let down by power and money hungry individuals who have teamed up against their own Nation! And even after this blatant insult of values, if the CWG show runs well, the belief of people in jugaad will forever live and haunt the generations that come after us. I don't want things to run in less than perfect way when the reputation of a Nation is at stake. I want things to fail so that the moles are routed out and taught a lesson which instills a fear in the minds and hearts of the corrupt and hungry!
The foot-bridge collapse, the report of the team from NZ, the terrorist attack, the rains, dengu, all are conspiring against CWG and rightly so. Indians need to understand that there is no substitute for hardwork and honesty. Jugaad can run a machine but it will never be able to run a Nation.

Corruption is an act of treason against the Nation and should be punished accordingly!

As far as the already built infrastructure is concerned, it should undergo a thorough testing and if found safe according to any standards it should be donated to the Nation in all good spirit so that it can become the breeding grounds for Golds and Silvers in International competitions!

What Are 5 Biggest Challenges For India?

2010-09-11T12:46:00.000+05:30

We're trying to collect responses from people of India to know what they feel are the '5 Biggest Challenges' that India is facing. Please complete the survey below and share it with others as well.
You can pass this link to your friends: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JTFGQ7L
Or share it on Facebook with your network.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Why India Needs A Non-Crippling Policy On Religion!

2010-09-07T10:10:00.000+05:30

People in India have religious freedom. So do people in USA. The ambiguities surrounding the interpretations of 'religion' have seeped into the rights and 'not-so-right' of religious freedom too. The debate over Park51 (the controversial area near ground zero where Muslims have been offering prayers for quite sometime now but a mosque has recently been proposed) is flaring the sentiments of the residents of US, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. But, the debate and the exchange of heated arguments are well in place as they are avoiding conflicts and loss of life and property.
The situation in India is strikingly different though the issues are largely the same. The difference arises out of the intervention of law of the land and the priorities that law and religion have respectively. Park51 is not new to the local Muslims of New York, they have been offering prayers in that place for quite sometime. It is not a Mosque though, but a place where they gather to offer prayers. The furore is created on the proposal of building a mosque there - an official, designated place, approved by the municipal authorities of New York. If nothing else, it does bring out the planned approach that the law follows when it comes even to religion and its practice.
Consider a similar situation in India. Any controversy would revolve around the 'discovery' of such a controversial temple or mosque! The municipal corporation has little control over a temple or a mosque springing up in a locality. In fact, these places of worship are one of the finest ways to gobble up state land and encroach the area, even if it happens to be in the middle of the street! The Indian state machinery has often failed in handling religious outbursts and clashes - a fact that remains true since before independence during 'direct action day' or even much before that during the times of the Mughals, the formation of Khalsa, etc.
The big question is about prioritising these two important issues - religion and state! I have always believed that religion is a personal affair and the moment it clashes with the functioning of the state, a check should be imposed. But, this is not entirely true. There are many states which follow, largely, a common religion and it helps to unite their nation. But, again, the reality of the day is that countries like India, US, Malaysia and parts of Europe are multicultural, multiracial and multi-religion. And it is important that a common thread is found to unite the nation and a dividing theme like that of religion can never be it.
In such cases, religion has to take a backseat. The state must come before the personal choices - that of religion, faith, caste and creed. Any instance of the state taking a hit due to religion will result in a potboiler created by a selfish few and that is what has been happening in India for quite sometime.
What we may need is a strict policy on religion and its practice. Why should loudspeakers be allowed on top of makeshift temples and mosques? Why should highways be blocked for religious processions? Why should the industry, education and lives be kept at stake due to the outbreak of religious hatred? The answer is simple. In India, religion votes and when every vote counts, religion is simply the most important factor for a win!

Bajaj's Fast Customer Care Service - Unbelievable!

2010-08-24T15:22:00.004+05:30

Here's something for the Internet enthusiasts.
I got the delivery for my new bike (it's a Avenger 220, black - a total beauty, trust me!) yesterday in the afternoon from Khivraj Motors, Bangalore. Went around the city comfortably (I mean as comfortable as it can get in the Bangalore traffic in the peak hours) and had absolutely no troubles with the bike. The I was going to meet a friend for a dinner at around 8:30 in the evening when I stopped at a signal for about 2 minutes and since then the bike just didn't start again. I tried everything that I knew but it just didn't budge at all. I had to push start it (it has no kick, just electric start!) and come back home. Not to mention that my dinner was ruined already. Then morning was the same, the bike just didn't start so I called up the showroom people at around 10:00 in the morning and asked them to come home and take a look and I was assured of a quick service.
I waited for an hour and there was no response so I called them again, same assurance and no results. Then in another hour I called them again and the same thing happened. Then I decided to log a complain at the bajaj customer care, which is an online service. I drafter a mail to them explaining the trouble I had with my new bike and the poor service I was getting at the hands of the dealers. Within an hour I got a call from the sales head at Khivraj Motors and I got the attention that I, as a customer, had all the rights to. As I still waited for the service men to come and attend to my bike I got another call from the Bajaj Sales team (seemed like some senior officer/manager from the authority he commanded) with humble assurance and a suggestion to hand over the bike for an overall servicing once again.
To tell you the truth, I did not expect the online complaint submission to be that effective and that fast! Bajaj is on its way folks! I think this was faster than the response time of the best customer centric companies with top of the class CRMs in place. Even Apple was slower in responding with 'Don't hold it that way!' remedy for its iPhone4.
PS: I'm still waiting for the service guy to come to my home though. Some things in India will remain 'cheap n chalu' for a long time I guess :P

Place The Rupee At Your Fingertips!

2010-08-19T10:44:00.004+05:30

The Indian Government and the Department of IT (DIT) is conducting a survey to find out the most preferred location of the Indian Rupee symbol on the QWERTY keyboard.
Take this survey and voice your opinion!
Update: From the current stats of the survey it looks like "ALT + R" will be the winner! I voted for the same :)

Say No To Auto On 12th Of August, 2010

2010-08-11T12:10:00.003+05:30

The auto menace in Bangalore is not anything new. The auto drivers are rude, the meters (if functioning at all) are never working right and the fares increases for no particular reason. A night call and you pay double the meter, a distant area and you double, you're sick and there are not many autos around and you pay double, you are new to Bangalore and you pay double/triple, you are a foreigner and you pay whatever you can afford.
This has to stop! Participate in 'Meter Jam' on 12th of August and SAY NO TO AUTO this Thursday! Spread this to as many people as you can, as fast as you can and tell the unjust unions that in this country, in 'namma Bangaluru' people's opinion matters!!!

Stop Child Labor In India

2010-08-10T16:59:00.003+05:30

Could not resist but share these pictures with you. Child labor is a reality in India. We are creating a generation of malnutrition, uneducated and highly vulnerable Indians by promoting or ignoring this issue. If you see a child under the age of 14 working near you in households, dhabas, factories call 1098 and report the issue!

The labour ministry notification, banning employment of children under 14 in houses, dhabas, and other eateries, will come into force on Tuesday.
And employers found violating the ban can face imprisonment up to two years, a fine of Rs 20,000, or both.
Read more: Dial 1098 to report child labour - India - The Times of India

Why Is India So Poor?

2010-08-10T13:48:00.006+05:30

Yes, it has been long since we posted anything. We were stuck with our lives to say the least. India, however, did not stop moving. So much happened over these months that it does not make sense to give you a recap (!) Mr. Kalmadi's CWG (I say that the games belong to him because that's how he has been treating it really!) would be the next big thing for India in the global front and we're all so excited about it :)
Here's what I have for you in this post: A blog post about a Malaysian student's experiences in India. While most of the post is a rather personal perspective on things, there's one comment which really touched me and inspired me to write this post.

Seeing the poverty around you changes your outlook. Dealing with such an alien community with such different values and tolerances teaches you to understand people.

Here's one question which has bugged me enough. I have tried to escape from it, tried my best to answer it, tried to avoid it, tried to change it but it keeps hitting me right in the face all the time: Why is my country so poor? I wish I had the answer, but I don't! I wish I at least had a clue or a theory, but even that is something that I can't offer to you, my readers!
Most of us reading this post are not poor. We are well provided, well taken care of. We have families to support us and we have families that we support. But, the moment we step out of our homes, the moment we step into public transports, trains, buses, the moment we get on the roads and the footpaths we know it - India's poverty glares at us. The poorly kept infrastructure demands an explanation, the struggling lot on the streets, though keep fighting with a resilient and rude attitude towards life, have a question written right across their faces. Why are we so poor?
We know we are a unique nation. We know that we're a huge economy and we know India still has a lot of wealth but why does it not reflect in our lives?
If corruption is the answer then there has to be someone who is rich right? The corrupt are the poorest of all, they're afraid of their own money and often live in conditions so miserable and minds so drenched with thoughts and fears of poverty that even the beggars laugh at them!
When I read about the Lords from England who ruled us for so many years, their rich way of life which was supported by the suppressed Indian people I can't help think about the situation that is prevalent even today. The ruling faces have changed color but the rule has remained the same. The suppressed Indian class is still present, the suppressors are still living in the mansions and palaces constructed by the British! How do we put the common man in a position of power and how do we keep them 'common' even after giving them power over a billion+ people?
Is it about an absence of National pride? Is it about an absence of good education system which should urge one to destroy all the anti-nationalist systems in India?
I don't know!
Take a look at this picture, does it look very different from the days of the British? We need to act right now!

Why Will Mayawati Never Be Questioned About Her Currency Garland?

2010-03-26T11:39:00.004+05:30

Why is Ms. Mayawati focusing on showcasing her wealth and power amidst the poor, needy people of her state instead of even trying to pretend that she is doing them any good? The logic is a golden old rule followed universally - people are always happier to see 'their own people' getting the success that they think is beyond their scope!
Let me substantiate what I say by a few examples:

Ambedkar v/s Gandhi:
Gandhi dedicated a major part of his life towards the upliftment of the 'harijans' and other people who were being shoved into the darkness through generations of casticized underdevelopment. Ambedkar, on the other hand, was one among the oppressed who was able to break free and emerge as the brightest 'harijan' of India (of perhaps all times!). His contribution toward the upliftment of his own people while notable is nothing compared to the efforts of Gandhi. It is not uncommon to find the reference of Gandhi missing in 'Dalit rallies', etc. but Ambedkar's garlended picture gone missing would cost the leader his position and respect.

Amitabh v/s development of Allahabad:
Amitabh contested elections in Allahabad way back in the times of Rajiv Gandhi. Won by a tremendous margin of votes and all that he did after that was to disappear from his constituency altogether! While no development was done by this Superstar, 'ganga kinare ka chora', in his own City, people of Allahabad never miss a chance to mention the origins of the Big Boss of Bollywood and have easily forgotten the wasted 5 years of the city's history. The pride of someone growing up in those same dusty roads and reaching such great heights lets people ignore the dusty roads forever!

The Mittals and the other genius Indians settled out of India:
There is immense intellectual and material wealth resting with people of Indian origin who have settled outside India. We are content with the regocnition that India gets with the reference provided by their origins. Not many people question thier intent of coming back and contributing in the development of the nation.

The fact is that when the Sahara becomes big the Bengali community rejoices, when a Mayawati wears a 15 cr garland the 'Dalit' community congratulates each other, when Dhoni drives his bike beauties on the dusty roads of Jharkhand or when Sachin asks for a tax relaxation to bring his expensive gifts home the fans look at them with awe, the pride in 'owning' these celebrities is just too big to be drowned away by the want to question any motive which is hindering in their own development.

Education Franchise - Foreign Educational Institution Bill

2010-03-16T23:09:00.003+05:30

What did McDonald, KFC, Subway and the like bring to India? Well, a lot of good food, business for the local businessmen, work for the local lads, money for the Indian economy. The franchise model of business has worked wonders in the food sector in India. Relatively easy to set up, an instant brand recognition and invaluable assistance in terms of knowledge makes it an instant hit in booming economies like ours. Many other sectors have tried the franchise model as well - the hospitality industry for example.
If everything goes right in the next few months in the Parliament we may see the same franchise business model in the education sector as well. "The Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of entry and operation) Bill" is all set to be tabled in the parliament for discussion soon. The cabinet has cleared it and Kapil Sibal is confident that though parties like BSP, RJD and SP would oppose it, the bill would get acceptance in BJP and other sorted out parties and should get cleared without much ado. The Left is expected to rattle a little but they have been disarmed in the recent times by the UPA government's massive numbers.
The bill, when passed, would be a big boost to the education system in India. If Universities like the Harward, Oxford, Stanford and the like start to show interest in Indian education market we may soon move towards a standardization in the education sector which is the need of the hour. The education system in India in present times is raked by malpractices across all fields of study. Unification of education metrics has been echoed a number of times by the education minister and few other government bodies and this bill can do just that in an indirect fashion. A number of universities have had similar successful experiments in countries like Singapore specially in fields of technology, fashion and other contemporary fast paced cources.
Education franchising would bring better education to the people of India, more robust education system may evolve and more than anything else it would create a respect for Indian education scenario in the rest of the world. According to the current trends the Indian student is in high demand in the global market but the Indian education is looked down upon, this Bill may change the attitude of the world.

Is India Indeed a Civil Society?

2010-02-24T10:31:00.004+05:30

As Indians we are known to be very sentimental about our culture and everything that reminds us of our past. Be it visiting religious cities, engaging in massive public baths in river banks or voting fanatically for Taj Mahal to make it one of the wonders of the world, we often go out of our ways to make sure our love for our cultural heritage is known to all.
Having said this, we are also a country which can shamelessly bring down an old monument in Ayodhya and start a politico-religious war which has been on for more than a decade now. It is no surprise then that almost all monuments or places of historic relevance often are at the mercy of people who ill-treat them. People scratching centuries old monuments’ walls and putting down a message for their sweetheart who is going be with someone else the next year is a very common sight.
I happened to visit one of India’s oldest temples in the heart of Tamil Nadu, Brihadeshwar Temple (also known as Big Temple) last week and as much as I awed at the huge embodiment of the faith of people in Lord Shiva, I was irked by the way the visitors have used the walls for their choicest graffiti display. This lame idea of writing on walls of important monuments was perhaps started by the early Bollywood movies but we have come a long way from the old black and white flicks and a neat civil thought needs to be instilled in the minds of these losers.
The same goes with public spitters, urinators, people who ride a polluting vehicle, people who destroy gardens each morning in the name of offering the flowers to their God, etc. There is a need to make people aware that we are a civil society and it’s high time we started behaving like one!

Indian genius promises best green energy fuel cell - BloomBox

2010-02-23T15:26:00.002+05:30

It would be too early to call it the next big thing yet but if the top Venture Capitalist, John Doer (the man whose money is behind names like Google, Netscape, Amazon, etc.) is to be believed, the Bloom Box will change the way we light up our houses and industries in the near future.
A bloombox is essentially a fuel cell which can be powered by a variety of fuels ranging from Bio fuel to natural gas. What makes it phenomenal is its efficiency in terms of the power output. A small BloomBox can typically power 4 Indian homes or their equivalent a house hold in the United States.
The man behind it, Mr. Sridhar, is actually a rocket scientist who has worked on a similar project for NASA in the past which was aimed at generating Oxygen in Mars. When that project was scrapped by NASA, Sridhar modified (reversed) the mechanism which now is utilized in these BloomBoxes.
John Doer has invested a whooping 400 million dollars into this secretive startup which already has Google, FedEx and EBay as its clients as of now. Installation cost of the Bloombox is a major concern for most but it levels out for these giant companies once the operating cost (which is amazingly cheap) and the tax benefits for using a green technology are considered.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
When would this technology be installed in our households is still a million dollar question but things are certainly looking bright (and Green) at the moment with the claims that it would be a perfect replacement for the power grids that are used world-wide right now. Bloom boxes would officially be announced on Wednesday but most details are already out. It would be interesting to see the reaction of the governments, the world over, on Bloom box, the invention by this Indian genius, Sridhar.

Political influence behind poor connectivity of IT corridors of India

2010-02-18T13:27:00.004+05:30

Ever wondered why the IT corridors of India is so poorly connected by trains, which otherwise is the major transportation medium for the rest of India? But then on second thoughts, did you ever wonder why there are so many private travels in cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad? Even a child can put two and two together to come to a conclusion that something fishy is going on!
Bangalore, the silicon valley of India, has very less native population percentage. The majority of people working in Bangalore come from other southern regions like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andra Pradesh/Telangana. Now imagine this: there are just a few trains which connect Bangalore to Chennai and just one train which connects Bangalore to Hyderabad! This is the fact that contributes to the flourishing transport businesses (most of them, allegedly, run by people with political influences!) and the plight of the people who have to pay through their noses for the petty services offered by most of these travel companies.
On any weekend, chances of getting a ticket to/from Bangalore-Chennai – Hyderabad are negligible if you are not ready to pay an ‘additional fee’. These tickets are often sold in black right from the travel companies offices itself! Even the BMTC busses charge excess for tickets bought on the same day of travel.
This miserable situation is creating a number of employment opportunities for the local businesses but at the expense of passengers who are being looted and charged illegally high prices for the tickets! This loot from the IT employees is nothing new, similar trends can be observed in any other service in the IT corridors be it food (overpriced), security (police/traffic police charging illegal money in cities like Bangalore) or simple things like an auto-rickshaw ride. Unlike other industries the IT industry lacks a good union which can fight such atrocities and bring fair-play to the whole IT scene in India. The rest of India just knows one thing – IT is the money minting industry and the people there know how to spend money!
The whole private travel scene of the South India seems to be backed by heavy weight political powers as it makes no sense for the Indian Railways to ignore a lucrative leg of operations like the IT corridors of South India!

Rahul Gandhi can do wonders if he wants!

2010-02-08T22:05:00.004+05:30

Rahul the new scion of the gandhi family has always got publicity with what he did. And why would he not when he is the only son of the most powerful political dynasty of India and the heir to one of the most admired Prime Ministers that we have ever had.
The qualities of leadership come naturally to this charming young gentleman of Indian politics which make him a favorite even for the upitty media. And he makes sure that he is never taken as a politician who's reach ends on the dinner table of the upper middle class of the Indian society. Like the old mahatma, this gandhi too likes to travel the vastness of the country including homes and dwellings of the poorest of the poor (remember Madam Kalavati of the nuclear deal fame?) and when Rahul Gandhi takes the Mumbai Local the critics go dead in their tracks, the common Mumbaikar stops and smiles at his co-passenger and the media goes in a frenzy!
The 'Plan-B' was perfectly executed and brought out a message which sent shivers down the shiv-sena, thakere's spine. The message was quite clear - Mumbai should be safe for all Indians, everywhere! The Congress (the ever so mushy-soft appeasing political party) is starting to take a stern stance against this division politics in Mumbai and the biggest youth leader, the Gandhi himself, coming to Mumbai takes the battle almost away from the Thakres.
This also establishes Rahul as the most important youth leader of India and a probable Prime Ministerial candidate in the near future. Would this be good for India can be said in certainty only when the time comes but given the current political scenario and the quality and intent of the leaders we have in our country, someone like Rahul Gandhi can really be hoped to lead India to a much brighter future!

Bangalore's police are worse than the goons!

2010-02-08T21:09:00.003+05:30

Imagine this: you step out of your home late at night for some work expecting that you live in a secure area with cops patrolling all through the night and end up getting robbed by the cops itself! If this is tough to imagine, just come down to Bangalore and find it out for yourself.
This is nothing new, even in CnC we've reported similar issues sometime back but everytime such an incident happens it brings a new shame for the face of Bangalore police.
How can the citizens feel safe when the people responsible for providing safety turn robbers themselves? My friends were sitting inside an auto close to our home in old airport road waiting for another friend to arrive when two cops stopped by and started insulting and abusing them. My friends were not drunk, were decently dressed and behaving appropriately in their own neighbourhood when they became victims of this uniformed hooliganism. A few localites who know them quite well since almost an year now refused to help, this could be due to the general fear that almost all of India has when it comes to police or could be a contempt against anyone who doesn't speak their language! It was all settled as usual by a 'donation' of Rs. 200 only!
This is the same exact location where one of my friend was robbed of his mobile phone and wallet just a few months back by some goons. It is but a shame if incidents like these keep happening in prime Indian cities.
The question is simple - who would you call when the people who come on dialing 100 are themselves turning into monsters?

Take the bus today!

2010-02-04T15:01:00.003+05:30

Today is Bus Day in Bangalore city. A smart move by, arguably, the smartest bus services providers in India, BMTC. The slogan is simple - Take The Bus! The roads are expected to be free of the clutter due to the lakhs of privately owned vehicles (private cars and bikes) that trod the over 5000 Kilometres of Bangalore's tarred surface everyday! Starting off on the 4th of February, 2010, the BMTC plans to organize such 'Bus Days' on the 4th of every month from now on if the initiative gets a good response from the people of Bangalore and the roads remain relatively trouble free. Additional busses are operating across the city with a high frequency in key areas like Electronic City, etc.
The Bus Day has been hailed by many and everyone is trying to contribute to this initiative by spreading the news. There are thousands of Bangalore's bloggers, Tweeps, Journos who are making people aware of this initiative in their networks. Radio Stations are doing special shows and local news channels are keeping a track of things as well.
BMTC is India's only public road transport service to actually run in profit (The fine collection alone runs in more than Rs. 20 Crore! a year) The revenues collected from the busses plying in Bangalore city alone are higher than that of the busses run in the rest of Karnataka! Some smart thinking and good execution takes the credit and with initiatives like the 'Bus Days' it is sure to attract some attention from other city transport services which can learn a thing a two to give better service for both the people and the environment of the city!
For more information log on to the BMTC website - unlike other Government websites this one is updated regularily and is functional and useful!

Indian hockey in total mess - bad timing!

2010-01-27T20:31:00.003+05:30

The Indian national sport, Hockey, has been hogging the limelight for all the bad reasons recently! Starting with the revolt by the men's hockey team then the media attention on the pathetic state of administration and now the plight of the women's hockey team. It seems like the worst time for Indian hockey even when the world cup is around the corner.
Hockey has lost the favor from the Indian fans in a major way and the organizers are well aware of this. The turnout is a big big concern and with all these controversies lined up there does not seem to be much good happening to Indian hockey at all.
The media attention is there on hockey in a big way but for all wrong reasons. Each day every other newspaper is doing stories about the pathetic state of Indian hockey and the players. A bleeding father supporting his daughter who represents her country in the national sport is something beyond imagination and yet is the stark reality!!!
To top it all up we have the irony of the highest order - borrowing cricket stars to pitch for hockey! The Virendra Sehwag ads shouting for hockey are all over television. A good intent but the way he begs for everyone to cheer for our national team and get involved in the event on the whole, is a little miserable and shows how desperate the whole Indian hockey situation is! Good luck to Indian hockey!

Real horror stories of marriages

2010-01-23T10:27:00.004+05:30

I have some horror stories for you in this post. Not stories that will have just ghosts and non-existent entities but these stories have real life monsters. Lets start with the first one:
A pretty girl gets married to a guy she barely knew before, a typical arranged marriage where the innocent girl probably makes huge sacrifices to make sure her parents (who are living in the present with a soul of the past!) are happy. The man who is going to be the most important person of her life now is well educated, the family is good and everyone is happy for her. The first night, which I suppose is the most anticipated moment in a girl's life, is a horror. She is asked to sleep on the floor of the room while the man comfortably sleeps on the bed. She sobs quietly but gets up in the morning with a smile on her face and hopes of things getting better. On nights that follow she is asked not to close the door of the room as his mother will not feel good about it! Few more weeks pass and she musters the courage to ask him the problem.
He replies, "You are ugly!"
The girl (believe me!) is one of the most beautiful girls he could've ever found. She joins a gym, gets in good shape and becomes a diva literally.
He tells her, "You have become fat!"
As bizarre as it may sound, this continues for a few months before she finally decides to come back to her home. The family is devastated, hopes crashed, tears flooding the emotions. This is when they decide to consult a lawyer to file a divorce. Their deductions are that the guy is gay and the marriage was forced on him. The proofs she has include his total disinterest in any sexual act with her, a number of hunk magazines in his cupboard, few mysterious male visitors, etc.
The lawyer tells them something which very few people are aware of and can be a real hope for people in such situations. She suggests the family not to file for a divorce rather ask the court to 'nullify the marriage'as there has been no physical relationship between the two!
There are a number of such cases where due to various reasons like the husband being gay or involved with another woman or due to some other typically bizarre reasons, the wife suffers a lot and at the same time there is no physical relationship between the two. In such cases the marriage can be nullified and there is no need to file a separation.
Through legally this is handled very smoothly, we do need to improve things socially and make people understand so that the lives of such innocent beautiful girls are not ruined for ever! Moreover, parents should understand that forcing a gay guy into marriage in hopes of turning him into straight would ruin many lives and may bring more shame to the family!

Copenhagen summit helps to clean Ganga

2010-01-12T22:15:00.003+05:30

The Copenhagen talks may have failed largely but they certainly have had an impact in some really far off places. Allahabad, a sleepy old town of Uttar Pradesh which becomes alive with swarms of people each year by this time who come to take holy ablutions to wash away their sins, has taken some major measures to ensure that the Ganga river remains the river of the Gods. A very affirmative, no pollution policy is enforced in the 'Magh Mela' region of the city this year.
The rules laid down by the 'Mela administration' (this religious event attractes millions of people and covers an area of many squared kilometers which requires a separate administrative department!) include

Zero tolerance to plastic inside the Mela region.

All shops are instructed to use only environment friendly bags and material.

The thin polly bags are strictly prohibited.

The sewage water flowing into the river is being looked at (after years of agitation by the localites!)

Daily water samples of the Ganges are to be taken and analysed for pollution monitoring.

Apart from laying down 'rules' the administration is also trying to create awareness, which is something these pilgrims can take back home and spread to their people as a 'message from the land of the holy Ganges'.
The faith of the people is commendable though. Filth or no filth these people take the holy dip in the Ganga each day with full devotion and sincerity. It is notable that the northern part of India is hit by a severe cold wave with temperatures freezing the mercury and deaths being reported by hundreds, but this does not discourage these devotes to come out in large numbers and take a dip in the freezing waters of the Ganges each morning and evening.s

Fight against sex slavery - Please support by changing your mindset

2010-01-11T23:34:00.001+05:30

We at CnC keep saying that a change in the mindset of people in needed, be it education, political awareness or something as taboo as sex. I came across this video which talks about sex slavery and human trafficking. Kids as young as 3 and 4 years are plunged into sex trade and go through multiple rapes and physical and mental torture! These victims are never welcome into the 'civil' society and are forced to accept a life like hell as fate. Please watch this video, its a personal request. Sunitha Krishnan fights sex slavery | Video on TED.com

3 Idiots review

2010-01-10T00:21:00.000+05:30

Is it over rated? My answer: Yes!
Is it the greatest movies of all times? My answer: No!
Is Amir the greatest actors we've ever seen? My answer: No!
Did I like the movie? My answer: Oh Yeah!!!
I started off with a few 'negative' questions because there's very less negative to report about the movie, 3 Idiots! It is a movie which gives you more than just entertainment. 3 Idiots would give you jokes that will always brighten up a dull moment in office with your colleagues, it would give you moments that you can think of way after you've seen the movie, it would give you a little jump in your walk everytime you listen to the songs playing on the radio, it would give you a smile everytime you look at the posters of the movie (which, by the way, are plastered all over your city I'm sure), it would give you 'fundas' that would stay with you for a long time. Above all, it would give you an experience to remember in just under 3 hours (if you see it only once).
Like all VVC's movies, 3 idiots also tries to drive a point, gives a message through light hearted humour. However, I felt that at times the movie got a little preachy. There are not many dull moments in the movie, hardly any actually; a bit of emotions towards the end could have been mocked at (especially by people who didn't like movies like Delhi 6) but the awe that surrounds everything that Amir does stops one from doing that!
Students suicide are the turning points in the movie on at least 3 occasions which may give some credit to the blame hurled by a few state governments. Suicide is shown as an option that students take 'often' to avoid problems in life.
3 idiot does give you a lot of things to take home with you. "Aal izz well" is certainly one of them (just like the 'Jaadu ki jhappi' in Munnabhai). But reviving a baby delivered by vacuum cleaner by saying 'aal izz well' to him is a little over-do. There are many such over-dos in the movie but you wont really mind them as they blend really well with the whole mood that the movie sets for you. Many, many phrases, thoughts and ideas used in the movie are 'tweetable' which has also helped in spreading the '3 idiots cult' and giving it the popularity and success which is a dream of every film maker. It is a perfect entertainer and though it may have already grossed 250+ crore business in just under 3 weeks, 3 idiots is here to stay for a little longer time.
The cast is perfect (yes even Kareena Kapoor has done a brilliant job!). Sherman Joshi and Madhavan have supported Amir splendidly (like they always do) and Boman Irani is absolutely carved out for roles which require a humourous negative character. Amir is outright the central character and in fact the theme of the movie and the whole story revolves around.
The scorn created around the 'regular' education paths followed by Indian youth (read: Engineering and Medicine) is well deserved if anything else! Most Indian parents do pressurize their children, even at tender ages, and ruin their careers to a certain extent. But, in a land where 'arranged marriage' is still a norm for most Indian families it is hard to bring about a change overnight and think of alternative ways to earn a living. India does need a lot of Engineers and Doctors at the moment but for quality to emerge, we need major reforms in the education system which should be slowly placed and implemented. Changing the mindset of people is important and it would happen overtime. We need more students giving back to the education community by becoming teachers, we need more students who are willing to study!
Oh yes, before I forget and you click the link for some other post (or click those ad links that almost all my visitors seem to miss as if they are color blind to them) let me tell you a little something about Chetan Bhagat also. The story is inspired by his novel, both stories are set in an engineering college which give them a lot of similarities. A lot of characters are exactly similar and a lot of story is too. But, 3 idiots is only based on FPS it is not FPS by any standards. The whole thing about not giving credit to Mr. Bhagat could be right though 'cuz most theatres (not Multiplexes) screening the movie usually chip off the rolling credits to get the hall ready for the next show fast (especially for a blockbuster like this), the theatre where I saw the movie did the same! A lesson for future writers lending their scripts to movie makers - please make sure you understand that 'rolling credits' are good for nothing, they either get chipped off or (if watching on TV) become a victim of the 'switching channels is my birth right' syndrome that all television subscribers suffer from!
My verdict for 3 idiots: Don't miss it, else you will be left out in a lot of conversations that will happen around you ('cuz almost everyone you know has already seen it). An amazing entertainer and a movie which will remain close to a lot of hearts!

Government making efforts to quash sex crimes in India

2010-01-08T09:23:00.001+05:30

India is (slowly) awaking to a reality - sexual abuse exists everywhere in India and we need stronger laws to punish the criminals and to protect innocent victims! The Ruchika Girhotra's case has brought a lot of attention to the IPC treatment of crimes like rape, abuse, etc. Thanks to the frenzy created by the media (some news channels did 24 hours exclusives on the issue!) the government is talking about making stricter rules and promising to implement them with conviction.
A new law has been proposed (awaiting the cabinet nod) which makes the following changes:

Physical and mental harassment would be considered sexual abuse and would be treated on par with rape

The accused has to prove his/her innocence in case he/she is blamed for a suicide resulting out of a case of sexual harrassment

The cases of sexual harrassment are to be dealt by special courts, expected to be cleared within 6 months

This law, if implemented in full measure, would certainly discourage such shameful acts and empower the fairer sex. The government's stance on such crimes before has not been very comforting - the maximum punishment for a case of abuse is 1 year! But, in the light of new cases coming up which involve decorated officers and senior officials like Rathore, the government is quick to react assertively.
A change in the mentality of people also needs to be advocated vehemently. The Indian society (specially in the rural areas) has been ridiculed for treating the victims of abuse like criminals which leads to acts like suicides and honour killings! Acceptance of victims of all types of abuse in the main stream and more importantly within their families is the need of the hour. A progressive government which has advocated even homosexual relationships can bring about a change in the mindset of people but above all the support from the people is required.

Social Media kill a veteran politician - Jyoti Basu

2010-01-07T09:52:00.003+05:30

At around 1:30PM yesterday the Twitter vine was abuzz with news of Veteran Communist and ex-CM of West Bengal (the Godfather of Indian Red Brigade), Jyoti Basu's death! Apparently, there was one article in some (freak) blog which claimed that Jyoti Basu was indeed dead and the government was to announce the news in anytime soon. The article also said that the hospital officials were delaying the news just to make sure there were no hiccups later on but the 'Red man on India' was dead for certain.
The Twitter enthusiasts spread this news with such rapacious pace that 'Jyoti Basu' in fact became a 'Trending topic' on Twitter with people not just querying about his death but also making sure that their communist jokes were shared with everyone on Twitter (and then there were counter attacks too!) - all triggered by the fake news of his death.
This incident raises a lot of questions for people (like me) who have been champions of New Media freedom and how the social/collaborative media can also become a responsible news making machine - news from the masses to the masses! The major problem for New Media proponents has always been one of accountability. A blog with a good following may not always mean that the people behind it are responsible reporters, the fact that they have followed good SEO practices and have influential Klout scores could push them up the influencers stack without verifying the accountability quotent and the validity of the content posted.
For most people surfing the Internet, Google and other search engines serve as not just a mechanism to 'find' news but also a yardstick to measure the quality of the content, a listing in the top 10 would make the article authentic beyond doubt for most of us!
As soon as this news broke out yesterday there were people scrambling all over the Internet to 'report' the incident. Even Wikipedia (which is considered an authority in most cases) saw rampant activity on the Jyoti Basu's page with people trying to edit the information to put a death date for a still living man!
If Social Media wishes to be taken seriously by the critics and people at large the occurrence of such incidents should be brought down to zero and people doing this irresponsible reporting should be penalized (even if that means taking them off the search engine's listings!)

Man rapes a bitch

2010-01-06T21:24:00.003+05:30

Perhaps an attempt to make a 7xxx porn movie which leaked out in the news! According to this newspaper, a drunken man molested a bitch (no I'm not using derogatory language, I'm actually talking about a female dog!). While the bitch in the 'spotlight' has become a star for the newspapers in the region, reports say that this shocked animal is refusing food and water since this incident. Not sure if it is because of the man's assault on it or the camera flashes that followed (our media is having a great reach these days!)
On second thoughts, the Indian society is really sex starved. There was an incident a few years back when a 'doodhwala' (milkman) was kept in captivity and raped multiple times by few college going girls in their hostel (a snack wrapper was used as a condom!)

A bank run by kids, for kids in Bihar - Should we be happy?

2010-01-06T16:51:00.003+05:30

As an employed Indian, sitting in an air conditioned office in the IT hub of India, I don't know how to react to this news I read on IBN LIVE just now - Few kids in Muzzafarpur, Bihar, have launched a Cooperative bank which aims to help small children who are employed/self-employed in 'professions' like 'rag picking', 'domestic help', etc. to save and even gives out soft loans to those in need!
A brave move, innovative and something that should be touted as an incident which speaks volumes about the way the children in India are evolving to face the challenges in their lives. I mean, a story about a girl who takes a loan from a bank run by children like her to revive her father's shop is inspirational, if anything! The reason behind my confusion is simple, I don't know if I should be happy about this news. I'm proud of these small kids beyond doubt (they are responsible not just for their lives but the lives and the livelihood of their families!) But, I'm not happy with the state of affairs in my country!
The question I want to ask everyone is,

Why are these kids working in the first place?

Are we going to marvel at such initiatives or are we going to take steps to provide these kids with education and a plethora of other things that a child requires to develop into a worthy citizen of a country that promises to be the future of the world!
The centre is yet to decide on the Right To Education act as of today, reason - lack of funds! The fundamental right to education is yet to bless millions of kids of India. Now, more than ever, we are raising questions about the education scenario in India after the release of Three Idiots (based on Chetan Bhagat's best selling book, Five Point Someone) but these 'discussions' are mostly confined to the higher echelons of the society - most emphasis being on the way we provide higher education in India and how we measure its worth! Very less is being done as far as providing basic education is concerned.
We need to act fast, before these small, enthusiastic and brilliant kids grow up and become the ignorant mass that we largly are!

Indian Celebs on Twitter - great start but a long way off!

2010-01-06T10:21:00.002+05:30

SRK reached more than 10,000 followers in a single day on Twitter (he has more than 40K followers at the time of writing this article). @iamsrk quickly climbed up the twitter vine and perched right at the top just in a day. His first few tweets talked about how he was reluctant to jump on to the twitter world but looked forward to a good time on the site. Twitter, one of the buzz words of 2009, which allows its users to share with the world what they were doing, thinking about, etc. in 140 characters long status message has taken the Indian celebrity world by a storm.
Notably Shashi Tharoor, Gul Panag, Chetan Bhagat, Barkha Dutta, Rajdeep Sardesai have kept the Twitter world abuzz with their 'tweets'. There have been controversies as well, be it Tharoor's remarks about the 'cattle class' or the recent one involving Chetan Bhagat and the makers of the movie 3idiots. What is surprisingly good for the celeb world is the fact that many controversies and news making stories are doing a reverse flip and jumping from the Twitter world to main stream media and not the other way around.
This new media, though very new to India at large, is making inroads into the lives of people in a big way. Twitter addiction is already being talked about in families' dinner tables and many people are using it in a professional way as well (more on this in another article soon!)
There are talks that SRK has jumped into the Twitter world with hopes of promoting his latest flick, "My name is Khan". Though these could just be speculations but there's no denying the fact that no one would want to miss out on this (free) medium of publicity which is promising to be quite powerful as well.
The Indian celebrities are still far behind the rest of the world when it comes to the Twitter-etiquettes though! Very few participate in a 2 way conversation, which makes it look like a tool of one-way-promotion for them. The fans are nevertheless in all frenzy each time they welcome a new Bollywood star to the Twitter vine. But, anyways, as long as these big movie stars appear in my Twitter timeline, who's complaining!

God bless India!

2010-01-04T15:18:00.000+05:30

Take a Deepika Padukone, add a lot of new technology, gadgets, what would you expect to get? Something very attractive right? Wrong! If it's BSNL/MTNL, all you get is an bland advertisement with not-so-good music in the background; a totally ineffective advertisement, a waste of money (BSNL 3G add)!
This is just one example, you have a series of such boring, ineffective advertisements on air which appear like a total waste of money. Most of them connected with some government agency/firm!
The days of Doordarshan are long over when most of the government ads were produced 'in-house'. These days every government agency outsources its ad campaigns (even the AIDS and Polio Drops ones) so how do they end up making such murky ads?
On the other hand, during elections, when the political parties float around their advertisements on TV, newspapers and online, we see the best of what could be got in terms of grabbing attention of the target group. How do things fail so miserably when things are done the 'government way'?
Perhaps, we all know the answer but we will never know it! God bless India!

A foodie - Indian Styled.

2010-01-03T00:34:00.000+05:30

I'm one of those lucky people who can eat a lot and not show a bit of it on their body (smiles)! Food for me has just 2 categories: tasty, not-tasty. The other categories like fattening, fried, unhygienic, calorie rich, etc. is not in my dictionary. On top of that I come from the Northern part of India where even political campaigns have to accommodate popular fast food items in their election slogans (remember the catchy line: "Jab tak rahega samose me aalu ..." sadly, Lalu is almost extinct now and so are the samosa slogans in Bihar). For the past 1 year I have been living in Bangalore. The chip city of India has been good to me (its also the Pub capital of India by the way) but I miss the fast food of North here. You can almost always spot a 'chat' shop here but the taste does not compare in any way to the 'Shiv Chat Bhandaar' or 'Pappu Chat Wale' or the million other famous chat shops of any city in Northern India. Add to these chat shops (though you can't call them that because they don't serve 'sakaude' or 'kachaudi') a host of Dosa outlets and that's about it! There's nothing more desi stuff that you can eat! I dare say that even the dosa, though much more healthier here, is totally different in taste (we can have a discussion on which one tastes better sometime!) I remember back in Allahabad (a very small town in Uttar Pradesh!) we used to stop at least in one shop for a samosa, kachodi, jalebi, anarsa, lassi, even if we were going for a morning walk. Running in the Company Garden in a winter morning and then waiting for the 'Heera halwai' to open for its famous 'dahi-jalebi'. I see people are much more health conscious here (only low calorie, fat free soy milk after a workout), sadly, they are health conscious but not all that healthy! It was never an issue there to eat in a road side shop if the things sold were tasty, here's its very difficult to find one! It is possible in a city like Delhi to live on a fast food diet for a month (even more if your digestion permits!) without having to eat the same thing twice (I may be wrong about the 'month', it could be much higher than that!), compare that with Bangalore - if you decide not to eat dosa, idly, rice and the western snacks/fast food items, you would find it hard to live for a day!

Savita Bhabhi is back only on JayHind [dot] tv

2010-01-03T00:23:00.001+05:30

The buzz in town is Jay Hind. Taking internet entertain to the next level in India and beating Movers and Shakers hands down (mostly because there are no censors in the Internet world!) makes it a must watch.

Like any other late night comedy show, the favourite topics include - Manmohan Singh, SRK, KRK, Gandhis (even the Mahatma!), all the girls with 'loaded' humour, and many politicians having trouble with a 'stand' in life.

There's a special appearance by 'Savita Bhabhi'(in flesh and blood) with a segment - 'Savita bhabhi ke sexy solutions' where she offers her special off the hook solutions to every problem of the world.

And by now if you are thinking that this show is all about then let me tell you that the humour is in fact both refreshing and fresh (just ignore the 'Sections' *like 377* of the show that may not quite suite your style!).

Sumeet Raghavan, the host, is the king of sarcasm (with due respect to the script writers) and his style is worth appreciating.

The spoof interviews with personalities is unlike most that the idiot box has to offer. There is a lot in the show which is unique but the best part of it all is the Disclaimer in the beginning of each episode.

Catch it on www.jayhind.tv or jayhind.buzzintown.com

Chetan Bhagat - The fourth Idiot!

2010-01-02T15:57:00.006+05:30

There are 2 things I want to say upfront before you start reading further:

I have not read FPS (yes, I'm one of the few!)
I have not seen 3idiots (not as yet, may go tonight!)

The whole controversy created around the similarities and differences between Five Point Someone and 3 Idiots has certainly been blown out of proportion (one of my followers in Twitter even suggested I write a book about the controversy, its sure to be a big hit!) Like all fights of this world, this one also was started by a lady's tears (Chetan Bhagat's mother's precious tears that fell on the red carpet taking her out of the movie's premier). The few days that followed saw praises for the movie, the twitter world saw a rather happy Chetan Bhagat sharing the pics of his wife and family with 3 Khans, etc. And then some emotional fan of his (highest selling Indian novelist!) set the cat amongst the pigeons - "Why did your credit zoom out so fast in the movie?", he asked the big Indian author and that was the start of a big Twitter battle, followed by an embarrassingly lengthy blog post, press conferences and what not!
Amazingly, these can not much of a legal battle in this whole controversy. Remember that Chetan Bhagat is not some meek and petty commoner who has been wronged by the big sharks of the Bollywood world, he is after all the biggest selling Indian author till date! He knows that his blog posts can create a flutter, his tweets are going to be re-tweeted thousands of times and influential people from all quarters would be ready to reply to his comments. The media, like always, has harnessed the whole situation beautifully (its not everyday that you can get Vidhu Vinod Chopra to speak that way in a press conference!)
Chetan Bhagat's intention are something that only he can know but he sure has got a tremendous publicity from this whole issue. He may be the No.1 selling author in India but Amir Khan is after all one of the mighty Khans and no one goes unnoticed after pointing a finger to him. And how did he point a finger to him? Simple, by saying that he does not want to point a finger to him as Amir is yet to read the book! (that is pretty smart - Chetan Bhagat is a former IITian, IIMian and banker!) Apparently, he does not want a legal action either. Reason - he is content with the love his fans have given him! My question is, why did he start it all in the first place then? Just to check if his fans really love him or are they just following his tweets in vain?
The people behind 3idiots are smart people. One thing that a smart person does is gets his papers right, and they did! VVC has even published the agreement papers online (if I were him I would put it all in a blog and put some adsense code there, I'm sure it would make a decent money!) What was not so smart is the fact that they reacted to the blog post and the remarks of Chetan Bhagat in a naive way. Making Amir a spokesperson (when he, allegedly, has not even read the book) was stupid. The best (and only) people to talk about the whole issue were the Script writer Joshi, VVC and Hirani. But, from the movies perspective, it is just a lot of free publicity (I'm sure they wish all this happened after the initial craze for the movie mellowed down!) Nevertheless, 3idiots is going to be the biggest hit ever! More than 125 Crores in the opening week is proof for that!
Twitter, Blog and justice. This is a great episode for New Media and Twitter. Twitter's popularity in India is touching the skies, even more now. The people to be thanked for that include Mr. Shashi Tharoor and now Mr. Chetan Bhagat! We know that justice can not be delivered on Twitter or through some Blog post comments but one thing is for sure, the online world is with Mr. Chetan Bhagat, not just because they feel he is the right party but for his sheer presence in the online world! Very few movie stars are present in Twitter and most have decided to be mum (in most of the replies I've got from people from the movie world I can see a will to distant themselves from the controversy!)
This whole episode in the end is just a controversy. I won't say media hungry but ego could be the right word to describe both sides of the story! You read the book, see the movie, you decide. And no matter who's side you take, it is always fun to Tweet :P

Ladies go for older men - N D Tiwari is an example!

2009-12-30T10:22:00.004+05:30

There are no undisputed kings as long as politics is concerned but the man of the moment, Mr. N D Tiwari, certainly is a contender for a top spot. There are not many 80+ years old politicians who can stir the politico-sex scandals jar easily but this man who has his roots in the beautiful mountains of the north of India (Uttarakhand) has undoubtedly achieved a feat most men (even the common man of India) can only dream of!
Is it the charged libido of the old politician or just the news making capability of Andra for the moment is a tough question to answer but this has been the perfect scandal to wrap up the (oh so eventful!) year 2009.
N D Tiwari (before this incident) has been considered a politician with a 'clean' image, a congress veteran and a really charming personality. Now, with the backdrop of this scandal, things might change completely for him. Incidents like these are potential killers when it comes to political careers, especially in India! I don't know what's with India and her apetite for sex-scandals! Almost everyone enjoys taking a pick at them, almost all tabloids give them preference over major issues of national importance yet there is a very delicately defined list of people who are allowed to run away with it and those who are not! Indian glamour people (read movie stars, models, people in the entertainment business) are almost never frowned upon, in fact a glamour celebrity without a sex scandal is almost a goner. People of the sports fraternity are allowed a few but not more (help me with examples please!), most Indian cricketers are appreciated for being good with ladies and their affairs with the flick-chicks are closely monitored but once they take their marriage vows any further 'cross-talk' is dealt with strictly. Then come the politicians (known for their appetite for almost all things evil!), they are never trusted with anything in India but are expected to keep only their tongues dangling out uncontrollably (though they often show good skills with their hands and the microphones in the Parliament too at times!). Any scandal involving the carnal pleasures is totally taboo and marks the end of a political career, even if it is a rather famed one.
But all said and done, with Mr. N D Tiwari showing such talents, the thing said about girls going for older men gets bolstered beyond doubts!

Indian Education System needs a rethink - BIG TIME!

2009-12-24T12:06:00.006+05:30

The root cause of almost all problems in India is the absence of a dependable education system. The presence of State boards is a damper to a dream of imparting quality education. The whole idea of State boards is to decentralize the mighty task of providing good education. But, the purpose is totally defeated when the quality of education is deplorable. Another impossible task is finding a way to align all these different standards into a common framework so that a comparative analysis can be done which is used in centralized examinations, etc.
Like most Indian firms, the focus of all the Governments in India (be it state or the centre) has been to highlight the achievements. The targets have to be met and in the process of meeting the targets the whole idea behind that target is forgotten. Take for instance the Prime Minister Rozgar Yojna (PMRY), under the PMRY scheme all educated unemployed youth are eligible for a loan amount of upto 1 lakh rupees. This is to help them become self employed and join the economy bandwagon. Like almost all policies the PMRY's focus is to be able to have numbers in the end of the year (rather 5 years) to show. The result of this number game is that the taxpayer's money is spent like water, there is no proper recovery mechanism followed in almost all states and no risk analysis is done whatsoever on the money given. Half the money given goes back to the babu's pockets and the rest in buying booze, paying debts incurred while gambling, marring off a sister or (in very rare cases) starting a business which has guaranteed no returns! Instead of just giving a loan the government needs to set up counselling board which can guide an individual on starting a small business which is honest, humble, manageable by the individual, realistic and at the same time adds value to the surroundings of the person applying for a loan (an example would be starting up as a guide if you are in a place like Nagaland - a state which has beautiful places to visit and one of the least recovery rates for PMRY loans!)

Currently, the focus of the government is to increase the number of 'educated' people across the country and trying to create jobs for them (one classic way of doing it has been sighted by CSR - create a new state by disrupting the Universities, promise government jobs to these 'educated' men and women!). The right thing to do perhaps would be to create a sense of purpose in the minds and hearts of these young people and give them pride in what they really want to do and are blessed to do! Even simple things like being a Librarian or something out of the box like a Stunt director, a Radio Jockey, etc. should be projected as viable career options and the education in the case of the student should then be focussed in this direction.
And above all the way the country works, how the various departments operate/function, how the state and the centre collaborate and yet have a separate identity should be 'taught' to each individual of the county. I would like to see this kind of an education being imparted in schools being run in slums, etc. instead of trying to feed the young minds some gibberish in a language their tongues can't pronounce and their eyes are not comfortable reading (mind you, I'm not against teaching English or any other language in particular - there are places in India where Hindi is taught (though completely unnecessary!) when the kids are more comfortable with English as a script!)

ASHAMED

2009-10-13T22:51:00.007+05:30

It took me almost six months and a slap from Babar Ali to get back to CnC. Completing my MBA from Pune, I am currently working in Mumbai. Life has taken a complete change ever since I moved to the city of dreams. The work load and traveling, hardly leaves any time for oneself. What ever little time I get on Sundays goes in unwinding with friends and watching movies and sports.
There were a number of things l did like to talk about but couldn't post. I wished to tell you about the new Mumbaikar, the IPL season 2, Rakhi’s Swayamvar, Chandrayaan, Rajshekar Reddy, Drought, Floods and what not.. Now it all looks history. Anyways thanks to the holiday declared by EC, people like me who are yet to get their names enrolled on voters’ list can take a break from checking and reply official mails and log on to social networking forums.
A tweet from Shashi Tharoor, linked me to an article on BBC title “Tour of the school set up by 16-year-old Babar Ali”. It reads –
“Round the world millions of children are not getting a proper education because their families are too poor to afford to send them to school. In India, one schoolboy is trying change that. In the first report in the BBC's Hunger to Learn series, Damian Grammaticas meets Babar Ali, whose remarkable education project is transforming the lives of hundreds of poor children.
At 16 years old, Babar Ali must be the youngest headmaster in the world. He's a teenager who is in charge of teaching hundreds of students in his family's backyard, where he runs classes for poor children from his village.
The story of this young man from Murshidabad in West Bengal is a remarkable tale of the desire to learn amid the direst poverty.
Babar Ali's day starts early. He wakes, pitches in with the household chores, then jumps on an auto-rickshaw which takes him part of the 10km (six mile) ride to the Raj Govinda school. The last couple of kilometres he has to walk.
The school is the best in this part of West Bengal. There are hundreds of students, boys and girls. The classrooms are neat, if bare. But there are desks, chairs, a blackboard, and the teachers are all dedicated and well-qualified.
As the class 12 roll-call is taken, Babar Ali is seated in the middle in the front row. He's a tall, slim, gangly teenager, studious and smart in his blue and white uniform. He takes his notes carefully. He is the model student.
Babar Ali is the first member of his family ever to get a proper education.

Raj Govinda school is government-run so it is free, all Babar Ali has to pay for is his uniform, his books and the rickshaw ride to get there. But still that means his family has to find around 1,800 rupees a year ($40, £25) to send him to school. In this part of West Bengal that is a lot of money. Many poor families simply can't afford to send their children to school, even when it is free.
Chumki Hajra is one who has never been to school. She is 14 years old and lives in a tiny shack with her grandmother. Their home is simple A-frame supporting a thatched roof next to the rice paddies and coconut palms at the edge of the village. Inside the hut there is just room for a bed and a few possessions.
Chumki Hajra, a pupil at Babar Ali's school, describes her day
Every morning, instead of going to school, she scrubs the dishes and cleans the homes of her neighbours. She's done this ever since she was five. For her work she earns just 200 rupees a month ($5, £3). It's not much, but it's money her family desperately needs. And it means that she has to work as a servant everyday in the village.
"My father is handicapped and can't work," Chumki tells me as she scrubs a pot. "We need the money. If I don't work, we can't survive as a family. So I have no choice but to do this job."
But Chumki is now getting an education, thanks to Babar Ali. The 16-year-old has made it his mission to help Chumki and hundreds of other poor children in his village. The minute his lessons are over at Raj Govinda school, Babar Ali doesn't stop to play, he heads off to share what he's learnt with other children from his village.
At four o'clock every afternoon after Babar Ali gets back to his family home a bell summons children to his house. They flood through the gate into the yard behind his house, where Babar Ali now acts as headmaster of his own, unofficial school.
Lined up in his back yard the children sing the national anthem. Standing on a podium, Babar Ali lectures them about discipline, then study begins.
Babar Ali gives lessons just the way he has heard them from his teachers. Some children are seated in the mud, others on rickety benches under a rough, homemade shelter. The family chickens scratch around nearby. In every corner of the yard are groups of children studying hard.

Babar Ali was just nine when he began teaching a few friends as a game. They were all eager to know what he learnt in school every morning and he liked playing at being their teacher.
Now his afternoon school has 800 students, all from poor families, all taught for free. Most of the girls come here after working, like Chumki, as domestic helps in the village, and the boys after they have finished their day's work labouring in the fields.
"In the beginning I was just play-acting, teaching my friends," Babar Ali says, "but then I realised these children will never learn to read and write if they don't have proper lessons. It's my duty to educate them, to help our country build a better future."
Including Babar Ali there are now 10 teachers at the school, all, like him are students at school or college, who give their time voluntarily. Babar Ali doesn't charge for anything, even books and food are given free, funded by donations. It means even the poorest can come here.
"Our area is economically deprived," he says. "Without this school many kids wouldn't get an education, they'd never even be literate."
Seated on a rough bench squeezed in with about a dozen other girls, Chumki Hajra is busy scribbling notes.
Her dedication to learning is incredible to see. Every day she works in homes in the village from six in the morning until half past two in the afternoon, then she heads to Babar Ali's school. At seven every evening she heads back to do more cleaning work.
Chumki's dream is to one day become a nurse, and Babar Ali's classes might just make it possible.
The school has been recognised by the local authorities, it has helped increase literacy rates in the area, and Babar Ali has won awards for his work.
The youngest children are just four or five, and they are all squeezed in to a tiny veranda. There are just a couple of bare electric bulbs to give light as lessons stretch into the evening, and only if there is electricity.
And then the monsoon rain begins. Huge big drops fall as the children scurry for cover, slipping in the mud. They crowd under a piece of plastic sheeting. Babar Ali shouts an order. Lessons are cancelled for the afternoon otherwise everyone will be soaked. Having no classrooms means lessons are at the mercy of the elements.
The children climb onto the porch of a nearby shop as the rain pours down. Then they hurry home through the downpour. Tomorrow they'll be back though. Eight hundred poor children, unable to afford an education, but hungry for anything they can learn at Babar Ali's school.”

Reading this I am left ashamed of myself. Am I really so busy that I can do ANYTHING for the society? I keep criticizing the government and all politicians, bureaucrats about the sorry state of the country but I neither want to enter the space and least I don’t even have a voter ID, sitting on a comfortable couch I curse everytime our cricketers lose matches, the sport authorities when I see the medals tally at any major sports event, but I wonder if I had ever tried to do anything out of my schedule for the society.
Now by the time my heart and mind try to find a way out, I thought I should first pass this article to all readers of CnC so that we get inspired by Babar Alis, not Ranbir Kapoor in “Wake Up Sid” to get awaken.

Before I end, here are people’s comments for the above article and for the first time I agree to each of them -

Babar Ali is a hero (and I don't use that word often). He, and his loyal pupils, deserve not only our total respect, but our support and encouragement too.
Rob Baker, Newport, S. Wales

"Be the change you want to see in others"- Babar leads by example- such a humbling story that encourages everyone. Thank you!
Mari, London

The news is really an eye-opener. We always blame others including Government, but Babar Ali proves that we can return back to the society if we want.
Pradosh Debnath, Kolkata, India

If there are saints in this world, Babar Ali is one of them. He sees the problems of others. If the corrupt officials could learn from this young boy, they would not waste huge public funds that could educate millions.
JK, DSM, Tanzania

In world were you are measured by the materials you own, (house, cars, clothes etc) it's amazing to see a young making the most of what resource there is. Trying to improve not only the quality of his life, but others around him. A truly magnificent story about a remarkable young man.
Andrew Anastasi, London

Babar Ali is indeed a rare soul, who at such a young age is filled with a sense of duty, direction and patriotism. Maybe if more youths of today were like him, the world would be a better place. After reading the hardship these children go through, I cannot help but think how lucky Malaysian children are. It's human nature to take things for granted, some say. But I will share this story with my students. In hope that more will be inspired to be like someone like Babar Ali.
Teacher Jason, Penang, Malaysia

I too read this story with my mouth open and with tears in my eyes. What an inspiration this young boy is. This article should be read by teenagers in the western world who take their education for granted and think that they are entitled to whatever they want without lifting their little fingers. I'll definitely read this article to my teenage daughter.
Fayrouz, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

Every student in every senior school in the UK should be given a copy of this at the beginning of each school year; to remind them of how privileged they are living in this country.
Ian Redding, Burscough, Lancashire, England

What BABAR ALI is doing is unquantifiable. I wish the local authority could give him a helping hand in order to take this 'school' to where he has in mind. He is a young man of vision and the whole world should stand up to help the guy. It's high time we stopped wasting our resources on things that doesn't have a good end result. This is a project that could go a long way in alleviating illiteracy if given the necessary support. Say me well to him and tell him we are praying for his success.
Agboola Olawale, Ilorin, Nigeria

Very inspiring! it takes me back 30 years as my uncle used to do exactly the same in my native village which had one school where he used to work and had his informal classes for poor students at home. Mr. Baber Ali, I salute you.
Srinivas Patnala, Grahamstown, South Africa

What a truly remarkable chap ! But hold on, isn't this India, the world's largest democracy? Doesn't anyone there want to legislate to make education state funded and available for all? What about abandoning their nuclear weapons and space programme to allow this to be funded.
Tim Stokes, Sittingbourne, Kent

A powerful example set by Mr. Babar Ali. After reading this article, I feel like going back home to my village in India and do something like this.
Shiv Sharma, Vermont, USA

Just Phenomenal! Stories like Babar Ali's are inspirational and life-changing. If the smallest percentage of readers the world over get inspired to give back in some form to further education in such villages, the Indian story will be one of enlightenment.
Rahul S, New York, NY

It's young people like this who really make the world turn and people stand up and realise that there is more outside of our little corners that is far more remarkable than we could ever achieve.
Donna, Milton Keynes

This is a great story. I come from Calcutta, W Bengal near to the place Babar Ali is doing this great job. I am going to Calcutta in November. I will positively visit the school, meet Babar Ali and will donate anything my resources will permit to support his mission.
Amit Ray, River Hills, USA

To influence one life is itself amazing, and here is Babar, at 16, influencing and changing 800 lives for their betterment. Hats off to him and I hope somebody from the West Bengal Education department read this story and hopefully reacts soon!!
Rakzeen, Detroit, Michigan, USA

A little ray of light in all that darkness. I reckon this guy deserves the Nobel prize for peace right now. Obama could have waited a year.
Reinhard Adolf, Yokohama, Japan

I have no words. It just makes me think that I should not complain about anything and take things for granted.
Florence Nesamani, Pune, India

Quite Amazing! Does this happen here in our planet? Ali is doing something which many other could think to be fictitious.
Wondwossen, Adds Ababa

The United States and all other other 1st world countries should support this young person give him the nobel peace prize, more education more peace I believe.
YTFD I can't believe this, what a remarkable young man! I read this article with my mouth open. Thanks for this article BBC it makes me truly, truly humbled.
Olu, Stevenage, Hertfordshire

Babar Ali is a great soul. He will change lot of young lives. This is truly a remarkable story. The higher education system in Great Britain USA and should recognize Babar Ali and help him all the way in his noble cause.
Sunil Parikh, Davie, Florida

This article is like a cold shower that woke me up. my parents pay thousands of euros to my uni every year to give me an education. Realising that with the same amount of money all these children could much easily get education hurts. It hurts realising i have the chance and the means to learn, but I'm even complaining for having "too much to study". To see i have Facebook open instead of a book. We do need articles like this, we do need to wake up.
Melisa, Rome

No doubt, wherever Mr Babar Ali goes, even highly educated and positioned people will stand and respect him. I salute Babar Ali and pray for the future to be bright and prosperous for 'The Head Master' and his 'Pupil'. May God, through the Government, fulfil their desire.
S.Vijayan, Chennai, India

What an extraordinary story!! It nearly brought tears to my eyes. What dedication and commitment in such dire poverty from all these people. I personally never had any such problems and quite frankly could never dream of any as I was blessed to be in free state schooling in the UK. However, when I read the story of Babar Ali and his students, it makes me feel tiny. Thank you for bringing this story BBC.
Sajjid Abbasi, Saudi Arabia

What a wonderful kid, if only we can get his type within our community, we could be better off. Instead of our graduates to be sitting down under trees to argue unnecessarily they can borrow a leaf from Babar Ali.
Ahmad Ibrahim, Kano, Nigeria

The world needs people like these with the conviction to make a CHANGE in others lives.
Syed, Muscat

This boy deserves the highest recognition by the world's highest human rights institutions. He should be awarded a price in form of a school built near his home and named after it. He should be assisted to train as an educator in order for him to carry on his noble duties to his community
German Lungu, Lusaka, Zambia

I was deeply humbled by Babar Ali's story. So many people so many parts of the country take education funded by the government for granted. Deliberately missing lessons etc. And here are some 800 kids who'll do anything to get educated, to be better, thanks to this extremely remarkable teenager. We should be ashamed with our selves if we at some point took things for granted.
Farah, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

It's cost over $50K for my education as a primary school teacher. I wish I could have sent it to them instead!
Kimberly Luedke, Milwaukee, WI United States

India is in the process of a social change and it is the youths like Babar Ali who are trying to bring this change. It is people like him who are trying their bits and they have kept alive the hopes of numerous people in India whose lives are not rosy but every night they sleep in the hope that tomorrow will bring something good.
Bhavna Karki, Delhi, India

No comment. It's just wonderful.
Sally, Algeria

When will Indial Universities become as progressive as the world's best?

2009-09-08T00:12:00.003+05:30

Many loved it, many hated it, many are apprehensive. The progressive change in the education system of India, making the 10th class board exam optional for CBSE students, has had all sorts of reactions from the people. The decision itself is difficult to judge, only time can tell us what good it can bring, but the intention and the will behind it is commendable. Trying to bring a change in the education system of the country is a good move from the government. It reflects flexibility on the part of a system which has often been criticized for being too rigid to accommodate new principles and ideas. The government which enjoys a good majority has shown that it is not afraid to take decisions which may challenge the norms and age old authoritative ideals (remember the government's support to the HC's ruling on Section 377?).
While the government is supporting progressive ideas across all sectors there are many sections of the Indian society that oppose these changes. Something as fundamental as the education system cannot be changed by changing the rules and regulations alone, it has to be incorporated into the social structure of the country as well. As long as money, job and a 'settled' life are the only motivations for a student in India there can be no ruling which can provide a change in the education system of this country. The force has to come from within the society and not from the bunch of people sitting in high offices behind tall pillars.
I say that the society has to drive the education system (and other 'systems' of importance) because it is impossible for a 'system' to change the society or even to provide a stable inspiration to drive that change. A progressive system can only sustain itself in a progressive society! I came across an interesting course offered by NUS (Singapore), 'Communications and New Media'. Consider the fact that 'New Media' has come to the mainstream very recently and most of the civilized world is yet to realize the real potential of this phenomenon and it has already found place in the course list of the university, has experienced professors guiding the students and has companies who are takers of the students graduating with that degree. This kind of progressive system can only exist in a progressive society, India, sadly, is far from it!

BJP murdered by her own!

2009-08-27T09:36:00.002+05:30

A very common ailment when someone grows old is that of joint pains, caused by lack of flexibility and continuous friction between the interacting tissues, it not just announces the onset of old age, it also tells one that it is probably time to either get the aerobics classes rolling or to sit back and enjoy the scenery on TV!
BJP, one of the most progressive parties of India, has aged faster than anyone could have imagined. The receding hairline of her leaders also uncovered deficiency of agendas for the changing India and the defeat in the general elections was impossible for these old shoulders to carry, expectantly, they balked!
A number of analysis would be done, experts would be called to carefully do the postmortem but a few things are probably as clear as they could ever be. One, BJP completely failed to bring up new, young leaders to take up the positions occupied by the old. Every time a senior member of BJP left or retired, it always created a void which was not filled up by anyone who would look equally promising if not better. Two, not just the people but the ideology and the philosophy of the party was only aging by the hour. The top level leadership showed no maturity to adapt new ways, new agendas and new policies for the rapidly changing political scene. The old hindutva mantra still works in a lot of parts of India, but if BJP was not just after these 'parts' it was advisable to create a new holistic approach towards the sentiments of people and bring in new ideas and thoughts! Three, BJP suffered from a 'neglect-the-capable' syndrome since long! Right from Mr. Rajnath Singh (one of the worst CMs that Uttar Pradesh has ever seen!) to Yedurappa (the hindutva crusader of Karnataka) BJP has, somehow, always been able to reward the rogue while the real stars and gems like Arun Jately, MM Joshi (oh! there are so few of them!) were kept nicely hidden inside the closet!
Add to all these voes the troubles that Varun Gandhi and the likes brought to the party (and surprisingly, BJP just kept mum on the issue because it was already walking a tight rope and lacked conviction that forms the sanjeevani for any political party in such situations). Mr. Jaswant Singh is not an exception in BJP, he is the norm! Everyone in BJP is very self-centric, and as long as his 'story' is selling they don't mind selling the party off! BJP has been murdered by its own, stabbed right at the heart and now the same people are crying at the sight of blood!

3 power punch posts!

2009-08-20T04:58:00.004+05:30

Patrick the happiness researcher
Sunday night, tired after speaking to some 50 students for 4 hours I stepped into a bar in Trichy. Alienated, sitting silently on the bar stool, sipping my beer, I was greeted by a gentleman. A white guy; smile, curiosity, skepticism on his face. He sat next to me and greeted me with a hello. Thick Italian accent. I nodded my head and reached out my hand and shook his.
We started talking about the usual stuff that an Indian talks about to a 'firangi'.
"Where are you from?"
"How did you like this place?"
"Where all have you been to in India?"
Patrick, was from Italy and had been to many countries, USA, UK, etc. and before arriving in India he had been to Germany. He found the people there rather rude and was happy with the way India was treating him. When I asked him about his purpose in India I expected a regular answer like a business trip (but then he would've been in a place like Mumbai or Bangalore not in Trichy) or visiting some ashram or things like that, the answer that came from him excited me! He was an author researching on 'Happiness'!
He had been to many places of the world and before he arrived at any conclusion he wanted to discover this mystic land properly.
I asked him if he was happy. He said it didn't matter, and he had never given it a thought if he was happy or not. Interestingly, as long as you don't give it a thought you can neither be happy nor sad, you would just exist! He was exactly that, he just existed, neither happy nor sad, just going to places observing things, writing them down in his diary and then moving on to some other place and observing some more ...
Thought he said he was not sure if he was happy or not because he had never given it a thought, being with him make me change my attitude and I was considerably very happy after that!
Peace.

Guns in the field and the forbidden biscuit
Lalu is known to create a buzz with everything that he says, and this master 'spokesperson' knows how to strike the right cords! Bihar (and the rest of Uttar Bharat) is facing a severe water shortage. Rains have failed the farmers who are now forced to guard the little water that they have with guns! Everyday they pack guns and ammunition with the farming equipments to 'protect' the water from other hungry farmers who are a little more unfortunate than they are. Violence has become the norm of the day for these hard bread earners even when a good crop seems unlikely.
In the midst of all this pain that the State is going through, Mr.Lalu has come up with a statement which may sound like a typical 'movers and shakers Lalu joke' to you but is potent enought to instigate bitter feelings in this drought struck land.

His remarks about Nitish, the CM, that the current drought situation is provoked by the CM's act of eating buiscuits during the recent solar eclipse is starting to be taken seriously at the village level.

When there's nothing else to be blamed, the poor and hopeless people are putting the blame for their misery on this 'forbidden biscuit'. Mr. Nitish has put aside the comment as a joke and an attempt to mislead the ignorant people of the state but even he knows that Lalu needs to be taken seriously even when he comes across to you as a naive populist preacher.
The 'Swine flu' is yet to hit these states in a big way yet but frenzy promotions in the media are bringing people under the fear cloud already. No doubt, the PM's independence day speech included both these issues. The media has already delivered the impact on both these issues which makes up for the light-toned, non-impact speach of our PM on 15th of August!

Swine flu masks, condoms and helmets!
Walk past any commercial street in cities like Bangalore, Pune or Mumbai and you cannot but notice 'swine flu masks' being sold everywhere. People (scared and helpless) want to do everything to protect themselves and their families from H1N1 virus and don't mind putting themselves in a little discomfort in the form of this mask. It is amazing to know how everyone has accepted this discomfort so comfortably! Barring the occasional outrage at how illequipped our medical facilities are people seem to have accepted the fact that swine flu has entered India and they should do everything in their power to keep being safe, even if that means tolerating a stupid piece of cloth around the face every minute of the day! All the medical agencies and government dossiers have clearly said that a 'mask' would be unnecessary if you are not a victim yourself or are tending to someone infected with H1N1. But, people don't want to take any chances; it is a matter of life and death after all! Let's compare this situation with a few other threats that exist in our country - AIDS/HIV, road accidents. The figures for the number of cases reported of AIDS is alarming and even when the disease is much more deadlier than 'swine flu', people (even the educated ones) neglect the use of a condom which could act as a wall between life and death. The cost of a condom (if you are not satisfied with the ones that the government gives for free) is nothing as compared to the money that the people are paying for these masks. The effectiveness of these masks is also not quite proven while the faithful condom is known to protect even in the toughest of conditions and trials! Similarly, the importance of a helmet has been emphasized so many times that it has now become a cliche. One of the oldest ads by Union Public Service Commission that I remember was the one in which a hammer crashes a coconut which is unprotected by a helmet ("Marzi hai aapki, aakhir sir hai aapka")! The only reason that most people wear a helmet is to avoid the traffic police guy who would demand a minimum of a Rs.100 bill. Compare this with the cost of life. The facts are that in any city (not just Pune, Bangalore, Mumbai), more people die of AIDS and road accidents than swine flu every month. The concern of people towards H1N1 is reasonable but the overwhelming frenzy that this flu has commanded is a little uncalled for. If safety is the only concern of the people, then condoms and helmets should be given a similar status as a swine flu mask by everyone!

Independence for an IT guy in India

2009-08-15T10:09:00.003+05:30

Me and my friends decided to celebrate our Independence day the same way we celebrate all the days that instill a spirited attitude. We clinked the glasses together and said cheers to a bright independent year ahead. A lot that a drunk man says makes sense if you are a type of person who gives importance to the things that come from the heart! I'm including as much of the discussion that happened as I can remember now:

Nair: "I was traveling on a train today and an old woman pointed out to me that this train infrastructure was brought to India by the British!"

PJ: "And what was your answer to it?"

Nair: "I started thinking and it occurred to me that almost all dependable structures that we have today were made by the British!"

PJ: "That is because those were things (like Railways) who's time had come and as they were responsible for doing things in India at that time, they had to build them. If India had been independent we would have done those ourselves!"

Nair: "But it was them who did it, if they were not here those things would not have come at all ..."

Mayank: "A man doesn't bring in an idea; an idea who's time has come makes a man an instrument to arrive into the world."

PJ: "Exactly, and those were ideas (things) that made the British an instrument to arrive 'cuz they were here at this time"

Nair: "If they were not here we would have been 50 different states fighting with each other all the time!"

PJ: "NO! If they were not here we would have been like the Europe; fights would have been there but ultimately an equilibrium would have been reached and all would have realized that progress is in mutual collaboration!"

Nair: "But we would have always been dependent on the 'white guy'. Even today our jobs are all because of the 'white guy', we work in Indian companies but our focus is to make them happy, lick their ass!"

PJ: "We work for them 'cuz they need us! No one's licking asses here buddy, its a win-win for both the parties."

Nair: "Then why do we have to stretch beyond our times and work even on weekends while they come and go according to their timings?"

PJ: "It all depends on their working culture versus our working culture!"

Nair: "HOW?"

PJ: "Their working culture involves parties, celebrations, short work hours, etc. while for us, we have a thing for hard work in our culture, right from the times when our forefathers tilled the land, we have always appreciated people who can work harder than expected. It is not a good/bad attitude, it's just how we are, that's all!"

Nair: "Then why don't I feel good about working my ass off even on weekends sometimes? I am patriotic too, what's the problem?"

PJ: "We complain and balk under heavy work and pressure 'cuz we are the 'golden children on India'!"

Gopi: "What? We are the golden children and I didn't know it till now!!!"

PJ: "See all I want to say is that we are somewhere in a transition. Our fathers were still the people who worked really hard (though they were not tilling the land) and we were comforted and cared for all the time, it has made us believe that life is supposed to be like that! When someone presses us for more we start to curse not just the 'white guy' but even our work itself!"

Nair: "How would things improve then?"

PJ: "Things are already improving by the minute. Our children (insahallah!) would be giving work to the 'white guy' soon. We're already acquiring companies in other countries, people from other countries are starting to work in Indian firms. And Indian models are becoming fairer, hopefully the irresistible charm of the 'white skin' would go away soon too!"

It's a happy day for India today! Lets celebrate our freedom and live it each minute, and discover a new meaning to freedom! Happy Independence day India!

Swine flu in Indian package!

2009-08-14T06:56:00.004+05:30

With Swine Flu growing bullish in India (more than 15 deaths reported already) and many major cities like Pune, Bangalore on high alert, an ecosystem is also starting to develop around this ailment! If one monitors her mailbox in a day for mails which deal with H1N1 and actually tries to put things together a very clear message comes out:

Swine Flu has hit India in a big way and while people are concerned about it they are also capitalizing on the fear that it has generated.

The first set of mails are the ones that aim to educate the recipient. They talk about how the H1N1 is spreading across our country, what measures need to be taken to protect yourself and your family; friendly mails from people who either care about you very much or are in the habit of forwarding all types of mails to everyone in their list! Then there are the mails that are hurled at you to make you sit at the edge of your seat, sweat, get scared and make you uneasy even when you are not yet under the cloud of Swine flu. They talk about how miserable our condition is, how illequipped we are as a nation to handle such a disease, how the impossibility of you not contacting H1N1 is inversely proportional to your resistance. All these facts stare at your face on the backdrop of the under-developed medical infrastructure of our country even after more than 60 years of health planning in the independent nation! The next lot of mails are from people who want a recognition in the crowd that they are in (aren't we all!) and write mails to the President (of India? why?) that end up in our mailboxes, telling people not to worry because Swine flu is nothing new, it is a very old disease! Even earthquakes are very ancient phenomenon but when they suddenly become 'active' and start killing people imagine the state of mind of a person who shouts at the fleeing people to call them back telling them, "there's no need to panic, this used to happen years before we were here, its nothing new!" Then come the really interesting ones! These are mails that sell you the miracle drug! From eucalyptus oil, to tulasi paste, everyone is trying to sell you the plant that grows in their backyand! These things do help, I know, but they help more the 'Baba Ramdev's' behind them (I love you Ramdevji, and being opportunist is not an offence anyways!) Since swine flu messages have become the norm of the day, even CnC should leave you with one! So, here it goes,

Be safe and protect yourself and your family but at the same time don't forget to live these next few months worring about things that may go wrong. The perils of the world will not cease to exist once the drug for H1N1 is found, you will always have new things to worry about; if things are going to be the same after swine flu you can relax even while the virus is in the air of your city!

Is EVM tampering possible?

2009-08-01T14:23:00.005+05:30

Bujji Phanikiran (a good friend and inspiration) had the privilege of being the Presiding Officer (probably the youngest in history) in this general election. He is an Electronics and Communication Engineer with ICs in his head and heart. He sent me a mail recently about his experience and comments on working with EVMs.

Q) Is tampering of EVM's possible?
A) Theoretically Yes, but Practically near impossible.

Q) You say theoretically yes. How do we do it?
A) Every automated electronic device has its own processor/controller embedded in itself. So, if you want it to work in a different way all you need to do is just change the program in it as per your needs. Just take out the processor, reprogram it and place it back. As simple as that.

Q) If its as simple as that then why do you say its practically near impossible?
A) Thats because all the Presiding Officers (P.O) conduct a mock poll before the start of an election on the EVMs in their respective polling booth to ensure that the EVM is working properly and seal it using two seals (Green Paper seals & White paper seals) along with special tags placed near the "Close" button. So if you have to reprogram the EVM, you will have to remove those seals (damage) and replace them with the seals of the same numbers and have to forger the signatures of the Presiding Officer along with the Polling Agents. And above all these things they need to bribe a whole lot of people who are involved in maintaining the voting machines after the elections starting from police constables to Collectors. And that as per my personal view is near impossible.
I mean just think about how much man power is used in protecting the machines day in and day out. Think of forgering the signatures and seals of all the Presiding Officers and polling agents, duplicating the paper seals with the numbers and all.
Finally it all boils down to FAITH, faith in your system, your government (the one chosen using ballot boxes), faith in people around you(Cause it is them the lecturers, the teachers, the bank officials, many other government servants who are like me, like you, like your mom or dad or aunt or uncle or... you know people around you).

TRUST YOURSELVES, TRUST EVM!

MJ is dead! Music's one of the biggest (and most controversial) chaper is closed. He will always be remembered.

2009-06-26T23:11:00.002+05:30

CnC Top 5!

2009-06-26T23:06:00.001+05:30

Pak SC rejects Sarabjit's mercy plea (but will Pak use him to trade off with Kasab?? )
Ministry of HRD looks for major reforms, especially in school education - proposes scrapping Class X board exams
Swat cleared of Taliban says Pak
Bangladesh introduces SMS cyclone alert system (Bangladesh hits Top 5 for all right reasons!)
Dr Verghese Kurien's dream of India exporting dairy products to New Zealand comes true

Bangalore deserves a night life!

2009-06-22T22:33:00.003+05:30

As much as I think about it, I can never fathom a reason for shutting down a city like Bangalore at 10/11 PM! I am told that Bangalore used to be a happening place with a vibrant night life a few years back. Then 'IT' happened, and then the people started flooding this peaceful city irking the localities, then we had the 'ausi-behavior' in 'Namma Bangalooru' and the people from Karnataka started turning hostile towards people not-from-karnataka (this sadly continues till date and random (unreported) incidents of violence dot the city).
Somehow, during all this turmoil that was happening in this over-burdened city the people up the civil ladder decided that the solution to Bangalore's problems was banning the night life (as if the night life was responsible for the narrow, unplanned roads, the disappearing lakes and gardens, the rising levels of pollution)!
Now, most of the shops, pubs and other places to hang around close before 11:00 PM. The interesting things to consider are:

This city has the most number of companies operating at night (remember the BPO and other outsourcing?)
The vibe of the city is predominantly young!
Tourism/hospitality is also a flourishing industry in Bangalore as many companies have clients coming in from around the world.

A few high profile (and mostly private) parties do happen till late in the night but for most common people all the fun just ends at page#3. Last year Mr.Mallya also protested the ban on the night life calling the 'cindrella rule' 'dictatorial and utter rubbish'. What is even more stupid is the 'no-dancing-rule' imposed across all party places. Contrast this with the fact that Bangalore is also the operational centre of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who promises to give one a better way of life and dancing is a major mechanism in his teachings!
All work and no party would soon make Bangalore a pretty dull place!

5 'Hatke' news of the day!

2009-06-22T15:44:00.001+05:30

Your daily dose of 'hatke' news, CnC style!

Though healthcare didn't sound to be an important agenda for the common man before the elections (unlike in US), the UPA government is now serious about extending the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) or the National Health Insurance scheme to cover all households below poverty line.
Indian largest private bank, ICICI is looking to restructure to save around Rs. 1300 crores.
Bangladesh shifts from GMT +6 to GMT +7. The reason being, the 1 hour gain would help the nation use sunlight more effectively and save electricity (What an idea sirji! )
Reading the PWC report on Indian sports, I wondered if sports in India would reach greater level so soon, but Saina Nehwal brings in new hope after wining the Indonesian Open.
A Sikh lawmaker is among the contenders for the Speaker of British Parliament.

Raping a boy is allowed by IPC!

2009-06-21T17:14:00.004+05:30

The rape of a 'near-minor' household help by an established actor in Bollywood, Shiney Ahuja, has opened up quite a few debates in India. The 'reckless' behavior of 'guys' is being questioned all over again and stricter laws are being invited.
While there are a few criterion which are taken into account to convict a man of raping a girl more than 16 years old, any kind of sexual interaction with a girl of 16 or less is considered rape (even if it happens with full consent of the girl involved). Such an act of sexual nature involving a girl less than 16 years of age can involve very severe punishment and is fairly easy establish.
There is, however, no law that talks about the rape of a boy (minor or otherwise!). There have been many cases recorded in the past which involve a young boy being sexually harassed but they come under much milder offenses and often are never officially filed nor investigated. A report by WHO said that close to 50% of Indian children are unsafe (it includes acts of sexual nature against minor children of both the sexes). This is a classic case of the law of the land encouraging gender bias and discrimination based on the sex of an individual!

Harsha's pick for the day: Top 5

2009-06-20T00:26:00.003+05:30

The top 5 pics from the desk of CnC for you:

Finally the Indian Prime Minister talks tough and delivers an impact on Zardari.
Two Japanese men were detained by Italian authorities last week, in an attempt to smuggle US bond worth whooping $134 billion (not sure, if its a true story or work of fiction, $134billion can put dollar on the edge and create a huge impact on world economy)
After the week long unrest, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to address the nation today.
Protests around the world to mark Aung Suu Kyi's 64th birthday.
Inflation turns negative after three decades (ask the reality to any Indian common man)

Harsha's Top 5 News of the Day!

2009-06-18T11:31:00.003+05:30

Harsha's affair with the newspaper is legendary! And so is his infliction with 'electronic gadgets' (interestingly, he holds a B.Tech. degree in Electronics & Communication and spent most part of his college life building robots for competitions!). We don't get to read any of his posts lately on CnC because his system has crashed many a times in the last weeks, his cell phone has gone bonkers and his office policies don't allow him to post stuff on Blogger!
Starting today, we're going to go the 'John Naisbitt way' and pull out news from the newspapers that are interesting enough to make an impact in the future, we've decided to call them 'Harsha's Top 5 News of the Day!'. Here are today's top 5 (not in order of importance):

Japanese media reports a possibility of North Korean attack on Hawaii.
Indian Army personnel asked not to post information on Facebook, Orkut and other networking sites.
Anupam Ahuja says Shiney was raped.
SRK fires John Buchanan (finally!).
Its official now - NO CHINESE mobiles in India.

What foreign nationals feel about India and her beggars!

2009-06-17T23:14:00.007+05:30

Ron (a friend of mine from the US working in India for over a year now), like any other guest in India thinks that beggars are one of the worst things about this country! He did see 'Slumdog Millionaire' and was offended by the sequences involving the beggars (and how they are 'made'). But, now that he has been in this country for quite sometime, he has stopped being 'nice' to the beggars (even the small children) and has in fact pretty strong reasons for not being charitable. I will write them down for you here:

He has seen a number of beggars 'getting ready for work' early morning when he goes for a jog. One beggar helping his colleague tie bandages around his head, making sure the color looks like fresh blood, etc.
He has observed a 'strategy' that these beggars adopt, specially for foreign nationals. One small kid would target one particular foreigner in a day and then follow him/her/group everywhere they go. Into the park, out of the restaurant, near the parking lot, outside his gym, near her spa; everywhere the person goes they would follow them with a face expression full of hunger, pain and helplessness. This particular strategy actually works wonders for them as this day's investment often results in a couple of hundred (and sometimes more) bucks at the end of the day.

My grandfather used to say, "Never say no to a beggar! But, always give a pinch of flour so that he/she gets to eat half a meal after working hard the whole day!" Forced beggary, forced prostitution are two big evils of Indian society. Often hidden (and ignored), these dark alleys of India need to be exposed to eradicate this evil which associates itself with a number of other crimes in our society!

Say no to beggars! Don't be 'nice' be practical and considerate about our nation and her pride!

The land of the poor.

Why did Shiny Ahuja rape a domestic help?

2009-06-15T21:30:00.004+05:30

According to me, there could be 3 reasons (none can be justified by any means!) for rape:

An insatiable hunger for sex (either because of sex starvation or an ugly-huge appetite)

As a form of revenge/defiance (mostly associated with immaturity and/or youth)

An act of a reckless mind (mostly under the influence of a chemical substance, etc.)

For an actor like Shiny Ahuja, (happily?) married and with a 2 year old daughter, committing such an act is not just shameless but intriguing as well. What circumstances can probably drive this booming actor to such a reckless behavior? It is not a hidden fact that most bollowood actors have access to a lot of 'casual' sex (from both the sexes). In such a case rape could not possibly be an outcome of a starved sex drive!
Revenge? Most probably not! Why would anyone in his position want to take revenge from a domestic help!
This act of rape (if and when proven) is then probably carried out under the influence of some chemical substance which is worrisome! There are so many young females exposed to such reckless people in various parties, pubs, discos, etc. And such acts do happen but often go unreported for reasons like bribed officers, humiliation and shame (on the part of the female).
Just a few days back 100kg of 'rape drug' was seized by the Bangalore police which is worth thousands of dollars in the international market. The horrifying fact is how common the use of such drugs is and how easy it could be to procure such a drug. This particular 'rape drug' leaves the victim unconscious and unable to recall anything that happened to her. Devastatingly, she cannot bear children after consuming this particular drug!
Sex, the violation of it, the lack of it, the discrimination based on it, and all the other evils associated with it have been often covered on CnC. I will leave you with the links of the same now.

Sex and the Indian society.

The land of the poor :(

A young girl's murder by her boyfriend.

Homosexuality in small towns.

Fashion ka jalwa!

3 Paki women rape a man

Rape of a very young baby girl

Technology penitration!

2009-06-12T22:04:00.002+05:30

They say, a picture speaks a thousand words!

Global Warming or Global Cooling?

2009-06-12T20:57:00.002+05:30

Some decades back, the world, according to the many scientists and researchers, was going to come to an end very soon or at the least revert back to an 'ice-age' as the temperatures were going to fall drastically and as they always say, 'the end of human existence'! Books were written, movies were made, lectures were delivered (even small girls addressed gatherings to intellectuals asking them to save their future!).
Now those small girls have become young (or old may be!) and gradually the opinion of the whole world has swung a full 180 degrees! The world apparently is growing hotter now! From a 'global cooling' its become a 'global warming'; almost everything else remains the same though! Its the same sense of warning, caution, fear and an alarm to the human race to 'do your stuff with sensitivity towards environment.'
I found an interesting link. Not an official website but a lot of links that give a good read.

So is there going to be global warming or cooling? I can't tell you! But there are couple of things which I can:

Protect the environment. It is your own.

Do not pollute.

Give attention to your health and that of your kids.

Start to fall in love with the color green.

Hamid Ansari on WolframAlpha

2009-05-19T13:41:00.001+05:30

With the launch of Wolfram alpha the Internet search industry is surely stirred if not shaken. The pioneering product from Wolfram Research and its flagship product Mathematica has promised a new dimension to the way search is handled in the websphere currently. I had missed to check Google on its Day 1 so I grabed this opportunity to check out WolframAlpha on its first official day! The results were satisfactory if not spectacular. It is built around a niche which was missed by Google; it provides answers to questions that are sometimes better than a chunk of links that you get in the search result set of Google, brisk answers to questions, no skimming through a huge pile of information for a tiny piece of information!
I tried with a few basic questions like "Who is the Prime Minister of India" and got perfect answers. Then I tried a twist, I asked WolframAlpha this question, "Who is the Vice President of India"! Whoa, it got stuck!!!
Either the Wolfram still needs a lot of work or we need to ask our Vice President to work a little bit more!!!

Good luck to UPA

2009-05-18T23:03:00.004+05:30

Vijitha occupies the cubicle next to mine in office. A lady with a good years of experience in the IT industry, a mother, a responsible citizen of the country and recently a very happy person too. While there may be a number of reasons for her happiness one significant contribution is from the UPA!

"My long time dream came true. Finally, we have a party with majority to give a stable government at the centre!", she said.

What does a stable government mean for a common man living in this country? First, it means that the tax payer will not have to share the burden of an early election this time (people like Mulayam Singh, Devegauda, Mayawati, Left who are known for trying to shake the governments in power, move away!).
Moreover, a stable government and one which would be running a second consecutive term at the office would be high on confidence and would take decisions swiftly and decisively. Mr. Manmohan, while still may not have a perfect 'wave' for the supporters, sure has got guts now to influence the decision making in a significant way. The press buzz that Montek Singh Ahluwalia is being hinted by the PM as the next FM is a bold step, something that shows the resolve that Manmohan has this time around.
The next five years should bring about changes that would be significant from an international stand point too. Dr. Singh has already shared a good relationship with the US prez and with positive developments happening in Pakistan with regard to the Taliban issue, things may improve for India.
Rahul Gandhi could be a big factor! He is young, dynamic, has a legacy to back him up and he has proved that he is not a premature political enthusiast by swinging the faith of UP towards congress in this general elections (it was amazing to see him sit in the post-victory meeting of the UPA composed and poised as the next big thing that would happen to India).
Post recession, India has emerged as a stable economy. The economic policies of India have been applauded and the faith of foreign investor would be bolstered with this political stability in India even more (The first Monday after the election results when the market opened the new trust in India Inc. was evident).
Overall, I think, India in the next 5 years should be able to achieve big things and bring about a change that everyone has been wishing for since decades now! Good luck to the UPA government from the CnC team!

Indian elections: Anticlimax but a perfect result

2009-05-17T11:50:00.002+05:30

Most political enthusiasts often look at elections and politics as more than a significant event for their country, its also a source of entertainment for them! This year's general election provided enough 'masala' to the Indian folks. From Varun Gandhi's snobbish comments to Rahul Gandhi's incessant rhetoric that he would not be a PM candidate to Mayawati being touted as a PM candidate to Advani's election campaign on the lines of Obama's, everything was overwhelming. People expected a hung parliament at the best and had already made up their minds to get glued to the TV (there are no movies at the multiplexes anyways!) for the next one week at the least. However, the 'intelligent' Indian voter decided the other way round, gave a very clear mandate to UPA and even in my home the TV is playing 'Dhoom-2' and not CNN-IBN, Aaj Tak or NDTV!
This election result is spectacular in more than one ways. The way in which regional parties have been rooted out, the 'Left' left out, Congress gaining a stronghold in UP, Manmohan favoured over Advani for PM, Lalu wiped out of Bihar, everything has been unexpected and refreshingly pleasing (my personal opinion!).
I captured a few reactions for the readers of CnC, here they are:

Jadhvekar (before the counting began), "... last year the exit polls favoured us and UPA formed a government, we're hoping for the same twist this year ..."

Rajdeep Sardesai, " ... Indian voter seems to be getting far more intelligent than we could ever expect ..."

Some political expert, " ... Samajwadi Party and Congress was more than a one night stand ..."

Shashi Tharoor, " ... Left has to stop attacking other party candidates and start to work ..."

Guha, "...decline of the identity politics in Uttar Pradesh ..."

Someone, "...the Bengali voter always wakes up later..."

BBC correspondent, " ... BJP, the opposition Hindu party, is disappointed ..."

"What's your drink Mr. Patnaik?" "I'm very forgetful ..."

A reporter asked Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, "Madam would Rahul be a minister?" She says, "That is for the PM to decide" and looks at Manmohan Singh who turns the other side as if trying to find someone else who could answer that question!

Now 'green software'

2009-05-10T16:33:00.002+05:30

Even software is trying to go green now! I downloaded the Notepad++ editor today and was reading the 'About' page on its site, http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm. Here's what I found there:
" By optimizing as many routines as possible without losing user friendliness, Notepad++ is trying to reduce the world carbon dioxide emissions. When using less CPU power, the PC can throttle down and reduce power consumption, resulting in a greener environment."
I know, its a geeky way of saying things but I think all the author of the software really wanted to say was that he is concerned. If we can show such a concern in every little (of big) thing that we do, it would make a lot of difference in bringing down the global temperatures and improving conditions for the generations to follow.

Bangalore on the brink of destruction?

2009-05-03T18:15:00.005+05:30

Bangalore has many strategic advantages as a place in India which can be used for establishing important industries and offices. It is one of India's fastest growing cities, already expanded beyond its limits and now almost about to explode. The IT hub, India's silicon valley, Bangalore has been favoured over many other cities in the past when it comes to investing in mainstream industries and infrastructure.
The social structure, economic standard and awareness of Bangalore is much above many cities in India (and the world). Bangalore has emerged as the city with the highest standard of living in India (its rank is 150th in the world).
Bangalore is also the seat of a very sensitive institution of our country, the Air Force. It was primarily established in Bangalore as the place enjoys a distance from Pakistan, China, Bangaladesh and Sri Lanka which at that time was beyond the striking range of these countries. Arabian Sea to its other side makes it a perfect city to enable all other places by serving as a central powerhouse.
The weather in Bangalore made it one of the most favourable cities for the growth of important industries like the Information and Technology, BPO, etc. There were other places with cooler climate but they were not quite as connected as Bangalore was.
Even many sages and spiritual gurus have found Bangalore a perfect city to settle down in. It is a perfect mix of good weather and comfort (amenities, facilities, connectivity, etc.) for these spiritual leaders who find (for good reasons) that sitting at Himalayas and meditating is not as good as connecting with people, improving their lives (and making a big empire in the long run).
All these wonderful things are coming to an end for Bangalore soon! The city is not blessed with good weather anymore. The sun has the mercury rising and a new record is being made each day. The felling of trees and the exponentially growing traffic is making things worse. The population of the city has grown out of bounds now, the city is on the brink of exploding. The infrastructure is not enough to support the growth rates of the city and with a few very important projects, like the flyover to the Electronic City, being stalled as Maytas was behind them, the situation is going to go from bad to worse.
A lot of government attention is indeed needed. A good infra and a reliable public transport would make things better drastically. On an individual level, people need to become more environment friendly in their daily life activities. Practices like car pooling, using more public transport, saving electricity, fuel, would go a long way in improving things in Bangalore.
PS: The pic is something interesting I saw being done in a nearby street (in a place called BTM layout, quite popular amongst the IT folks as they start their career), the people from the electricity department are installing an electric pole with the help of the common men on the streets :)

Yet another 'slumdog' moment!

2009-04-29T22:10:00.004+05:30

I came across this ad in the Telegraph's Indian e-edition. Don't wish to say much on it as we've got Oscars for Slumdog now but the way the west sees us is amazingly captured in this pic. This pic alternates between an accident site lined up with mumbai taxies and a pic of 3 really cute kids. Accidents do happen everywhere in the world, don't they? Just a thought!

India's Heros didn't vote!

2009-04-28T09:23:00.003+05:30

The people of India are deciding the future of its land by getting involved in one of the biggest (and most intriguing) genaral elections ever. Perhaps for the first time many sections of the society which were otherwise indifferent to anything involving politics are coming together and are gearing up to vote for a change in the way our country is run. Youth are participating in large numbers and are infact inspiring thier elders as well.
I have been a keen follower of politics always and have encouraged the people around me to vote and make a difference. However, 23rd of April, when Bangalore came out en masse to make one of the most important choice of thier life, I was sitting in my home, watching the election saga on TV! Though I feel embarrassed and angry about this fact there is nothing that I could've done to change the fact that I can't cast a vote as I'm very new to this place and there is no way my name can be included in the electoral rolls and since life at office is hectic I can't travel 2000 km to cast a vote in my hometown (Allahabad, one of the Mecca of politics in India!).
There are many youngsters like me who have a strong political will and understanding of the situation prevailing in the country but are forced out of participating in the celebration of democracy.
Interestingly, while I (and thousands like me, recently displaced from their hometowns and thus unable to cast their vote) may be an insignificant individual as far as the list of my followers (on CnC, twitter, facebook and life) goes, even the heros of India did not vote! Our heros who are fighting hard in foreign land (read South Africa) to prove to the rest of the country that their city has the biggest cricketing talent (and cricket is one of the few common religions on India) are missing out the general elections 2009!
If someone takes the pain (I think the EC already does that, not sure) of producing the stats on how many people missed out their chance to vote as they are currently not in their hometown (for work or other reasons) the numbers would be startling.

The Global Guilt is not helping the under-developed societies like Africa

2009-04-18T20:06:00.004+05:30

How and why the US and the other 'white powers' help the black of the southern hemisphere! A global 'white' guilt is being exploited by the political powers of the west with vested interests in the resource rich land known for its diamonds and yet to be exploited oil. The pre-recession era of the west was a place which had more money and less happ'y'ness. It is mostly a 'persuit' of this happiness that has been driving the white upperclass of rich nations to do charity in godforsaken lands like Africa (and India, recently even more after the success of Slumdog Millionare) and when charity comes so easy everyone joins hands to contribute. Giving away a day's burger can buy education for a girl in Africa some say. The charity is good but the problem is that the effort ends just there. No follow ups are made by most people, they trust their govenments which shows them impoverished faces with smiles and a bright colored flag on their favorite TV channels.
Movies like 'Black Diamond' are rare and though appreciated they fail miserably to excite the fancies of most. The west has been able to get to what it wants on most occasions. Many African governments are formed by the consensus of a 'white board' mostly populated by US and UK diplomats. If a couple of 'talks' and a donation of the surplus money of its nation can buy a land rich in resources, who would say no? The situation in a few other countries was similar. The west had an overwhelming interest in their resources and what followed was Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, etc. In these places the society had a tougher political structure and a resilient army to involve in a fight-back. Africa, sadly, has been slow to evolve to be a strong resistance (or terrorists as they are mosty referred to by the west for most other cultures) and centuries of oppression and slavery could be blamed for this.
How is India and the subcontinent different, now? Drastically! We have emerged as important players in the economic scene of the world, have an intimidating armed force and a global presence (even a couple of Indians helping Obama frame laws for America!). It is another thing that most important resource of India is 'Human' and it is in the best interest of the west to reap the benifits of the human resource that is reared by the Indian Government and works for them! A colony (or colony like establishment like in Iraq and many parts of Africa) would result in weakening this important resource. The 'Slumdog' is infact bailing out the west out of these tough times in many ways.
Post recession things have changed. The west is no longer happy and no longer rich (like it was before). Most charities have dried up as even the big corporates who wanted to gain some SRI (Socially Responsible Index) points are now shying away from donating to the poorer continents.
So, the big question is, "Can money relieve the situation or is something else needed?" The answer is not simple but a number of measures like political influence, physical engagement, representation of these countries in the world forums/culture, development of industries inside Africa and a genuine support for the existing ones can make a big difference to the current situation.
How would Obama be different? Being a black and all he's expected to bring about a sea change to the situation not just in America but in the world (or the 'world' of America at least!). But, quite frankly, how black he really is? Obama is, first, an American citizen who has lived his life like one. His political career is not motivated by the evils against the blacks (something that motivated Martin Luther King) but rather the equality that he's enjoyed for major part of his life. A comparison which is often drawn is that of Mayawati aka Behenji. The parallel, unfortunately, lies just in the heads of a few media folks and is far from being a ground reality. A dalit, girl child in rural parts of India suffers much more than the 'black American citizen' of modern times can even imagine. She has been a champion of equality and life for the dalits in India and if continents like Africa have to come up with the modern society they need many more leaders like her rather than a philanthropic monetary effort as an outcome of a guilt which has always pressed the white population of the world pre-recession.

5 Observations

2009-04-15T03:43:00.004+05:30

I went to Mumbai today for some work, and here are some interesting observations:
* 2 blind beggars in a Mumbai local singing "Darshan do Ghamshyaam.. "; 1 of whom was wearing a "digital" wrist watch
* A piece of newspaper or magazine with a shoe polish wala at CST station read - "India Shinning"
* The series of hoardings at Fame Cinemas, at Raghuleela Mall were as follows - 8x10 Tasveer, Barah Aana, Confessions of a Shopoholic, International, Fast & Furious 4, and "LK Advani". (wonder if BJP has even come up with a movie as a part of their election campaign)
* There were Streetlights lit on a particular locality at 6 pm, when there was sufficient sunlight and no lights at another at 8 pm when it was pitch dark.
* At one of the traffic junctions, a kid came up with a small bowl covered with a Obama's pic and the heading "Obama for Change" and the only thing that came to my mouth is "No Change".

Competition drives innovation for auto rickshaw in Mumbai.

2009-04-11T00:46:00.006+05:30

Mumbai is probably the most competitive place to do business. Irrespective of what you do, a million little management principles go into your everyday activity. Time management, priority handling, regular financial checks, advertizing, are part and parcel of every individual. Even a slub dweller knows that survival needs the best utilization of resources and time. Unlike in many other major Indian cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, etc. Mumbai's professional ethics and management are strikingly high. Mumbai has seen sleek business models evolve out of simple things like delivering food 'dabbas' to people who need them (the 'dabba walas', by the way are a six sigma establishment). There is an unsaid, un-documented code of conduct for all business (even the illegal ones) which makes this city a joy to live in (even with the presence of a number of goons and criminals who call themselves the protagonist of the story of Mumbai, the likes of Raj Thakre!).

I came across a few pictures of a particular auto-rikshaw driver (along with his rickshaw!) who has found a way to cut through competition by innovating in the small space and scope that a rickshaw gives you. His is no ordinary rickshaw! If the other rickshaws provide you the usability of a DOS this clearly is very close to a 'Vista'!

A first aid box would catch your attention first (not that you would need it when the ride promises to be so comfortable). A newspaper stand with news in 4 different languages spread across pages of popular dailys offers a splendid time-pass if you get stuck in traffic (which is inevitable for any major city). A small TV engages the customers while they sit comfortably enjoying the breeze blowing from the small fan installed inside the rickshaw! If the breeze of the fan is not able to beat the heat of Mumbai you have tissues that can wipe your brow.
The 'paint-perfect' rickshaw is clad with interesting quotes but the best one reads, "25% discount for handicap"! ('Only gandhigiri" comes a close second!).

PS: I just wish that as perfect as this appears his meter is working right! (At least in Bangalore its very difficult to find one that shows the right billing.)

India's best take to politics to fight it !

2009-04-08T20:36:00.006+05:30

Its less than a fortnight to go, before India goes for poll and decides the party and its men who would form the next government.
There are those who are flooding blogs like CnC with 'vote-for-me' ads and getting mention in the national media mainly for pre-poll controversies and law disobeying rally. There are a few in the election arena this year who are already 'leaders' in their fields and are now in the fray to become 'politicians'. Here is a CnC exclusive of a few favourites:

1. Sashi Tharoor:

A writer and former U.N. under-secretary general, is rolling up his sleeves to contest as Congress candidate from Thiruvananthapuram in Left-ruled Kerala state.

Profile:
In 2006, he was the official candidate of India for the office of United Nations Secretary-General, and came second out of seven official candidates in the race. Tharoor served as the UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information between June 2002 and February 2007, during the term of Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The author, journalist, and fellow of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, has had his eye on a more local political role since his return to his home state.

Education:
Born in London, he studied at Montfort School in Yercaud and Campion School in Mumbai, attended High School at St. Xavier’s Collegiate School in Kolkata and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi where he stood first in the University, graduating with a record score in History (Honours).
While at St. Stephen’s Tharoor was actively involved in the Debating Society, where he won every single debating prize available, the Quiz Club, which he founded, and the Students’ Union, of which he was the elected President. He then completed a Ph.D. at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Massachusetts, where he also earned two Master’s degrees. His Ph.D. was awarded when he was 22, a Fletcher record.
Tharoor will be contesting against P. Ramachandran Nair of CPI and P. K. Krishna Das of Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP).

Click here to reach Shashi Tharoor

2. Meera Sanyal:

Profile:
Meera is currently the Chairperson and Country Executive for ABN AMRO Bank (now RBS) in India, responsible for over 9,500 staff in 40 locations across 24 cities. Prior to this, she was the Chief Operations Officer for the Asia Pacific region responsible for the IT, Operations and Property services for 16 countries in the region. As an Investment banker she has worked both in India and within the Asian region on a number of Project finance, Advisory and M&A mandates.

Education:
· AMP Advanced Management Program, Harvard Business School, Class Valedictorian October 2006
· FCIB: Fellow Chartered Institute of Bankers, UK, February 1996
· ACIB: Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, UK, February 1989
· MBA: INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France; Graduated with Honors on the Deans List December 1983

She will contest from South Mumbai, an upmarket locality and the main business district, as an independent candidate.
On a month’s leave of absence as she dabbles in politics, Sanyal will go toe-to-toe with Congress incumbent Milind Deora, the son of the oil minister, with Facebook groups and her husband speaheading her campaign. She said she found it difficult to align herself with the ideologies of the big parties.
She was apparently inspired to do so by the strong reaction of the general population after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, when the people poured out into the streets to protest the fact that they had been taken for granted for the longest time, demanding answers from the powers that be.

Click here to reach Meera Sanyal

3. Mallika Sarabhai

That thought is echoed also by Mallika Sarabhai, a reputed dancer, who is contesting as an independent in Gandhinagar in Gujarat state, taking on BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani. Daughter of classical danseuse Mrinalini Sarabhai and the renonwned space scientist, Vikram Sarabhai, Mallika Sarabhai is a renowned Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer.

Profile:
Winner of several national and international awards and accolades, popular being –
· Crystal Award by World Economic Forum, 2008 for recognition of her contribution in art and culture to promote global peace.
· Theatre Pasta Theatre Awards,2007
· Nominated as one among 1000 women for Nobel Peace Prize ,2005
· Indian for Collective Actions Honour Award,, 2004
· Kala Shiromani Purskar , Institute of Economic Studies,2004
· Woman of the Year , Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC),2003
· Knight of the Order of Arts & Letters, French Government 2002
amongst many others.

She studied at St Xaviers College in her home town of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state.
The multi-faceted Mallika holds an MBA and a doctorate from IIM Ahmedabad and has experience in acting, film-making, editing, and television anchoring.
She has worked with victims of the 2002 communal riots in which about 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were hacked and burned to death. She has been vocal in her opposition to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, said she was against criminalisation of politics and wanted to bring the common man back into focus.
She also has support groups on Facebook, and a website, and while she is not expected to win, she has promised to fight.

Click here to reach Mallika Sarabhai

4. Capt. Gopinath

Profile:
The Managing Director of Air Deccan is a graduate of the National Defence Academy and has served the Indian Army. He is considered the father of low cost air travel in India. He created a whole new market when he launched India's first low cost airline, Air Deccan.
Gopinath, who made the common man fly, is taking off as a politician again. In 1994, Gopinath contested the assembly elections from Gandasi in Hassan district on a BJP ticket, but lost.
He feels, “None of the political parties represent the aspirations of a new, young and emerging India, who are frustrated with what they have.”
Many support groups have come up in Bangalore for Gopinath. Young citizens and professionals can be seen distributing 'tokens' and pamphlets in front of popular shopping malls with a smile on their faces and hope in their hearts.

Click here to reach Capt. Gopinath

70 lakh crores rupees of India in Swiss Bank ??

2009-04-05T18:39:00.005+05:30

Yesterday morning, I received an sms which, like most service messages, I was about to delete, by then don't know what made me read it. The message read -
"Hamari koshish rahegi videshi tijoriyon mein bund takriban 25 lakh Cr kala dhan bharat lakar garibo ki unnati tatha desh ki pragati mein lagaya jaye. LK Advani"
when I was telling my friends about it, I found out that most of them had received the same.

Today, I received an interesting forward-

"Dear All,

Our Indians' Money - 70,00,000 Crores Rupees In Swiss Bank
1) Yes, 70 lakhs crores rupees of India are lying in Switzerland banks.This is the highest amount lying outside any country, from amongst 180 countries of the world, as if India is the champion of Black Money.
2) German Government has officially written to Indian Government that they (German Government) are willing to inform the details of holders of 70 lakh crore rupees in their Banks, if Indian Government officially asks them.
3) On 22-5-08, this news has already been published in The Times of India and other Newspapers based on German Government's official letter to Indian Government.
4) But the Indian Government has not sent any official enquiry to Germany for details of money which has been sent outside India between 1947 to 2008. The opposition party is also equally not interested in doing so because most of the amount is owned by politicians and it is every Indian's money.
5) This money belongs to our country. From these funds we can repay 13 times of our country's foreign debt. The interest alone can take care of the Centre's yearly budget. People need not pay any taxes and we can pay Rs. 1 lakh to each of 45 crore poor families.
6) Let us imagine, if Swiss Bank is holding Rs. 70 lakh crores, then how much money is lying in other 69 Banks? How much they have deprived the Indian people? Just think, if the Account holder dies, the bank becomes the owner of the funds in his account.
7) Are these people totally ignorant about the philosophy of Karma? What will this ill-gotten wealth do to them and their families when they own/use such money, generated out of corruption and exploitation?
8) Indian people have read and have known about these facts. But the helpless people have neither time nor inclination to do anything in the matter. This is like "a new freedom struggle" and we will have to fight this.
9) This money is the result of our sweat and blood. The wealth generated and earned after putting in lots of mental and physical efforts by Indian people must be brought back to our country.
10) As a service to our motherland and your contribution to this struggle, please circulate at least 10 copies of this note amongst your friends and relatives and convert it into a mass movement.

Col R R Joshi,
Commanding Officer
178 MH
PIN 903178
C/O 99 APO
Mob 09800046041"

After, reading both, I checked the May 22, 2008 e-paper of TOI, but sadly there wasn't any such article, atleast not on Mumbai edition. Yes, I am sure that we would have had many international black money accounts and bringing these back to our country and investing in various needs would help us a lot. But, do you think any of our politicians would be able do it, as they themselves would have been one of the biggest participants in such crimes.

Behenji-the queen of India?

2009-03-29T18:02:00.000+05:30

The question has been raised many a times. “What if Mrs. Mayawati became the Prime Minister of India?” We all have our versions of answers to it. When I raise the question on CnC, I know that my readers are mostly above the poverty line, have access to the essential resources that are needed to sustain a healthy-happy life (the access to internet gladly a recent addition to the ‘essentials’ list) and can read and write English (which is still a ‘phoren’ language for most of India.
I want to ask another question here, “Why can’t ‘Behenji’ become the Prime Minister of India?”
A friend I was talking to suggests that it is a matter of shame. It is hard for the educated Indian to accept someone like Mayawati as the Prime Minister. I’m trying to explore the reasons that this ‘shame’ constitutes.
English: She has not been able to exhibit her command on the English language. Some argue that the Indian PM would need to convince a global audience on a number of issues and English is the language of the world. On the contrary, many ‘world’ leaders do not speak (or understand properly) the English language. The fact that Behenji addressing election rallies in Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh is testimony to the fact that she has indeed evolved into a leader of national caliber and language has not been a bar.
Vision: Many feel that Mayawati lacks a vision that may be needed for a person before she dons such a post. She has in fact shown a tremendous vision and has been able to unite the ‘dalit’ of India across the borders of states. And unlike the previous ‘dalit leaders’ she has slowly incorporated even the higher classes into BSP’s voting class and the contestants.
Corruption: Mayawati has been in the midst of all sorts of controversies related to issues of corruption. The Taj corridor, the expensive birthday parties, the personal wealth are all pointers of how funds have been mishandled by BSP in Uttar Pradesh. There are very few political parties or politicians who have a clean record in India. I’m not justifying her wrong with the wrong of someone else but it would be interesting to see how she reacts when she’s the queen of India!
‘Dalit beti’: The story of Mayawati is amazing. A girl child in a dalit family in Uttar Pradesh dreaming to become the PM of India is amazing in itself! But what adds to her achievements is how she has tried to evolve after each little step. The way she commands respect from all the regions of India (be it only ‘dalit respect’) is commendable. There are very few leaders who have been able to do such a thing. The ‘Behenji’ who spoke of ‘Tilak, tarazu aur talwar; inko maaro joote chaar’ is now talking of a political party which has broken the barriers of caste and creed in India. ‘Brahmin’ voters voting for the ‘dalit’ candidate and dalit candidate winning on upper caste populated constituencies is quite a feat.
Whether Mayawati does manage to become the PM of India in this election or not is something all of us would watch out for, but her emergence as a political authority across India is undeniable. It may take an ‘MGR’ to become an ‘Amma’ but it certainly takes much more than ‘Kanshiram’ to become a ‘Behenji’.

Dogs of Bangalore

2009-03-28T13:24:00.007+05:30

Bangalore has been many things to many people. A retiree's paradise, a garden city, the Indian silicon valley, an outsourcing hub and so many other names are given to this city which has outgrown its own resources in so many ways. Another thing that may be added to B'lore's credit could be the dog lovers that the city has in abundance. And where there are dog lovers there are dogs, and oh so many of them!
In a survey done in 2001, it was estimated that Bangalore has a dog population of more than 3.25 lakh out of which a majority (61%) are strays. And there is no reason to believe that this dog population has not grown proportionately with the human population.
The dogs of Bangalore are relatively healthier than the usual (my yardstick were the dogs in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and the dogs in both these places under-perform when compared to the ones in Bangalore!). And when a dog is healthier it is also more dangerous. I'm your ordinary dog lover (the kind of person who likes dogs, loves them and does pretty ordinary things to prove his love like feeding them a piece of biscuit sometimes) so I don't have anything against these animals (after all we have been living with dogs in harmony for generations) but there are times when these little bastards (forgive my language but I really did mean it and don't have a substitute for that word) can team up against you and challenge your 'freedom of (harmless) walk' in their neighbourhood.
Ask any guy/gal working in a call centre in Bangalore and all of them would have a harrowing tale to tell about how they were 'attacked' by a hound of dogs while they were returning late night from work. I've had a similar experience twice (thought of going out for a walk at 2:00 AM with a KF can in hand) after which I decided to make those neighbourhood hoods my friends and tried not to forget them whenever I was having biscuits. Life has been much easier around my house since.
Some hard hitting facts are there about dogs and the city of Bangalore.

Very few pets in Bangalore are registered.
Most stray dogs (86%) are rabid.
Bangalore has a dog:human ratio of 1:12 (old stats, things are worse now).

But, whatever said and done, a dog lover is a dog lover for life. Bangalore has more dog shows than any other city in India. The average number of dogs per house in Bangalore is much higher than any other city in India. Dogs of Bangalore are much healthier than those of any other city (based on experience, please correct me if I'm wrong).
Finally, since this article talks about dogs and the love that the city of Bangalore shows towards them I leave you with a picture that I found stuck on a tree here in a park a few days back. If you are able to find 'Tiger' and report it to its owners CnC would earn some karma points!

Book a TATA Nano Online

2009-03-27T16:44:00.005+05:30

After listening to reports about the recent rush on the websites of TATA motors and TATA Nano, I was curious to check them.
http://tatanano.inservices.tatamotors.com

The website looks simple with loads of features. Along with all the details about the vehicle, picture gallery, the variants, the price list, booking, press release, message from their Chairman, even communities like forums/blogs and even popular networking sites like Orkut and Facebook.

Some of the features of Nano are as follows -
• Mileage: 23.6 kmpl as per ARAI
• Exceeds Indian Safety Standards
• Spacious Interiors
• Top Speed : 195 kmph
• Smallest turning radius : 4m
• High Ground Clearance : 180mm
• High Gradability : 30 %
• Power Windows
• Central Locking
• Fog Lamps
• 3 variants - Nano, Nano CX (AC with Heater) and Nano LX (AC with Heater)
• 6 colour variants
Some basic feature like Tubeless Types and Fog lights are not even available in Marutis and Santros

But the best part is that, it has even come up with online booking, which I don’t think we have had in Indian auto industry. Day by day, we see a huge rise in number of internet users and buyers on net, so online booking facility of Nano is really a good move. All credits to the TATAs.

Apart from booking your Nano online, you can also "build" it on the company website, which means that you can select the colour, decals, wheels, fog lamps, seat covers, and dashboard. Along with this, there are features like free downloads, contests, and so on. Talking about downloads, Tata Nano lovers can download wallpapers of the car. These pictures include images of the Tata Nano from the Geneva Motor Show, The Who's Who of India and the World Take a Look at the Tata Nano, The Tata Nano Launch Event at the Delhi Auto Expo, and the Standard and the Luxury versions of the car along with its interiors. One can view YouTube-powered videos of the car too.
As reported by The Economic Times, Tata Motors will sell the Nano not just through Tata car dealerships across the country, but also through retail outlets like Westside and Croma, both of which belong to the Tata Group.

Thus, the Tata Nano has a strong online presence and its novel website is just adding to it. Though I checked the site to look for reasons for it to crash soon after the commercial launch, it found it pretty fast and user friendly. But then now after looking at this feature, I am more anxious to see how it would handle traffic once the booking starts.

Congress Manifesto

2009-03-26T17:02:00.003+05:30

On Tuesday, the Congress President Sonia Gandhi released a ‘low on reform and high on populism’ manifesto. Some of the Highlights of Congress manifesto are as follows:

• Enactment of a National Food Security Act ; 25 kilos of wheat or rice for Rs 3 a month to those below poverty line.
• Maximum possible security to each and every citizen.
• Highest level of defence preparedness and further steps for the welfare of the defence forces and their families.
• Accelerated process of police reforms.
• Increase in the daily wage paid under the NREGA from Rs 80 to Rs 100.
• Health security for all.
• Comprehensive social security to those at special risk.
• Quality education affordable to everyone.
• Nationwide skill development programme.
• Expansion of schemes for improving the well-being of farmers.
• Democratic and professional functioning of cooperatives.
• Greater impetus to empowerment of weaker sections of society.
• Control of communalism and caste atrocities.
• Sharp focus on the special needs of children, especially the girl child.
• Making elected panchayat institutions financially strong.
• Connecting all villages to a broadband network in three years.
• Special focus to small entrepreneurs and to small and medium enterprises.
• Maintenance of high growth with fiscal prudence and low inflation.
• Introduction of goods and services tax from April 1, 2010.
• A completely new look to urban governance.
• A new deal to our youth to participate in governance.
• Protection of India's natural environment and steps to rejuvenate it.
• Massive renewal of science and technology infrastructure.
• Judicial reforms to cut delays in courts.
• To continue to be sensitive to regional aspirations
• Energy security for the country.
• Steps to preserve and promote our heritage.
• To continue independent, pro-India foreign policy.
• To intensify the involvement of overseas Indians in development.

For the full text, click here

Interesting to note that, it doesn't focus much about the CHANGE as Obama's campaign did, nor does it mention a word about economic slowdown and revival strategy.

Jaspal Bhatti comes up with "Recession Party"

2009-03-18T04:26:00.007+05:30

After enthralling the audience with his dance moves on Nach Baliye, one of our best-known comedians, Jaspal Bhatti has now decided to contest the elections from Chandigarh. He launched his own ‘Recession Party’ and would only aim to become the Prime Minister.

Some news items had I could collect, from various sources, about his first speech are as follows:
* He first declared that he would not spend a penny on elections and the crowd laughed at him. He immediately clarified that he just meant the spending out of his own pocket.
* Funds from any party that wants to cut their opponents' votes are welcome. Those wants to make pre-poll alliance deals with our party may also fund us.
* Recession fund would be created and those who are still insulated from the heat of recession would be requested to donate. Keeping in mind the world wide recession, our party will not put undue pressure on businessmen, builders and traders to collect the fund forcefully. They can donate us at their will.
* Those who support us now with their sweat, soul and money will be given ample chance to reap the benefits when we come to power.
* I make it clear that I am jumping into politics to beat the recession and improve my own financial health.
* We hope all jobless, out of business and underpaid people will create our solid vote bank.
* People in the past have voted in favour of Sat Pal Jain, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Harmohan Dhawan. I request you to try me once. I assure I won’t be more ineffective than any of them.
* Our Aim: we will create more slums in and around Chandigarh to win the parliamentary and more Oscars as well. The beauty of the city will stand out more shiningly amidst cluster of slums.
* We will not to divide the votes on the basis of caste, creed or religion. Instead we will create a wedge between the foolish and the intellectuals. We do not want the votes of so called intellectuals who after getting victimized in the hands of their leaders support them every time.

The supporters of Recession Party came up with loud cheers and number of slogans like : -

Tauba yeh recession, tauba be-rozgaar
Tera political atteyachaar
Ghar bikwa ke sadak pe la doon
Lakhpati se kangal bana doon
Recession ka nikle yeh dhooan
Seene mein jalti hai armanon ki arthi
Arre paanch saal mein dekho kya hoga
Sonia khele kursi se
Mamta se haath milaye
Maya maya karte sab par
Mayavati haath na aye
Rajnaath aur jaitli jhagre
Advani ko bhukhaar
Tuaba tera ....

Jaspal Bhatti also told the media that their party would soon release their party manifesto although it will only be a customary exercise and the public should not believe in what they say in the document.

I am wondering if our Political System has really become such a joke? or is it just that the man is doing what he does the best ?

THE OBAMA DECEPTION

2009-03-17T05:24:00.005+05:30

Obama has become a synonym for good leader and a new inspiration for the youth world-over. I happened to come across a friend, whose excuse for not being interested in the coming General Elections is because we don't have someone like Obama as Prime Minister candidate.

In international relations theory, the term "new world order" refers to a new period of history evidencing a dramatic change in world political thought and the balance of power. However, in conspiracy theory, the term "New World Order" (the capital letters are distinguishing) refers to the advent of a cryptocratic or totalitarian world government.

Just released in the US, Alex Jones's The Obama Deception, is a hard-hitting film that completely destroys the myth that Barack Obama is working for the best interests of the American people.

The title of this film is slightly misleading because it is not a film about Obama per se, his questionable character, or even the legitimacy of his presidency in light of the questions surrounding the true origin of his birth. It does cover some of his campaign messages/promises and his subsequent reversals upon assuming office.
The film tries to establish that the international banks are planning to loot the people of the United States and turn them into slaves on a Global Plantation.

Click to watch the trailer

So yet another of those interesting conspiracy theories that I love watching. Waiting for it to release in India or atleast to grab a DVD.

Design a Symbol for Rupee

2009-03-16T04:04:00.004+05:30

I visited the website of Ministry of Finance to have a look at the Monthly Economic Report, but what i came across was something more interesting!
The Ministry has began a public competition to formulate a design for the Indian Rupee. We do use abbreviations like Rs or INR (Indian Rupee), but unlike major currencies we don't have a symbol.

The contest, open for all resident Indian, closes at 1300 hours on 15th April 2009.. For more details click here.

When i googled more about the competition, I came across mixed views from international community. Some feel it to be obvious indication of emergence of a new player in the global economy, while others blamed the competition format. It's the same route that Russia went down in the 1990s, in its search, so far unsuccessful, for a symbol to represent the rouble.
There were also many doubts raised about the implementation of the symbol. According to one estimate, when the euro was introduced in 1999 it cost Europe's biggest companies more than $50bn to update their computer systems to deal with the changeover.

But I am sure we would work our way out and try to come up with a cheaper technique to upgrading our systems and codes.
One suggestion to all people: focus on graphics and technical application as well. Try to understand and analyze how would it look on the web, keyboards, LED Screens and even on mobile phones.

Find out charges against MPs

2009-03-15T17:37:00.003+05:30

Couple of days back, I was ashamed to see a report by Centre for Media Studies, which showed how Money is being used to lure voters and its phenomenon was spread across all demographic groups - young and old, poor and rich, urban and rural.
A shocking 47 per cent voters in Karnataka accepted money to vote in 2008 Assembly elections.

Today, the Election Commission has disqualified 3,423 candidates for not filing the details of the expenses incurred during the last Lok Sabha or recent assembly polls which they contested. Of them, a major chunk of 1,075 candidates are from Uttar Pradesh and 616 from Bihar who had contested the assembly polls in these two states respectively.

To know about charges against MPs in your area, you can send an SMS to 567678 typing NCPINCODE and you will receive a response regarding the criminal charges against the current MPs from your area.

Please spread awareness about this service by sharing it with others.

Virtual fame, real money ;)

2009-03-14T22:37:00.004+05:30

The new media has made quite a few people 'disturbingly' famous overnight! What they do once they become famous is another issue but the ways in which they get fame is worth reading about. A lady writes some negative stuff about one Barkha Dutt and becomes famous after being sued by her, another person impersonates as Steve Jobs, gets famous, decides he needs to tell the world that he's a fake Steve, gets all the more famous, and the examples are countless.
There is a 'Numa Numa' guy who 'lip-sung' a Romanian song and people found it to be irresistibly funny. What followed was millions of views, one of the most subscribed channel, stage shows and MONEY. Interestingly, the lip-sung version of the song overshot the popularity of the original song by leaps and bounds! While the original song features the ideal slim, trendy singers running around in amazing locations, this guy is fat, is wearing a sweat shirt and sitting on his chair with a backdrop of an unimpressive room.

Another fame 'victim' is 'Fred'. He is a normal 16 (or something) year old with an ability to speak like a 6 year old (that's what he says, to me it sounds more like some duck in DuckTales). In his videos he is a 6 year old, hyperactive kid who lives alone with his mother (who I think is a drug addict). Each of his videos are impressive, funny and very funny! From youtube he has now moved to TV. BBC carried his story some time back, he does programs for a few TV channels, stars in video songs (search for Kev Blaze and fred on youtube)etc.

Then there's this guy (again from youtube) who takes up challenges from his viewers. In one of his recent challenges he was asked to paint his whole body purple. His 'challenge completed' video was a featured video in youtube. Lots of views, lots of fame!

Bloggers' meet at St. Joseph's, Bangalore organized by IBNMS.

2009-03-14T18:47:00.006+05:30

BlogCampBangaluru was my first 'blogging un-conferences' organized by IBNMS and it got me hooked beyond doubt.

It had a sluggish start (Saturday morning 9:30 is quite an ask for Bangalore, the city which celebrates weekdays like Christmas) with people trickling in slowly as we began. Pramodh from Injoos started off with his presentation on how bloggers can find a business model around what they 'love' to do. Followed by a gentleman who has been a veteran journalist with Hindu and has recently given up his job and switched to blogging and online publishing as his bread and butter! Mr. Anand Parthasarthy is an old man with an energy that puts quite a lot of people, (like me) who love to call themselves 'young', to shame and his years of experience in the traditional journalism has backed his decision to switch to blogging as a money making device.
Seagate, the principal sponsors behind the event, came in next. It's an organizers plight to have the sponsor talk delivered by a monotonous 'corporate' guy without passion for his product! Even the funny anecdotes by Ajay failed to keep the spirit of the meet up :( I'm yet to see Steve Jobs live so can't generalize the statement but most 'corporate' announcements or releases have failed to impress me, that's why I look forward to reading about the product when my favourite blogger does a post on it!
There was a talk by Ajay Jain, the person behind this particular blog meet, on how the relationship between PR and the blogging community is finding new meanings and what needs to be done to strengthen the bond. Amit Gupta talked about 'Blogging beyond english', I was surprised to know that there was such a big community which blogged in other Indian languages (you can check the Blog Camp wiki for the presentation).
Dr. Ashish Gupta (if I write all that he 'is', I wont find place to write anything else, so I'll just say that he's been a Venture Capitalist of late) expressed his ideas on the difficulty (and near impossibility in the current scenario) for a blogger to find an investor to fund her. We have our own ideas though and IBM's arrogance was Xerox's, Apple's (and so many others like them) chance to make money in a market which the 'big guys' didn't even realize existed!
There were 2 speakers who personally impressed me a lot. A 67 (I guess, based on the fact that he retired in 2004) years old gentleman, Mr. Prabir Ghose who started blogging very late in his life and is now an authority on the web and a charming young gentleman, Mr. Keerthi Kiran who is one of the few people who has tried to contribute to the society by empowering others (like him) to take an affirmative action.

If you are under the age of 25 and want to make a difference to the country you live in and are proud of, do visit Grass Routes and find out more about it.

PS: Its a shame that the head count kept going down as the day progressed. Lets blame it on those who left early, they were at the wrong place to start with :). It was a great platform to get in touch with people who think like you (or 'un-like' you but 'think' at least), Seagate sponsored lunch was one of the best 'cold pizzas' I've had ever 'cuz of the company I had it with!

UPA Government's Report to the People

2009-03-14T04:07:00.004+05:30

I am sure you would have come across people who associate themselves with Political Parties and vote loyally for the same party over the years.
Out of my curiosity, I happened to visit some of these Party sites to find out if there are any Principles set and followed by all the parties in India and how far do these parties stick to them.
And it wasn't surprising to note that, not all parties have a true philosophy and those who do, it is only on paper.

During this search mission, I came across something interesting. As as MBA student, we did check and analyze various companies just on the basis of their annual reports but here is the Report of UPA government to its people.

Even I felt the file to be bulky, but mind it guys its a must read..

e-mail Aaya Paisa Laaya

2009-03-10T06:00:00.006+05:30

I am sure each of us would have earned millions of dollars and pounds online, be it Yahoo or Google, lottery prizes keep pouring in our inbox. Sometime back I even won was a lottery by FIFA World Cup 2010, South Africa.
But today I was surprised to receive an interesting mail -

"Dearest

I believe you are a highly respected personality, I am writing this mail with tears, sadness and pains. I know it will come to you as a surprise since we haven't known or come across each other before considering the fact that I sourced your email contact through the Internet in search of trusted person who can assist me.

I am Cecilia Garang 24 years old female from the Republic of Sudan, the Daughter of Late Dr. John Garang. Before my late father’s death in Uganda on 31st of July 2005, was vice president and former rebel leader of Sudan and was kill by Sudan President Omar al Bashir in helicopter crash. You can read more about my father in the link below. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2134220.stm.

I am constrained to contact you because of the maltreatment which I am receiving from my step mother. She planned to take away all my late father's treasury and properties from me since the unexpected death of my beloved Father. Meanwhile I wanted to travel to Europe, but she hide away my international passport and other valuable documents. Luckily she did not discover where I kept my father's File which contained important documents. Now I am presently staying in the Mission in Burkina Faso. I am seeking for long term relationship and investment assistance. My father of blessed memory deposited the sum of US$12.7 Million in one bank in Burkina Faso with my name as the next of kin. I had contacted the Bank to clear the deposit but the Branch Manager told me that being a refugee, my status according to the local law does not authorize me to carry out the operation. However, he advised me to provide a trustee who will stand on my behalf. I had wanted to inform my stepmother about this deposit but I am afraid that she will not offer me anything after the release of the money.

Therefore, I decide to seek for your help in transferring the money into your bank account while I will relocate to your country and settle down with you. As you indicated your interest to help me I will give you the account number and the contact of the bank where my late beloved father deposited the money with my name as the next of kin. It is my intention to compensate you with 20% of the total money for your assistance and the balance shall be my investment in any profitable venture which you will recommend to me as have no any idea about foreign investment. Please all communications should be through this email address only for confidential purposes.

Thanking you a lot in anticipation of your quick response. I will send you details in my next email for you to know me well.

Yours Cecilia"

Is every moment a moment of pride for us ?

2009-03-09T23:22:00.006+05:30

A day's diary in Bangalore (but it could be just another city in India for just another person like me (or you)!)

Morning 10:00 AM :
I get on an auto, minutes later I realize that the metre is faulty. He charges Rs. 90 for a distance which is usually some Rs. 60. I argue and close the deal at some 70 bucks. He is happy, I'm relatively happy.
Afternoon 2:00 PM :
I need to get a couple of certificates attested. I go to a local hospital. There is a board which says, "No attestations would be entertained." Just below that sign board sits a man on a desk. His desk is full of many certificates that have come for attestations. His rate to get it done by the hospital authorities is just Rs.500 to Rs. 1000 depending on the number of certificates and your urgency.
Afternoon 3:00 PM :
I board a government bus. The bus conductor asks me Rs. 10 for a distance which costs Rs. 15. I am surprised. He takes the money but refuses to give me a ticket and with a sly smile says that he gave me a discount.
Evening 5:00 PM :
An office colleague is getting posted to another city. He cheats his landlord with Rs.4,000 and sneaks his way out of his apartment to the airport.
Evening 7:00 PM :
Another auto driver gets into a trouble with me. This time I make sure he gets to a traffic police guy. I'm off after paying the usual, legitimate amount. Out comes a Rs.100 bill, goes into the traffic policeman's pocket and everything else starts to run normal.
Night 9:00 PM :
I want to cool the day off with a can of beer. The shopkeeper refuses to sell the beer at MRP (maximum retail price). I go to another shop, here the rate is a little less but exceeds the MRP again. Another shop, same result. I refuse to buy. I am pissed (its not always about Rs.5 extra for the beer can right?).

I'm so proud of everything around me. I'm proud of slumdog's success. I'm proud of Sachin Tendulkar. I'm proud of myself, my family and my friends!

Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-08T16:32:00.010+05:30

There are lots of things I can think of doing in dark for an hour. You?
This year India will join rest of the world by observing 'Earth Hour' to save energy as well as environment on March 28. Let's make passionate love to our planet and turn off the lights for an hour.

931 cities and towns in 80 countries have already committed to VOTE EARTH for Earth Hour 2009, as part of the worlds first global election between Earth and global warming.
WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.
Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour.
Here is a glimpse of Earth Hour 2008 :

This year India, especially Delhi and Mumbai will participate, he said adding that WWF was getting support from the government as well as the corporate houses. Lights would be switched off or dimmed at 11 PVR cinemas in Delhi and Mumbai and corporate offices.
Its a call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet.
Let us also VOTE EARTH by simply switching off lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour - Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm.

Diary of a Pakistani Schoolgirl 3.0

2009-03-08T04:06:00.004+05:30

The seventh grade schoolgirl from Swat, Pakistan writes again -

SATURDAY 21 FEBRUARY
The situation in Swat is calming down gradually. Firing and artillery fire has also reduced. But people are still scared and they are afraid that the peace deal might be broken.
There are rumours that some Taleban commanders don't agree with this deal and say that they will keep fighting till their last breath. My heart beat rises when I hear such rumours. Why are they doing this? They say that they want to take revenge for Jamia Hafsa and the Red Mosque, but we are not the ones responsible for what happened there so why don't they take revenge on people who are responsible?
Moments ago Maulana Fazlullah (a pro-Taleban cleric) announced on his FM radio that he is lifting the ban from female education. He announced that girls can go to school till exams which are to be held on 17 March but they have to cover themselves.
I am very happy to hear this as I never thought this would ever happen.

SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY
Today we went to Mingora's "cheena" market where one can only find things for women. We were very scared on our way to the market as the Taleban have imposed a ban on women going out for shopping.
On entering the market we were shocked to see that there were only a few women there, where as earlier it used to be a very crowded place and women used to push each other

MONDAY 23 FEBRUARY
When I got up I was very happy knowing that I will go to school today. At school some girls were wearing uniform whereas others were in casual clothes. During assembly girls looked extremely happy and were hugging each other.
After assembly the headmistress advised us to cover ourselves properly and wear the burqa because it is a condition put by the Taleban.
There were only 12 girls present in my class because some have migrated from Swat and some were not sent to school by their parents because of fear.
Four of my friends have already left Swat and another told me today that they are also moving to Rawalpindi. I was upset with her and asked her not to go as there is a peace accord and that situation is getting better gradually. But she said that conditions were very uncertain.
I am very sad. Four of my friends have already left and the last one is also leaving.

WEDNESDAY 25 FEBRUARY
My mother is not feeling well and father is out of town for a meeting so I prepared the breakfast and then went to school.
Today we played a lot in class and enjoyed ourselves like we used to before.
Nowadays helicopters don't appear frequently nor do we discuss much about the army and Taleban. In the afternoon my mother, cousin and I and went to the market. There was a time when I used to like wearing the burqa but not any more. I am fed up with this because it is a hindrance in walking.
There is gossip in Swat that one day a woman was wearing a traditional burqa. She fell and when a man tried to help her she refused and said "Don't help me brother, as this will bring immense pleasure to [Taleban leader] Maulana Fazlullah".
When we entered the shop in the market where we used to shop the shopkeeper laughed and told us he got scared thinking that we might be suicide bombers.

FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY
I was so glad to see my two friends in school today. During the operation they had gone to Rawalpindi. They said that there was peace in Rawalpindi and the standard of life was also good but they both were anxiously waiting for peace to return in Swat so that they could come back.

MONDAY 1 MARCH
Attendance is getting better day by day and today 19 students were present out of 27. Exams are scheduled for 9 March and we try to spend more time studying.
Today I went to Cheena Market with others and shopped a lot because one of the shopkeepers was shutting down and had a clearance sale. Most of the shops in Cheena Market have been closed down.

Teachers greet each other in Mingora as a school reopens

We sleep well because there is no shelling these days. It is said that the Taleban are still carrying out their activities in their areas. They also loot the relief goods meant for the displaced persons.
My friend told me that her brother was quite amazed to see his acquaintance searching vehicles at night along with the Taleban. Her brother said that his acquaintance works as a labourer in the morning and along with the Taleban at night. Her brother asked him why he was with them if he was not a Talib. He replied that he earns in the morning and then at night while working with the Taleban.

TUESDAY 3 MARCH
My younger brother does not like going to school. He cries while going to school and is jubilant coming back home. But today he came back home crying and he said that he was scared. He said that whenever he saw someone he got scared that he might be kidnapped.
My brother often prays "O God bring peace to Swat and if not then bring either the US or China here".
There was another skirmish between the army and the Taleban and such incidents have taken place in the past few days. Today I heard the sound of mortar shells. People are again scared that the peace may not last for long. Some people are saying that the peace agreement is not permanent it is just a break in fighting.

WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH
Today our teacher asked us how many girls listen to FM radio and most of the girls said that they used to but not anymore. But few girls said that they still listen to it. Girls were of the view that once FM radio transmission is stopped only then peace can return to Swat.
The Taleban say that they use FM radio to propagate teachings of the Koran but commander Khalil after a brief teaching of the Koran subtly switches over to threaten opponents. Announcements regarding fighting, activities and murders are made on FM radio.
During our recess today we saw helicopters flying. The helicopters fly very low over our school. Girls called out to the soldiers and they waved back. Soldiers seem to be tired of waving now.

International Women's Day

2009-03-08T01:46:00.007+05:30

8 th of March, celebrated as International Working Woman's Day (IWD), is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women.
The day is an official holiday in Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Georgia, Italy, Israel, Laos, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, FYROM, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia, and is observed by men giving the women in their lives - mothers, wives, girlfriends, daughters, colleagues, etc., flowers and small gifts.
In some countries (such as Romania) it is also observed as an equivalent of Mother's Day, where children also give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

In Italy, to celebrate the day, men give yellow mimosas to women. Yellow mimosas and chocolate are also one of the most common March 8 presents in Russia.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Serbia the custom of giving women flowers still prevails.
In countries like Portugal and Romania, it is usual, at the night of 8 March, groups of women celebrate in "women-only" dinners and parties.
The United Nations supports this day and coins new themes for each year. Some of the global United Nation themes used for International Women's Day to date:
- 2009: Women and men united to end violence against women and girls
- 2008: Investing in Women and Girls
- 2007: Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls
- 2006: Women in decision-making
- 2005: Gender Equality Beyond 2005: Building a More Secure Future
- 2004: Women and HIV/AIDS
- 2003: Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals
- 2002: Afghan Women Today: Realities and Opportunities
- 2001: Women and Peace: Women Managing Conflicts
- 2000: Women Uniting for Peace
- 1999: World Free of Violence against Women
- 1998: Women and Human Rights
- 1997: Women at the Peace Table
- 1996: Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future

I am sure in India as well; we will get to see many functions, rallies and other awareness drives. We Indians treat our country as a woman and call her Bharat Maata. Over the past few years, women in our country are really bringing great laurels in all fields.

While I was going though the website: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/
I happened to note the following Gender Facts:

Global Issues
• Females in developing countries on average carry 20 litres of water per day over 6 km
• Globally women account for the majority of people aged over 60 and over 80
• Pregnant women in Africa are 180 times more likely to die than in Western Europe
• 530,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth each year
• Of 1.2 billion people living in poverty worldwide, 70% are women
• 80% of the world's 27 million refugees are women
• Women own around only 1% of the world's land
• AIDS sees women's life expectancy of 43 in Uganda and Zambia
• 5 people are added to the world's population every 2 seconds
• Women are 2/3 of the 1 billion+ illiterate adults who have no access to basic education
• Suicide is a leading cause of death for Chinese women, and China is the only country in which the suicide rate for females is higher than for males.

Innovation
• Globally women comprise 42% internet users (Italy 37% ... US & Canada 51%)
• In OECD countries women comrpise only 30 per cent of degrees in science and technology
• Women's representation in computer and information sciences workforce is around 30% globally
• Female inventors still only account for around 10% of the US inventor population

Business / Finance
• Women control $14 trillion in assets and this should grow to $22 trillion over next 10 years
• Women comprise 21 of the 37 million people living below the poverty line in the US
• Only in Japan and Peru are women more active in starting a business than men
• Women spend more time researching before they invest than men do

Media / Arts
• Only 21% of all news subjects (people interviewed or whom the news is about) are female
• Women less than 1% department heads, editors, media owners but third of working journalists
• 80% of UK purchasing decisions are made by women but 83% of 'creatives' are men

Work
• Women do two-thirds of the world's work but receive only 10% of the world's income
• Women's education is the most powerful predictor of lower fertility rates
• One year out of college women earn 20% less than men and 10 years later 31% less
• Women on average are away from workforce for 14.7 years compared to 1.6 years for men
• The biggest EU gender pay gap is in Cyprus and Estonia at 25% then Slovakia at 24%

Government
• 56% of women who voted supported Obama compared to only 49% of men voted for Obama
• Until 20 years ago there had never been more than 5% women MPs globally
• Benazir Bhutto was the first woman prime minister of a muslim country (assassinated 27/12/07)
• From the 27 EU member states, UK ranks 15 for women's representation in national Parliaments
• From 1945 to 1995 the percentage of women MPs worldwide increased four-fold
• Although women make up 51 percent of the world’s population, they hold only 16 percent of parliamentary and congressional seats worldwide.

Before, I end, I would like to clarify that I am not trying to support or criticize the fact that we have “Women’s Day”. It’s not been a month that my post on Valentine’s Day brought questions like – “Do need to celebrate such days? Well I don’t know how far its right or wrong. It’s just another celebration. So as long as it’s not harming any one and bringing cheers to people, I don’t mind it.

Goli soda is dying :(

2009-03-07T21:27:00.004+05:30

Pepsi, Coke and others have intruded India to such an extent that they seem almost our own now! I'm not against any MNC, in fact I get my salary from one such MNC in India, but I do tend to get a little nostalgic at times when I find all the smart marketing wiping away our 'old' products. Today was one such moment when I saw 'goli soda' in front of my company's futuristic campus.

For those of you who are unaware of what 'goli soda' is, it is carbonated water sold in glass bottles. The USP of 'goli soda' is its unique way of packaging, with a marble acting as a 'cap' to keep all the fizz inside. To 'open' the bottle one has to push the marble aside in a special way to free the water inside. The bottle has a unique design and it is an art to open the bottle without breaking your finger. For Rs. 5 it is one of the best refreshing drink you can have on a sunny day.
The sad thing is that these goli soda vendors and producers are fast disappearing. In urban India it is almost an impossibility to find one. The coming generation may alienate itself from the special flavour of goli soda and lime with masala, unlocked by the famished fingers of the lungi clad vendor if we continue to dance only on 'phoren' songs until another Slumdog Millionaire is made by some 'firangi'!

Political parties trying to ride the youth wave

2009-03-05T00:12:00.006+05:30

Within hours of taking the oath, the President of United States of America, Barack Obama, launched a new version of www.whitehouse.gov . The message was clear, the new president is tech-savvy and knows that so is the electoral college which voted for him. The new website has features like announcement about his government's policies, his government's opinion on important issues, the agenda, a peek into the administration side of things, etc. Besides these there is the presidential blog. One of the most amazing features of the site is that the users are allowed to vote and comment on important issues and their votes and opinions are taken into consideration while formulating any law for the land. The people of US also get to subscribe to their President's youtube channel, RSS feeds from his blog, streaming video of his speeches and a lot more.
This is an expected move from a young President from a country where the depth of Internet connectivity is such that almost all its citizens are touched by the Web 2.0 phenomenon and are using Internet not just for sending emails but in all areas of their lives.

Things are quite similar in India even when Internet penetration is nothing compared to the First world countries (we are the first democracy to have electronic voting machines remember?). The 'great India election' dates were announced just a couple of days back but the ads campaigns have started long back for most political parties. BJP has again emerged as one of the pioneers when it comes to leveraging the power of Internet to stir up the tech-savvy voters of India. Almost everywhere you point your mouse these days, Mr. Advani's face is just a click away! (He's been able to make a lot of visits to CnC as well). With Arun Jaitely again in command for the election campaign (or at least the tech side of things for now) we can only see more and more of 'Vote for Advani' ads floating in the cyberspace. With most political parties realizing that election this year would be won based on which way the youth on India swings, everyone is trying to give a 'fresh appeal' to his/her party. Congress has been projecting Rahul Gandhi (the cute dimpled, stylish and supposedly dynamic 'Rajkumar' of the congress) as the hope for the youth of India, though staying clear of any internal complexities and commotion of showing any inclination to project him as a Prime Ministerial candidate for the future. BJP, on the other hand, void of any major 'young' names as of now, is making the old (and may I add, just about one more general election left types) Advani run up to gyms and spas all over the country to pick up dumbbells. He has also been visiting colleges in BJP-friendly states like Karnataka to 'advice' them on how they can play a role in bringing about a change (by making sure that India does not 'change' its old customs, traditions and pre-conceived notions about women-in-the-pubs). In one such address here in Bangalore last week the college students were made to sit for the function who later decided to boo the 'national leaders' when they started giving out 'gyan' to the young minds; most of them opted out of the meeting to catch up with some shopping in the commercial street or a sip at the nearest CCDs.
The message is clear, all political parties are trying their level best to capture the attention of the youth of India. Many young leaders are being considered for tickets, entertainment taxes are being cut in Karnataka, in states like Uttar Pradesh and Delhi congress is conducting special recruitment drives to catch young talented political minds, BJP is flooding the cyberspace with flash ad blocks.
With campaigns like Lead India and JagoRe.com things do look better this time. If the elected Indian political scene again shows the weakness that it has long been associated with, it would be for lack of options and not a dearth of young voters. With 'Jai ho' fast replacing 'Jai Hind' in the young circles of the country, it may perhaps be time for a government that promises to do something at the grass-root level to improve the situation of the nation that is going to be and not just speak about the legacy of Indian culture and the power it used to be in the times when the world was not connected enough to know about it!

Let's make this vote count

2009-03-04T03:25:00.004+05:30

The Times of India is set to launch Lead India ’09, a country-wide campaign across all our newspapers, with the aim of ensuring that better candidates are put up and elected in the coming elections. The campaign will first try to put pressure on political parties to feature better candidates, by mobilizing the opinions of lakhs of thinking individuals around the country; and then act as a Voters’ Guide to help voters make a more informed choice, through detailed investigation of all key candidates in 40 urban constituencies.

Join me in this campaign and take an oath -

I swear that this time I will stand up.
Not for what I believe in, but for what I don't.
This time I will vote. Not for, but against.
Against my own Helplessness.
Against my own lazinessness.
Against two words called "Chalta Hain".
Against short cuts in queues.
Against cheating in exams.
Against Kharcha Paani in offices.
Against powerless inquiry commissions.
And powerful vote banks.
Against religion in politics.
Against illegal constructions
and legal loopholes.
Against every cynic. Every non-believer.
Against the belief that nothing will change.
Against the feeling that my vote cannot make a difference.
Against every excuse for not voting.
I will do this without fear or shame.
Because only by voting against all that is destroying our todays, will give my children something to vote for tomorrow.

For further details click here

Let's become the change agents in this historic election.
Let's think loud for the next two months !!

Intel: Recession may hit technological advancements!

2009-03-03T21:43:00.003+05:30

It may seem ridiculous to think that the economic slowdown may be powerful enough to hold back technological evolution and advancements but, sadly, the current recession has done exactly that.
Intel which sells its products through vendors of various electronic products may not be under a direct influence of recession but the piling inventory at its clients factories may soon start showing up as delay in the coming hardware releases by Intel. It is believed that the popular vendors of computer goods have been pressing Intel to delay the release of its newer technologies as they have not been able to clear the huge inventory which has the older Intel chips inside them. With the new technology entering the market the vendors would be forced to compete with the standards of the changing market and this may put a greater pressure on the already crumbling electronics goods industry.
For Intel to survive the economic crunch, it may be necessary that they don't delay the next release too much as competitors may snatch the near-monopoly that Intel enjoys right now. On the other hand rolling out a new product would create a further slowdown for the electronic goods majors and smaller players (with reasonably smaller inventory issues) would be the biggest gainers.
Thanks to the model on which Michel Dell built his company, Dell should survive without much problems with its unique inventory control mechanism and a customer demand centric approach for placing orders with its vendors. Smaller players in the electronic chip making industry may be seeing this as a chance to challenge the Intel authority.
The biggest gainers would be the customers with bigger discounts and 'nicer' offers expected in the consumer electronic market.

Doctors' Do Little

2009-02-28T02:30:00.005+05:30

Todays' newspaper read: "49 companies visited IIM-C in the four days of Phase 1 and three students accepted pre-placement offers (PPO) of over Rs 1 crore each from investment banks."
If you remember, last week The Indian Institute of Management - Calcutta, has raised fees for new students from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 9 lakh. The fee for the class of 2008-10 has been formally fixed at Rs 7 lakh, which means existing first-year students have to add another Rs 4 lakh each to the Rs 3 lakh they had paid at the time of admission. The 2007-09 batch was the last to be charged Rs 4 lakh for the two-year course. Batches from the 2009-11 course onwards will be charged the Rs 9-lakh fee.

After a huge failure in implementing the new reservation structure and even filling all the seats at the new IITs, the interim budget last week said - "In addition to 6 new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Punjab and Gujarat which started functioning in 2008-09, two more IITs in Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh are expected to commence their academic session in 2009-10.
Teaching is expected to commence from academic year 2009-10 in four out of six new Indian Institute of Management proposed for the Eleventh Plan in Haryana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu."
Now even after loud protests over the availability and salary structure of faculty at these places, lets see how things shape up. Hope the quality standards don't drop much.

But interesting to note that there is no mention of Medical colleges. I was wondering what could be the reason behind this, especially looking at the sorry state of hospitals and the tough competition in all medical entrance exams.

Our country provides one of the most affordable courses in the world and our doctors then fly abroad to get greater returns.
No wonder why there were had such strong criticism during the introduction of compulsory government service for medical students in the government medical colleges.
In all government colleges, the students need to sign a bond with the respective college to offer compulsory service at least for two years in rural areas of the state. The system was enforced to ensure that rural areas got sufficient medical services because most of the doctors refused to work in the backward and interior rural pockets. But, reports say that majority of the students decide to pay the fine and break the bond. And that too a large chunk of this fine is not properly recovered by the institutes.
Earlier this year, we had our Health Minister Mr. Ramadoss addressing at the annual AIIMS convocation "Please stay put in India. This country needs you very badly at this hour than ever and all of you who have graduated today are valuable commodity because you are the best in the world. We want you here in India because there is an acute shortfall of health resources in the country,"

All the State Governments complain that they are spending an estimated Rs.1 million for each student, and they end up working in private hospitals in India or abroad. The ratio of number of doctors to the population is one of the lowest in our country and we are never concerned about it. The cost of treatment in increasing every year, but the only the only solution being promoted is health insurance. The government is rolling out various low cost insurance schemes. No focus is being done on standardization of treatment and improving the quality standards.
From a commercial point of view, the investments in engineering colleges and B-schools is certain to give good returns while the same in medical college is certain to report losses year on year.

Frankly, the options in front of the government are few, either the it should tighten the norms for students to obey the bond or it should focus on other alternatives, for instance investing heavily in improving sanitation and quality of water. Basic facilities like public toilets, maintained from time to time, safe and pure drinking water, awareness campaigns for healthcare and medication should be promoted in all parts of the country. Remember most diseases in India are water borne. Thus, such investments would ensure long term benefits in the aspect of health and sanitation to the society.

The Oscar goes to Slumdog Millionare: The Credit goes to ??

2009-02-24T20:13:00.011+05:30

The incredible performance of Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscars brought in mixed reactions from world over. Some felt that the movie deserved it all, rest fought that it didn't..
But interested to note is the way the Indian politicians and British media are fighting to take credit of the success of movie. Here are some of the reactions:

Mr. Manmohan Singh:
"Congratulations, The winners have done India proud."

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi:
"They represent the finest traditions of our film industry and are an inspiration to all of us,"

Congress Spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi:
"a film of India, for India, by India" and also added that the "conducive atmosphere with emphasis on good governance contributing to an achieving India".
"We are celebrating it, not taking credit for the film". He referred to the first individual gold medal in Olympics by Abhinav Bindra, the Indian mission to moon, special status to India in the 123 agreement without signing the NPT, nine per cent growth rate and the country being the second fastest economy in the world, and of course the 8 Oscars for India-focused film as part of "Achieving India".

This seems to be a ploy similar to the one used by the NDA government before the previous general elections, just that the "Indian Shining" has now become "Achieving India".

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown:
“I am incredibly proud of the Oscar success of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and Kate Winslet, and I congratulate everybody who has contributed to the success. Britain is showing it has the talent to lead the world. I think we should be very proud of what are great British successes.
“It shows that Britain is leading the world not just in film but fashion, music and design - and long may that be the case - as a result of the great talent that we have,”
His reactions came in very quick, even before the Indians could snatch all the attention.

Here are different reactions from people more closely associated with the movie -

Danny Boyle

"There's one guy I should mention, we've mentioned a lot of people. I forgot a guy. The guy who choreographed the dance at the end of the film. He's called Longiness. And I forgot him off the credits. And I only found out about it two weeks ago. I'm an idiot and I apologize from the bottom of my heart, Longiness. Thank you so much. Finally, just to say to Mumbai, 'Unending, inseparable, unborn.' All of you who've helped us make the film and all of you of those of you who didn't thank you so much. You dwarf even this guy (gesturing to the statuette). Thank you very much indeed."

Frank Boyle (father of Danny Boyle)
"I think it's reasonable,He is not making films for me. He is making them for younger filmgoers so I won't say anything more about it. I really liked the music I thought it was wonderful."

Tanay Hemant Chheda
"It's unbelievable, it's still not sunk in. We are on the red carpet. Wow!"

Any guesses for what did my favorite performer in the movie had to say ??

Anyways, I think we all Indians should realise the fact that Slumdog Millionaire is essentially an English production, made in India. Let's not go overboard and call it an achievement or recognition of "Bollywood" in the West. So, the credit goes to all the people associated with the movie the Director, Producer, All the actors, the technicians, and support staff. And not to forget here, Vikas Swarup and his book "Q&A" (chosen as "The Most Influential Book of the Year 2008" by Kingstone Bookstore in Taiwan, the biggest chain store throughout Taiwan)which made all this possible..

Hyundai Assurance - A Certainty in Uncertain Times

2009-02-23T03:31:00.005+05:30

You must be aware that two of biggest auto makers in US were brought to the brink of bankruptcy last year, as auto sales collapsed amid a credit crunch and widening recession.
A recent forecast says that total auto sales will be between 10 million and 11 million units this year, which would be the industry's worst performance since World War II after adjusting for population growth.
GM was offered a loan package worth 13.4 billion dollars in December, but is expected to ask for billions more in aid in order to stave off bankruptcy.
Last week GM said it would cut 10,000 white-collar jobs worldwide this year, reducing its headcount to about 63,000. There were even reports that it would lay off 47,000 workers all over the world (excludes India thou' )and even shut down a number of factories at various places.
Chrysler was presented a loan package of four billion dollars, but it has said it hopes to secure an additional three billion in loans.
Now while everyone is looking upto President Barack Obama and his task force to steer restructuring of the economic condition and bailout the auto industry, here is an interesting commercial from Hyundai Motors.

"In times like these, buying a new car is a big commitment for most people..
So what about the company selling it to you? How committed are they?

Introducing the Hyundai Assurance.
Now finance or lease a new Hyundai; if you lose you income next year, return it to us with no impact on your credit..

A car company that stands behinds its customers
May be commitment is not so scary after all."

Overview:
Hyundai is the first automaker in the US to offer a vehicle return program that allows you to walk away from your loan or lease without having to worry about the negative equity. It lets you return your vehicle in case of certain live-altering circumstances. That's the Hyundai Assurance.

Program details:
Availability on all new Hyundai vehicles.
Availability to everyone regardless of age, health, or employment history
12 months complimentary on every new Hyundai vehicle financed or leased.
Covers up to $7,500 in negative equity

Coverage in case of:
Involuntary unemployment
Physical disability
Loss of drivers' license due to medical impairment
International employment transfer
Self-employed personal bankruptcy
Accidental death

We've got your back - isn't that a nice change?

Diary of a Pakistani Schoolgirl 2.0

2009-02-22T02:28:00.012+05:30

Finally reading this article I am relieved.
I don't know what sort of bonding is this; but since the time I read her previous articles on BBC, I have been checking the site everyday to know about her and her safety. Swat has been in news everyday; first because of the continuous violence between the religious hardliners and people being killed, and now about the peace agreement, ceasefire and Sharia law, that was imposed in the region.
I really don't know how good will this be for the common people in Swat, for the people of Pakistan, for India or for the world community, but after reading this article I am atleast happy to know that the schools have reopen and peace has been restored in Swat.

Here is what she noted in her diary in the last 20 days.

SATURDAY 24 JANUARY: 'MAKING A GRAVE'
The only good thing that has come out of the war in Swat is that our father has taken us away from Mingora (the largest city in the Swat valley) to many other cities. We arrived in Peshawar from Islamabad yesterday. In Peshawar we had tea at one of our relative's houses before travelling to Bannu.

My five-year-old brother was playing on the lawn. When my father asked him what he was playing, he replied 'I am making a grave'.
Later we went to a bus stand to travel to Bannu. The wagon was old and the driver was using his horn excessively. On our way the vehicle hit a pot-hole - and at the same time the horn started blowing - waking up my 10-year-old brother.
He was very scared and asked our mother: 'Was it a bomb blast?'
On arrival in Bannu, we found my father's friend waiting for us. He is also a Pashtun but his family spoke a Bannu dialect so we could not understand him clearly.
We went to the bazaar and then to the park. Here women have to wear a veil - called a shuttle veil - whenever they leave their homes. My mother also wore one but I refused to wear one on the grounds that I found it difficult to walk with it on.
Compared with Swat, there is relative peace in Bannu. Our hosts told us that there was a Taleban presence was in the area but there was not as much unrest as in Swat. They said that the Taleban had threatened to close down the schools, but they were still open.

SATURDAY 31 JANUARY: WHO WILL AVENGE THOSE KILLED?
On our way back to Peshawar from Bannu I received a call from my friend. She was very scared and told me that the situation in Swat was getting worse and I should not come back. She told me that the military operation has intensified and 37 people have been killed only today in the shelling.

We arrived in Peshawar in the evening and were very tired. I switched on the TV and there was a report on Swat. The channel was showing empty-handed people migrating on foot from Swat.
I switched the channel and a woman was saying "we will avenge the murder of Benazir Bhutto". I asked my father who would avenge the deaths of hundreds of people of Swat.

SUNDAY 8 FEBRUARY: SCHOOL MEMORIES
I am sad watching my uniform, school bag and geometry box.
I felt hurt on opening my wardrobe and seeing my uniform, school bag and geometry box. Boys' schools are opening tomorrow. But the Taleban have banned girls' education.

The memories of my school flashed before me, especially the arguments among the girls.
My brother's school is also reopening and he has not done his homework. He is worried and does not want to go to school. My mother mentioned a curfew tomorrow and my brother asked her if it was really going to be imposed. When my mother replied in the affirmative he started dancing with joy.

MONDAY 9 FEBRUARY: PRECARIOUS
Boys' schools in Swat have reopened and the Taleban have lifted restrictions on girls' primary education - therefore they are also attending schools. In our school there is co-education until primary level.
My younger brother told us that out of 49 students only six attended his school including a girl. In my school, only a total of 70 pupils attended out of 700 students who are enrolled.
Today the maid came. She normally comes once a week to wash our clothes.
She comes from Attock district but she has been living in this area for years now. She told us that the situation in Swat has become "very precarious" and that her husband has told her to go back to Attock.
People do not leave their homeland on their own free will - only poverty or a lover usually makes you leave so rapidly.

WEDNESDAY 11 FEBRUARY: EXPLOSION WARNINGS
I was scared the whole day and also bored. We do not have a TV set now. There was a burglary in our house while we were away in Mingora for 20 days.
Earlier such incidents did not happen, but they have become rampant since the security situation in Mingora deteriorated so rapidly. Thank God there was no cash or gold in the house. My bracelet and anklet were also missing but I later found them. Maybe the burglar thought of them as gold ornaments but later found out they were artificial.
Maulana Fazlullah in a speech last night on his FM channel said that a recent attack on a police station in Mingora (the largest town in the Swat valley) was akin to a pressure cooker blast. He said that the next attack would resemble a cauldron exploding and after that a blast the size of a tanker exploding would take place.
At night my father updated us on the situation of Swat. These days we frequently use words like 'army', 'Taleban', 'rocket', 'artillery shelling', 'Maulana Fazlullah', 'Muslim Khan' (a militant leader), 'police', 'helicopter', 'dead' and 'injured'.

THURSDAY 12 FEBRUARY: HEAVY SHELLING
There was heavy shelling last night. Both my brothers were sleeping but I could not. I went to lie down with my father but then went to my mother, but could not sleep.
That was why I also woke up late in the morning. In the afternoon I had tuition, then my teacher for religious education came. In the evening I continued playing with my brothers amid fighting and arguments. Also played games on computer for a while.
Before the Taleban imposed restrictions on the cable network, I used to watch the Star Plus TV channel and my favourite drama was 'Raja Kee Aye Gee Barat' (My dream boy will come to marry me).
Today is Thursday and I am scared because people say that most suicide attacks take place either on Friday mornings or on Friday evenings. They also say that the reason behind this is is because the suicide attacker thinks that Friday has a special importance in Islam and carrying out such attacks on this day will please God more.

SUNDAY 15 FEBRUARY: DON'T BE SCARED
Some guests from our village and Peshawar came today. When we were having lunch, firing started outside. I had never heard such firing. We got scared, thought that the Taleban had arrived. I ran towards my father who consoled me by telling me 'Don't be scared - this is firing for peace'.
He told me that he read in the newspaper that the government and the militants are to sign a peace deal tomorrow and he firing is in jubilation. Later, during the night when the Taleban announced the peace deal on their FM station, another spell of more stronger firing started. People believe more in what the militants say rather then the government.

When we heard the announcement, first my mother and then father started crying. My two younger brothers had tears in their eyes too.

MONDAY 16 FEBRUARY: REOPENING?
Today I was very happy because the government and the militants were to sign a peace deal. Today the helicopters were flying very low too. One of my cousins remarked that with the gradual return of peace the choppers were coming down too.
In the afternoon people started distributing sweets. One of my friends called me to greet me. She said she hopes she could go out of her home now because she was imprisoned in her room for the last several months. We were also happy hoping the girls' schools might open now.

TUESDAY 17 FEBRUARY: HUSTLE AND BUSTLE
Today I started preparing for the examinations because after the peace deal there is a hope that girls' schools could reopen. My teacher did not turn up today because she went to attend an engagement.

When I entered my room I saw my two brothers playing. One had a toy helicopter while the other had a pistol made of paper. One would yell "fire" and the other would say "take position". One of my brothers told my father he wanted to make an atomic bomb.
Maulana Sufi Mohammad is in Swat today. The media are here too. The city is witnessing a lot of rush. The city's hustle and bustle has returned. May God help make this agreement successful. I am optimistic.

WEDNESDAY 18 FEBRUARY: HOPE SMASHED
I went to the market today. It was crowded. People are happy about the deal. I saw a traffic jam after a long time. In the evening my father broke the news of the death of a Swat journalist (Musa Khankhel). Mom's is not feeling well. Our hopes of peace have been smashed.

THURSDAY 19 FEBRUARY: PEACE NOT WAR
My father prepared breakfast today because my mum is not feeling well. She complained to my father, asking why did he tell her about the journalist's death? I told my brothers that we will not talk of war but peace from now on. We received the information from our school headmistress that examinations will be held in the first week of March. I have stepped up my studies.

Well I hope, the peace lasts forever, and every boy and girls lives a happy and fearless life.

DUBAI - Tourist Guide

2009-02-20T03:49:00.006+05:30

After fighting recession in the placement season, its time for the much awaited study tour at National Insurance Academy School of Management. As a part of their curriculum, the students visit an Asian country and try to understand the insurance practices in those markets. Last year, my batch visited Bangkok to know more about the Thai insurance market, and this year my junior batch is going to Dubai to learn about Middle-East markets.

Out of my curiosity, I happened to check various Dubai tourism sites and here are some of the tourist suggestions had I came across :

* Respect local cultures and traditions of UAE and never try to make a mockery of local traditions. Avoid commenting on dress of the local people.

* UAE is an Islamic country and so avoid tight and exposing clothing. Women should particularly wear modest clothes. It is not appropriate for men to walk along the street bare-chested. It is very advisable that females avoid wearing very short skirts or revealing top. It is advisable not to wear thongs as it may cause distress to the locals.

* Don’t eat in public places during Ramadan. During Ramadan all Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, and eating, drinking and smoking in public areas during daylight hours should be avoided.

* Don’t carry any drugs in the UAE; with the slightest amount of any substance you could face the death penalty.

* Always drink bottled water that is easily available everywhere in UAE. Tap water is desalined and safe for drinking, but drinking bottled mineral water is advisable.

* When taking a photograph in Dubai, please bear in mind local people wearing national dress may take exception if photographed without their permission. Please avoid taking pictures of women.

* Don’t swear- as you can get fined and sent to jail !

* Homosexual practices are prohibited.

* Don’t touch anyone’s head as it is considered offensive in UAE

* It is against the law to walk in the street drinking alcohol or to be drunk in a public place.

* Indulge in some haggling while buying goods without price tags whenever you go shopping in UAE.

* Don’t be too passionate in public with your partner. Kissing and other public displays of affection – may get you in trouble with the police.

* Don’t make rude hand gestures if you're driving. Venting your frustrations either physically or verbally can result in your arrest.

* Don’t use your left hand while greeting or handing over things to people.

* Use sunglasses and sun cream, as sunburn is common in UAE and the heat sometimes can be unbearable.

* Don’t expect taxi drivers to carry change. Many struggle to provide change for any note greater than AED 50.

* Don't overstay your visa period, as you will be charged per day.

There are some of the Do's and Dont's specific to UAE, apart from the usual tourist guidelines with respect to their passports, visas, medical insurance, safety etc.

Bangalore - Bitter, sweet symphony

2009-02-19T20:06:00.004+05:30

Mr. Manjunath (name changed) and his wife had decided long ago (back in 1970s) to settle in a peaceful city after his retirement from the government job that he was into. They had chosen Bangalore over the other choices as it had a good weather and all facilities that people in their older days may want. Close to 40 years later they regret their decision even as they continue to live in Bangalore and have come to terms with the life in this IT capital of India.
The tale of Mr. Manjunath is not unique. Like many others his age he had saved (the concept of saving for the future is something unique to India, recession may teach the west some Indian values) a little money for his post retirement life, taken a small 'home' in Bangalore and had thought of living out the rest of his days in the garden city.
The IT and silicon took over Bangalore and the little savings evaporated in no time. Mr. Manjunath was forced to find other ways to keep the income flowing into his household and he now owns a small shop selling groceries and condiments which is taken care of by his wife, himself and their domestic help (a small kid, some 11 years old).
Mr. Manjunath is still a happy man as he is proud that he's still independent and doesn't have to ask for monetary support from his relatives. However, the change in his facial expressions is evident when one talks to him about his past plans and how the city's development has robbed his post retirement peace plans.
Bangalore has also created new avenues for a number of people (not everyone is complaining). Mrs. Neelam is an independent woman who carries 3 cellphones with her (and they keep ringing all the time). Married into a marwari family at an early age, she was not able to graduate from a secondary school. Her husband, a government employee working in Bangalore, is today proud of his wife who earns much more than him. She started giving PG (paying guest) accommodations to young girls and boys who were flooding the Bangalore's already crowded streets a few years ago and the rest is history. At present she owns 3 buildings and has taken 6 more on lease where she runs her hostels and PG accommodations. She still finds it difficult to speak fluently in English but manages well in the five stars hotels and resorts of Goa where she goes every year to celebrate the new year's eve with her 'kitty' friends!

You could save a life!

2009-02-19T19:35:00.002+05:30

I got this as a forward in my inbox. The request was to forward it to all in my list I think CnC can help to make it to a larger audience.

Dear Friends,

The below 4yrs baby name POOJA was kidnapped by a person at some place and now she is under Kerala Police custody . Since the baby could not communicate her identification clearly, Police is struggling to find her parents. The flg information was given by the baby which may or may not be correct also. Requesting all to forward her photograph to the maximum people in India to identify her parents / relatives.

Hope this will cost only your time and will help one life.

Information given by the baby:

POOJA

Father's Name : Mr. Rajkiran
Mother's Name : Mrs. Munny Devi
Language : HINDI
Place : Nagaluppi (this was pronounced by the baby which Police could not find such a place. The place must be related to the mentioned name). She is having one younger Brother & Elder Sister.

VOTE FOR ??

2009-02-19T00:25:00.006+05:30

We will soon be hitting the Indian summers, the teams are getting finalized, the players are being auctioned, bought and exchanged, sponsorship deals are being signed, more investors are putting in their money, the venues are being decided, the dates are getting finalized and in no time we will get to see all action.
Well its not all sports here.. We all are getting so many updates about the IPL 2 scheduled somewhere in the month of April and getting ourselves ready for greater excitement than what it was last year.
But this time let us learn from our mistakes and not repeat them again.
Our next General elections are scheduled in May, 2009. The parties are nominating their candidates, the tickets are being allocated to various party men, people are switching parties, the alliances are being decided, the budget allocation has been done (a whooping 1,120 crores), the election manifestos are coming out, the advertisements and publicity are on, and campaigns are being held across the country.

Let’s be a little more responsible in deciding our priorities. Rather than analyzing on the IPL Teams and their strengths and weaknesses, let’s understand the leaders and their parties well. Let’s understand their principles and the election manifestos. Let’s be 100 % sure about the person before we allow him/her to make polices and take decisions for us. Let’s be clear in our minds about the person we are voting for, know his/her background, understand what he/she wishes to do, and how they plan to achieve the same, and then decide if they are capable of fulfilling all the promises or not.

Don’t be careless now and repent late. Let us all take an informed decision.