Spoken words

On the same day that the Sensex crossed 20000 points, the news comes of stinky toilets and dog feaces at the Commonwealth Games preparation in Delhi. Apparently the facilities are "unlivable", which is in complete contrast to the "world class" standards that we were made to believe. On one hand we see a bright and proud shining India where foreign money is pouring in, and on the other we have a case of us failing miserably to organize a decent world class event. Are we so incompetent to be incapable of handling something like this? Are Indians, who are at the top of the game all around the world, not worthy enough to build decent facilities for the Games, let alone win some of them. I can understand up to a certain degree the need for politicians, bureaucrats and contractors to pocket a few crores (conservative estimate) for their personal expenses, but is it fair to put the nation's prestige at stake? Is it really worth it? It might as well have been better...

Its probably not often that India gets to host large international sporting events of this magnitude. And it does not even involve cricket. So I guess the Commonwealth games is a huge occasion for India. Probably a great opportunity to announce its arrival on to the major sporting stage. To show the world that we are more than a nation of businessmen and IT geeks.Ah well... at least that was the dream. I bet the Chinese are just waiting for us to fail and embarrass ourselves here, and they didn't even have to move a finger. We got this great opportunity to show that we can do it "bigger" and "better", and we are very close to flushing it straight down the toilet. To begin with the screw-ups, I don't really know if all the facilities would be ready on time. That given a time of nearly 7 years to prepare, is a rather pitiful accomplishment. Of course at every stage, regular assurances were given that things were right on track. I guess the officials took it ...

My team and I, recently had the opportunity to interact with clients who happen to be French. It was to be an informal (with stress on informal)   meeting, over teleconference. The objective of the meeting was to " get to know each other ". So people, both on-site and offshore, were supposed to talk about themselves, their hobbies, talents etc etc.  Powerpoint slides were prepared by the offhsore team, amidst the tight schedule of work and stuff. Anyway, no one here cared to even write anything beyond 4-5 lines. If at all anyone wrote a lot, it was just about their academic excellence and the amount of work experience that person had - studied here, studied there, worked 5 years here, 4 years there and so on. I thought this presentation was supposed to be this way, and filled in two lines about what I studied and how much(or little) my work experience was. Ahh well... there were other more interesting thing on my mind than this stupid video conference. When the meeti...

As a keen observer of the politics over the years, one can easily sniff out a messy brawl months ahead of the elections. Get ready for a "all-is-fair" battle of the General elections. One of the greatest spectacular event that an Indian voter witnesses every 5 ( if not less ) years. Its the first General election that I would have been voting in, that is, if I was in Chennai. That, unfortunately not being possible, I would have to leave the fate in the hands of my fellow country men, who if not lured by freebies and lame unrealistic promises would make a "decent" choice. That is easier said than done. Well... as a matter of fact, its very difficult to make a choice. The problem is of plenty, or rather the lack of it. The general belief is that "every" or "most" politician are crooks. So ultimately the choice that people have to make is to chose someone who is the least crooked or someone who has at least a slight intention of doing good for the c...

The Mumbai ordeal is over for now. And peace has returned, momentarily of course. Its a rude shock to all of us, and the pain is being felt even more, because the rich and the powerful of India have been hit, unlike the common man who was hit in such past incidents. This was a whole different group of people who had to bear the brunt of terrorism in its worst form. A elite group, that can afford to eat at Five Star luxury, dont use local trains and send only their servants to buy vegetables at the market. And when this segment of elite Indians are angry, a lot of change and reforms can be expected in the system. Well, not that my opinion will have much of a bearing on the wise policy makers of the country, i would like to request them to pull up their socks and start working seriously. Here are a few of my recommendations from a common man's perspective. DON'T POLITICIZE terrorist activities : When so many people die helplessly, seeing politicians argue about who is respon...

There is never a period of extended peace in the country. Just when things seem alright and peaceful, someone comes up and stirs up the hornet's nest. The gruesome acts of terrorism in the financial capital of the country, just shows the guts of these inhumane perpetrators. What did all these people they have killed ever do to them? Now don't bring in the stories of avenging those who died in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia or Kashmir - the videos of which were shown to motivate them. Because these people were just normal people going about their normal lives, and had nothing to do with armed conflict till the day they were killed in cold blood. That too for absolutely no reason at all. It has been almost twenty four hours, since it all started in Mumbai. Such coordinated attacks show a well researched and planned operation, and was different from the way things used to be carried out by them. Such deviation from their conventional method shows that they were aided by a well informed...

Well, I am not talking about the India - England ODI series, but rather the situation of Tamil Nadu, currently under the siege of heavy rains. Many parts of the state have been severely battered by cyclonic winds and torrential rains. The losses have been huge - both material as well as of life. Well, we cant control nature, but what we can control is how we handle the situation. We cant stop the rain, which is actually a good thing, but at least the losses and inconvenience can be minimized. Fine, let me not get carried away too far. Helping out the rural villages seems very far away, when we cant even manage the water in the capital of the state - Chennai...!! Every year its the same old story. Promises are made to improve the storm water management infrastructure, but barely a line is drawn after the rains stop. Badly planned suburbs as well as major streets submerged in a lot of water, with floating debris, doesn't make for a very pretty sight. And having more than a foot of ...

The only sort of pirates that i was familiar with, were the types that sell/download pirated software and movies ( No wait... the other pirate i know is Captain Jack Sparrow... Ahem ). But then, all of a sudden, the Somalian sea pirates ( some prefer to call them terrorists ) are all over the news and in the Gulf of Aden ...! And they have a quite a crafty racket set up. Their modus operandi involves using fast motor boats to get near merchant ships, clambering onto them, holding a gun to the crew's head and demanding ransom from the owner of the ship. And this plot of their works, as some of the demands for money were met by the shipping corporates. In fact it worked so well that it has begun to happen a lot more frequently than one could ever imagine. Eleven raids in ten days, and a about seventy five ( and constantly rising ) in this year alone, seems like a desperately frantic attempts by the Somalian pirates to make a quick buck. Equipped with a few large Russian-built "...

The global financial crisis has affected almost everyone. Either its the looming danger of losing your job, or the fear of complete closure of the industry itself. In this current scenarios, as small and large companies are desperately trying to be in the green, cutting down on the excess workforce seems to be the first viable solution for them, as generating any profits seems definitely seems out of the question. So spending so much on operational costs seems most "wasteful", given the fact that they are getting back very little in return. Cutting cost by other means, certainly was of some help, but wasn't enough. Like the lavish perks showered on the managerial level have been choked this year. So no expensive gadgets, leather handbags or luxurious Caribbean cruise for them this year. Others got their salaries cut down significantly, or were denied the raise that was promised to them. Companies planning to come up with new launches have put their plans on hold. But thin...

Any one I am sure would agree to the fact that our law system and judiciary are one of the worst functioning bodies in the country. We never have much respect for the law -  and we make it a point to safely break as many as possible. As for those who are well read with the subject of law - the lawyers - don't have too much of respect for it either. As it turns out they learn law only to find ways to break it. No wonder most turn out to become politicians ( read as criminals ). Lawyers are quite plainly associated to be liars and criminals. And judges are assumed to be corrupt and inefficient. This doesn't mean everyone is like this. Just that the general  perception is such. And unfortunately its true most of the time. So why this sudden interest regarding the lawlessness in the country? That's because, I like many others, just had the opportunity to see ( on TV  of course ) some hideous acts of violence amongst aspiring lawyers, at the Dr. Ambedkar law college in Chenn...

The Indian Armed forces are one of the most respected organizations in the country. Especially the Army, which gets the most honor amongst them all. The code of discipline and courage is legendary. Their passion devoid of all fervor, other than for service towards the motherland. Once a soldier, is always regarded as a soldier. People respectfully give titles to men who have served in the army. Such is the respect given to the soldiers of the country. Yet recent revelations on the Malegaon incident , have greatly tarnished the army's secular image. Never would i have imagined that men in the army would be involved in such forms of treason. That too amongst high ranked officers. Soldiers who had fought off terrorism, had become one of them. Yes, these of course are the actions of a few, and should in now way brand all the soldiers similarly. Yet the reputation of the army has taken quite a beating. Why this scares most, is because of the sort of training they undergo, and the amou...

First of all I am happy that George Bush is not the President of the United States any more*. And second, i am happy that George Bush is not the president of the United States anymore**. And finally, i am happy for Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. And i guess he is black too. Not that it should make a difference, or be even considered as a statistic or a record. But i suppose it is a big deal, and gives a lot of hope to many in America. As well as a reason to celebrate for those who share their roots with him, back in Kenya.   He does have quite a lot of hot stuff to handle right now. The economic crisis is just one of them, and what a big mess it is. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will soon have to be handled and sorted out, as cleanly as possible. And i bet there are several other diplomatic and political problems to face as well. He has promised a lot to the Americans, frustrated by wars, terrorism and economic problems . And everyone hopes that he de...

Wishing All a Happy and Prosperous Diwali ( Deepavali )...!!

D iwali is here.. and like every time its a joyous moment of celebration and festivities. Not just in India but also in lots of other countries, where Indians are in abundance...! So as usual it involves a lot of celebrations, shopping, traditional stuffs... and the dreaded crackers. I am not a big fan of crackers, as anyone who knows me for more than 2 years would be able to guess why. The reasons are many, but the solution is in fact very simple. Don't burst crackers...!  One of the reasons is the pollution it causes. The other reason being the alleged use of child labour to manufacture them. And of course the fact that they are highly irresponsible objects to have fun with. F or the first reason, well, i suppose everyone knows the smoke and and noise that they produce. They hardly think of the long term consequences of them. We are actually contributing to Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulphur Dioxide as well as other harmful gases, raising the levels considerably on the days of Diwali. ...

Well, it may have been quite a while since someone showed interest to visit our nearest celestial neighbor -  the Moon. So on 22 October, 6:20 AM IST mission Chandrayaan-I will be launching off to explore the moon's surface, untouched by an Indian Spacecraft ever. In fact its the first time an Indian spacecraft is going so far away form the Earth. Sending back a lot of knowledge about the the celestial body and hoping to break new grounds in planetary explorations. Also the knowledge acquired will be shared with the entire world. The mission objectives as quoted by ISRO are to map the surface of the Moon and to conduct mineral analysis. As well as to deliver numerous ground support stations and facilities on the moon's surface. These are supposed to aid in future moon missions by making available a usable basic infrastructure. Many equipments going to be set up on the surface have been contributed by many space agencies across the globe. This is indeed a global initiative an...

Really funny things happen when you throw in big corporates, innovative ideas and a lot of competition. Like this whole ad war that started around the big red couch. Well, the story goes as follows.Airtel in a bid to spice up their launch of digital television service, started a series of teasers, without giving  a hint to what it was about. Just a red couch and the line "See you at home" was said by a cowboy, an African Zulu tribesman, a rock band , cartoons resembling Timon from the Lion King.... and many others. But no one had much of a clue as to what it was or which company it belonged to. Though probably someone could connect it to a television based product or home delivered pizzas. Anyway, the build up continued... So Reliance's digital TV service - BIG TV - decided to crash in on Airtel's party by putting up their own promotional advertisement with the big red couch. To suggest as if the whole build up was for their BIG TV. How they came to know ofAirtel...

It is indeed a very sad thing that apart from hunger, disease and natural disasters, there is another factor that kills children.... The scourge of the Open Bore wells.. ( eerie background music ) !!! Well.. a rather stupid reason for sure, but it does happen. Probably not in any other part of the world, but definitely in India. And is it too difficult to curb this children killing "menace"..?? Doesn't seem so. Definitely not difficult as fighting poverty or polio. Then why does it happen again and again and no one seems to care. Sonu, a 2 year old boy, was almost buried alive in a 150 ft deep bore well in Agra, is just one of the victims in a long list of similar incidents. The 4 day rescue operation by the Army, only resulted in the recovery of his lifeless body. Well, after such a long time, no wonder he didn't make it through..! Imagining myself in his place is both scary and discomforting. And it wasn't the first time, but will it be the last...?? Well, the m...

By now every ram, arun and vijay ( Indian versions of Tom, Dick and Harry ) where ever he is, would be quite aware of the financial "situation" in the world. So what happens when a big financial institution crashes..?? People fear that other institutions will collapse as well. In a financial setup, set backs are common when something major like this happens. But are all fears justified...? Definitely not.. Sometimes they just make matter worse. Like the rumor that a major Indian bank - ICICI - was doomed because they had invested in American banks. So what happened was that people began to rush to the banks and ATMs to withdraw their hard earned money..!! But the way a bank functions, its not possible to return everyone's money within a day..!!  NO bank can do that..!! Definitely not possible..! A bank doesn't keep all the money it collects from its customers, in their vaults. They circulate and invest it..! How else are they able to give you an interest on your dep...

I don't really understand the ration card or the Public Distribution System (PDS). Quite simply, because we don't need the so called subsidized rations. By "we" i mean people who can afford to buy from air conditioned supermarkets, and have cards to swipe the bill. Yet due to some strange enlightenment in our political system, they deem it necessary for us to have it as a source of identification. Well that part is ok , but the trouble is we even need to get our rations regularly. Or else the card gets canceled, which implies you lose your identity. Even though we ( my father :P ) pay our taxes for the roads, lights, sanitation and not to forget the subsidized rations as well, without the ration card, the local administrative bodies and many other organizations don't accept you as a valid resident of the state. ( Used to need that for buying LPG Gas as well... thankfully that is not needed anymore ) Earlier, we didn't feel the need to have one, because we co...

"Calvin : Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man? Hobbes : I'm not sure that man needs the help ." With that, I am here again to talk about my second most favorite topic after global warming - and that is... corruption. Well, it came to my notice that there actually was a way to measure corruption. A relative measure of course. A Global Civil society organization called Transparency International had conducted a study and the results probably didn't surprise many. At least it didn't surprise me. Some may have gone into a denial mode, but in such things there can hardly be any argument. Talking about India in particular, it ranked at the 85th spot. I initially felt extremely happy, because my initial assumption was that we would be leading the list of the most corrupt, at least in the top ten. And now i saw that we were in the 85th...! I thought i owed all the politicians and bur...