A new begining...

3 Idiots

2010-01-05T14:54:00.000-08:00

I am not a movie buff. And with awesome movie halls in the city I live, the interest in watching movies goes down even more. Watched 3 Idiots recently, found it to be decent. I had read Chetan Bhagat’s novel Five Point Someone, and possibly it was one of the first books I had read in record time. I really loved the way he writes imagines and delivers and being an engineer, could relate a lot to it.

The movie 3 Idiots was liked by almost all the people I interacted with and the numbers substantiate it, Rs 175 crores in the first week. BUT the movie raises questions:

Is it an adaptation from Five Point Someone?
There’s been a lot of buzz in the media post the movie about Chetan Bhagat not getting the credit and the producers claiming the movie not based on his novel. What I feel is, the story has been changed a lot, but the basic idea or the backbone of the storyline has been from the book itself. And the worst part the actor, who is supposed to fight for righteous causes, doesn’t seem to be impressed by the author stance. Anyways, it is business and possibly a b-school grad isn’t as smart as the street smart people there.

The Blog Discussion
I read Sagarika’s blog, a critical analysis of the movie which questions whether the message given by the movie. The question is important, but what if it is not the right message. Do we always worry about the message a movie delivers. At the end of the day it is a movie for entertaining people and doing business. 3 Idiots is doing well on both fronts.

About the message that the movie delivers, do we always question that?
Did we question the movie Fanaa or Gangster which ended up people sympathizing the unsocial elements of the society (a terrorist in the first case and a underworld gangster in the latter)? Yeah at the time of Fanaa, media was busy covering ban imposed on Aamir Khan’s movies in Gujarat and not about the story. After all media also looks for more masala content and chose public sentiments in Gujarat over the storyline.
In case of Gangster it wasn’t probably not as high profile (starcast) movie as 3 Idiots.

Did we question Rang De Basanti for what the guys did was actually taking the law in their hand?

The answer is neither we DIDN'T.

Yes I agree to the fact that the movie had a few instances that were stretched and could have been done away with, for instance the delivery scene wasn’t probably required.
As discussed in forum about the role of the professor, there can be a person inflexible when it comes to students but while making a humorous movie you need to add some stuff to make it attractive (referring to him taking power nap break of 7.5 minutes).
Mockery of education system - the message is not far from correct; it gets reflected in the R&D happening in India. We are ultimately a backend office of the world. We know how to use JAVA but I believe any no Indian company has developed a programming language.

In today’s times thanks to the social media, GTalk Status messages, Facebook and Twitter a public opinion is created not through thinking and arguing on the subject matter but by virtue of majority thinking. A hundred status messages saying ‘3 Idiots – Awesome Movie’ or ‘3 Idiots – Must Watch’ curbs my ability of thinking against it. And if this is so, I think it is a major disadvantage of social media. Same happens when a journalists’ try to use the same channel to spread their views. I certainly believe that a collective opinion is not always the right opinion, it should always be questioned.

The Message
The movie gives a message that understanding is more important than scoring marks, and as a student, I agree to it that those who have the really good understanding of the subject are not always the toppers and the toppers don’t have the best understanding. Most of the time, toppers’ efforts go in scoring marks only. This is very typical in the Indian education system. And if we as a country need to improve our education system, we need to work on it.

Finally, the movie 3 Idiots will not even have a slight effect on the existing system, but will certainly provoke people to think about if changes are required.

The Maximum City

2009-07-12T01:53:00.000-07:00

Mumbai: The city that never sleeps. While I am writing this, parts of the city are still visible when I look down the aircraft. It is a place totally different from any other city in India. Be it the metros, or the other tier I cities, there is no match.

The city is like this because of the people. There is a decently high level of discipline in every individual. It is evident all the time, the traffic move in a much disciplined way than Delhi or Bangalore, while waiting for a shared cab, People get into queues on their own. Same goes at the bus stops and the ticket windows at the stations. Had it been Delhi it would have been a mad rush. The auto rickshaw-walas always returned a rupee back every time I had the minimum fare. Again a contrast, you get cheated very often in other parts of the country.

Travelling in Mumbai, many call it a pain, yet the entire city moves in the suburban trains or locals. Be it the top level executives or the lower middle class or the fisherman and the dabbawalas, the only difference is the first class and the ordinary. When most of the india hasn’t yet had the morning tea, Mumbai is on the move from Virar to Churchgate. When the entire country is sleeping, there are people strolling on the marine drive.

I bet, if anyone takes a cam on the marine drive, walks long enough, the video will represent a perfect snapshot of entire demographics of the country, all religions and social classes, rich and poor, young and old at one single place.

South Bombay, where I fortunately got to spend the two months, has a different charm of its own. The Victorian architecture in itself is worth looking at and admiring in the poetic language. Strolling down the lines, with building having huge arches in the Fort area in the backdrop, tall old buildings which have a different glam factor, the street market at Causeway, the Taj, the Gateway of India, the Fountain, the Oberoi, the marine drive, the black Premier Padmini Taxis with yellow top, the BEST busses, the Victoria Terminus the road side market all make South Bombay so special.

The city could be “Maximum” in dimensions, population but, above all, there are “Minimum” resources. Nobody has time, everyone is running. In the first few days, I never rushed to catch a local, never bothered whether it is a slow or a fast local, for it didn’t make more than 5-7 minutes difference. Within a week or ten days, I was actually running on the road to catch a bus, got a train pass made to save “time” in queues and was desperately looking for the fast trains only.

100 rupees in Mumbai seem to be worth nothing. And money is something that probably people care for a lot in Mumbai. People, don’t mind sweating and the AC buses run empty. Most of the executives in major companies, most of them highly paid, travel by local trains, which is undoubtedly the fastest way to travel in Mumbai. Again in contrast with Delhi where everyone travels by a personal car.

It is definitely a place where you learn to adjust, you learn to sacrifice your comfort for the sake of time, you skip the snacks and grab a Vada Pav while on the move, it’s a place where you should have an empty stomach and full pocket, it teaches you how to literally “run” your life, it’s a place that teaches you how to survive.

Even with all the hardships and so less comfort, it is said that anyone who comes to Mumbai doesn’t want to leave and it is possibly the reason why the city is growing beyond limits. It accepts everyone who comes in and has opportunities for all too. May be that’s why it is the Maximum City.

Quarterly Round Up!!

2009-04-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

I haven’t been close to my own blog for long. The last time I accesses it was when IPL related Google search redirected me to one of my old posts. Couldn’t find time is a lame excuse, I didn’t make an effort. While I am keying my thoughts about how the year has been so far, today’s date is somewhat special. It is the last date of third term of MBA, it is the financial year ending and I am writing a quarterly report for the first quarter of 2009.

Last year ended with a blast, a Chilka and Puri trip after endterms, celebrating Christmas at the institute, and the 31st December JLT. 2009 so far has been eventful and with all forecasting and projection techniques that I have learnt, the present value of all the future “Happening Events” is pretty high. The FM effect isn’t getting out of my mind, although I couldn’t do much in the 3 and half hours paper, but at least have learnt jargons and how to use them appropriately.

January 30th was when DA-IICT, my alma mater, conferred the B.Tech Degree. I was always sceptical about my being able to attend the Convocation given the harsh attendance rules in XIMB, but somehow it happened. Went to Kolkata and took a flight to Ahmedabad. It was a moment in itself being at the gates of the place where I have spent some four good years of my life. Nostalgia....

Engineering college is more about getting to know yourself, realising your strengths, making good friends and I guess I did all that very well. I would consider myself fortunate for having a bunch of real good friends who still remain one of the closest. I think an MBA institute provides an environment where there is a much greater level of interaction but the level of bonding is not that much.

Back in DA-IICT, it was a moment that everyone present there would always cherish for the life... Meeting all the friends that you had always liked to spend time and hangout with, being at the same room where you have stayed for 3 years, being recognised by the food court staff, walking down the tracks where you had rushed to the classes, being an alumnus, every moment is altogether a different feeling. I believe that it wasn’t just for me, but everyone had come to be there and getting the degree was just a part of it. When not in college, the place is a heaven for foodies. Having dinner on the open air roof top restaurant, trying out exquisite chocolate cuisine at The Chocolate Room in a wonderful ambience, sharing a drink at night and loads of bakar... This was what convocation was indirectly meant for.

Adieus to Ahmedabad, took a flight back to Kolkata and had to catch a train to Bhubaneswar from Howrah at night. Being at Kolkata was a surprise package, had around 6 hours time to spend there and I called up a good friend of mine and it turned out to be an amazing jaunt. I had only seen Kolkata in movies, documentaries and books. I had an image of it being a rugged city, full of poverty, not so properly managed city. Some things turned out to be true. It is probably the only city in India where you can still use 25p coins and there is an economy running out of these. It was hard to see hand pulled carts...signs of extreme poverty. The city buses seemed to be of pre-independence era, wooden bodied rickety buses probably fully loaded with human freight. Trams, I had imagined as an old yet classic way of travel, baah...Nope... Missed the shot by miles.

All is not that bad... Being a diehard fan of Sourav Ganguly, I got to dine at Sourav’s...Not value for money, but a valuable moment. This was the best part of the short halt at Kolkata...Kept strolling on the roads, till it was time to pack up... Back to Howrah station, two of us kept on chatting as long as possible, unearthing all the possible facts and events we had been party to...Yo!!

Next morning, Monday, back to academic schedule, half of our batch came back from the OBL (Out Bound Learning from Tata Steel Adventure Foundation, Jamshedpur). The second batch including me was to leave for a 4 day programme the coming weekend. OBL is theoretically a team building and training package, but to me it was more of an adventure trip. The kind of lives we live, I think breaks like these should be frequent. Away from the wireless world, no laptop or internet or even a mobile connection, living in tents for 2 days and a makeshift shelter of plastic and wooden sticks is a different experience in itself. Early morning jog, followed by warm up exercise, fixed eating timings and the most simple, yet healthy, food being served, and I bet nobody complained. For the people who have lived a lavished and pampered life also, it was a learning experience in appositive sense. Washing your utensils, shitting in the makeshift arrangement, crawling on the ground to cross the hurdles, getting tanned in sun, trying to test the limits of your stamina, crawling in the caves, dust all over, at times felt like miners, making your own food in open on firewood using water directly from a not-so-clean lake; these are some things that take you to the grass root level. Who would imagine, supposed managers to find comfortable sleep on the rocks (literally) even without a floor mat, but it is very true.
Four days, disconnected with the world, in peace and a totally new experience filled with fun and energy.

After the OBL, it was back to normal academic schedule, midterms followed by regular, somewhat hectic schedule because of rescheduling of many classes.
MAXINATIONS was the next big thing and probably the best I have experienced in XIMB. It is an inter-hostel block series of competitions, from rock, dance and music, to acting, quizzing, and most importantly strategizing. I feel proud for being one of the significant contributors from our block and we led ourselves to be the Champions. Non XIMBians might not get the heck out of what is so-damn-important in a series of competitions, but trust me, not even an iota of exaggeration; it is a real BIG event... And winning it makes it all the more important...

The time ticks away, can’t really feel the depth of time, 3 terms of MBA are over... Looking ahead is the Summer Internship at Axis Bank, Mumbai. Challenges are welcome!!!

The World Food Crisis

2008-11-02T09:13:00.000-08:00

For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be earthquakes in divers places and there shall be famines and troubles these are the beginnings of sorrows .¹

Since eternity, food security has been of utmost importance for human beings. Be it struggling against the mammoths in pre-historic age or agriculture in the Neolithic age, man has always struggled for food and survived. And even today in the 21^st century the mankind is facing a food crisis which is affecting everyone, the developed countries like the USA and Japan, the developing countries like India and the underdeveloped African countries. It is taking inflation to unbearable levels and making life miserable for a large number of people in the third world countries.

Who is responsible for all this? World leaders have been blaming each other, claiming different issues as the reason, but in this blame game is anyone looking for a sustainable solution to the grave problem?

The very basic reason for the food crisis is not the shortage of food but the dramatic increase in the food prices and the causes for the same can be attributed to numerous factors which are collectively responsible. A phased analysis of the food crisis can be carried out by studying the roles and policy decisions taken by India, USA, the EU and their effect on common man.

Indians were outraged when the US commented on the increase in consumption by Indian middle class. Being traditionally vegetarian Indians have low per capita consumption than the US. But India is indeed to blame, but for different reasons. It is among the 40 countries that have curbed food exports to control domestic prices. Hence the food supply in world market has shrunk, fuelling the prices. Actually there is no food shortage, according to FAO² statistics the world cereal production was record high at 2108 million tonnes in 2007.

The European Union has aggressively pushed its bio-fuel programme despite warnings from scientists and researchers. Britain went through implementation of the legislation which said that 2.5% of all gasoline and diesel sold must be derived from crops.

USA increased its production of bio-fuel from corn manifolds in recent times. With India curbing exports, South Asian rice exporting countries forming an alliance OREC (Organisation of Rice Exporting Countries) and collectively negotiating at their terms and given the consumers’ preference for aromatic varieties of rice, Basmati (India) and Jasmine (Thailand) the rice prices in the US have increased.

The above cited factors just make the tip of an iceberg. Actually there are multiple factors that have contributed to rising food prices. The increasing crude prices have led to diversion from production of food crops (particularly maize) to produce bio-fuel. Increasing population and demand particularly from India and China contribute to making the problem severe in the long run. Apart from these there are flawed government policies which have adversely affected the market dynamics.

Realising the graveness of the crisis, what we need to do is to look for a sustainable solution for the entire world. A person suffering in Africa is no different from an Indian. The governments ought to act collectively and responsibly for the betterment of mankind. It is indeed high time to act or the world might just see another World War for food security.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

1: Mark 13:8, http://bible.cc/mark/13-8.htm
2: http://www.fao.org/

Sourav Ganguly: An epoch brought to end

2008-11-01T05:04:00.000-07:00

Nature follows dawn-sunlight-dusk-midnight. What can be dawn-sunlight-eclipse-sunlight-forced into darkness forever? Confusing enough... but that is what Sourav Ganguly's career has been.

Sourav Ganguly is certainly the most controversial cricketer India has ever produced. For me he has used cricket and more mind games to succeed. His inclusion in the Indian test team was termed as quota system. He carried his not-doing-dirty-work image from his ODI debut series when he refused to take drinks on the ground. The man in the making was a leader who would reshape the fate of Indian cricket. He silenced his critics with an awesome debut following the same in the next test match only to be nicknamed "Prince of Kolkata" by the British media.

Captaincy of the Indian cricket team is the next most commented job after the prime minister of India. Ganguly's career took a linearly increasing curve from 1996 to 2000. He formed a successful opening pair with Sachin, was the one man army at Toronto Sahara cup, and smashed a splendid 183 against Sri Lanka in the world cup. I guess no Indian batsman has matched such a batting performance outside India against a good team as his 183.

When Sachin resigned from captaincy, Ganguly was the most deserving player in the team to lead. Captaincy did take a toll on Sachin's individual performance, and history says it happens with very Indian captain. Indian team got a new image with its new leader. Azharuddin brought a real bad name for the country by selling himself to bookies, Sachin couldn’t take India’s performance anywhere, and this new guy coming in had a lot of responsibilities. He took the most unorthodox decisions, realised the importance of Rahul Dravid, the then laggard in ODIs, and ensured his place by giving him a dual responsibility of a wicket-keeper. And it worked.

He pushed for inclusion of Harbhajan Singh in the team, who would have otherwise been forgotten due to the chucking allegation, groomed players like Yuvraj, Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan and brought in Srinath back from an almost retirement. His leadership was undoubtedly the best Indian team ever had. Harbhajan ripped apart the Aussies, Pathan gave Pakistan the dose of their own medicine (doctored by Wasim Akram :-P) and Zaheer Khan remains the mainstay of Indian pace attack. He steered the Indian team to finals of ICC Champions Trophy in 2000 and 2002. It was his sheer perseverance and never-give-up attitude by which India defeated strongly placed South Africa in the pre final game. In this period Indian team reached the finals of almost every tournament they played.

Ganguly was the first Indian captain to take the Aussie challenge in the right spirit and beat them at their soil. The entire 2003-04 test series was dominated by India. It was he who reinstated the confidence in the Indian team that they could take on the Aussie might. It was when the Indian team lacked the experience of Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan, any other captain would have accepted a thrashing defeat before the first match. He led the team by setting an example, a splendid 144 at Brisbane in the first test, used the resources he had to gain the maximum. He found talent in Pathan and the player delivered by taking Steve Waugh’s wicket in the last test match he played.

Even Australian media praised the Indian team and Wisden published an article that other teams should learn from India. He was the architect of the changing face of Indian dominance in world cricket. He questioned the decisions of Steve Bucknor, challenged the bans on him at ICC, and used aggression to treat other teams their way, particularly the Aussies. And the list remains incomplete without mentioning Ganguly waving his shirt at the Lord's.

All was going right, when Indian board realised that they need another foreigh coach. Newly appointed coach, Greg Chappel, wanted to run the game of cricket in India like a football coach. He dreamt of 2007 world cup but couldn’t take the team anywhere close to it. A team can’t have two Gunda’s, that’s what SRK said in Chak de India. India had one (Ganguly) and just got another as Chappel. Differences must have crept in; Chappel had the edge to prove himself because of Ganguly’s bad run with form. An Indian fighter, fighting with an Aussie egoist. Cricket imperialism isn’t it? And the Aussie succeeded in dividing the team and ruling over it. The team seemed to have performed well on records but many of the victories were against weaker teams. The docile Dravid was just a remote controlled captain. Greg Chappel might have succeeded in ruling over the team but actually ruined the team chemistry. The result: 2007 world cup debacle.

When Ganguly staged a comeback in the Indian side, performed well, I thought I could draw a parallel with his comeback and Steve Jobs second coming. Both being ditched by the individuals they backed and made a remarkable comeback. Jobs went ahead and still continues but Ganguly found more John Sculleys. His second stint with Indian team started off remarkably with fighting performance against South Africa, and good ODI performances against West Indies and Sri Lanka. But the road ahead was never as smooth as it used to be.

The new league of young, hit-the-dance-floor, hair-style-changing, chips-selling and bollywood savvy players cleared the seniors from their way and own the control of the team. I doubt how long will Sachin hold the fort. Ganguly could not even get to think of retirement from the ODIs and probably for this reason the board decided to give him the opportunity to think about his test career.

With politics in the Indian cricket prevailing, the most successful Indian captain is being made to take retirement. The person who transformed the outlook of the Indian team isn’t given the respect he deserves. His elegant sixes won't be there anymore, his on field aggression won't be in the game but his ideology will remain, his aggression to take the team forward will be leant by others; and his leadership will continue to inspire people.

It’s an era coming rather being brought to an end.

Religious Brand Equity

2008-08-09T07:37:00.000-07:00

I am neither an atheist nor an agnostic, but after experiencing and knowing the commercialisation of religion I couldn't stop myself from writing this. It may be blasphemous but sorry people these are the most honest views that I have about religion of the day.

In today's economy, religion is a best-seller. Oil prices, inflation, recession, world economy taking turns, stock markets' upheaval none of it has even a miniscule impact on the Religion Inc. Although there are no statistics available but surely it is an industry that continues to grow, at a rate surpassing each year.

I happened to attend an economics lecture in first year of engineering and the professor discussed the B-Plan of a replica of Vaishno Devi temple in Ahmedabad. Realising the profits the temple generated, the conceiver (read owner) of the idea was planning another replica-temple in the region. Moral of the story, religion is serious business.

I have utmost respect to the religious organisations who work for the benefit of the society, education, up-bringing of orphans etc, but at the same time there are many which, under the name of religion, make a mockery of it. There are religious communities and sects who have started branding themselves with marketing concepts- take 4Ps for instance.

Product Differentiation: Promote themselves as having the largest pure gold idol of god
Place: Provide comforty ambience to people, amusement parks in the temple premises, food courts
Price: Although there is usually no entry fee in temples, but most of the times people are lured into religious acts by the priests (read marketing executives) and made to shell out a large amount.
Promotion: There is no major temple or a religious body in India which doesn't have a website of its own.

And this is not the end of it. Temples and their managing organisations have tied up with banks for online donations, prasad delivery and even booking for an early meeting (read skipping the queue) with the almighty. The money that goes into this religious system is hardly accounted for and probably parallel money or another RBI is running across the country.

Adding to it, religion is also keeping pace with any other business domain in the world. If globalisation is the most talked about issue in the world, religion is not lagging behind. Temples are going global with their branches (read offices) opening in major cities of the world, with headquarter of course in India. With revenues and forex pouring in from all over the world, when the rupee rises against the dollar certainly temples must be getting a hit in their annual balance sheet and forex reserves depleting each time rupee weakens.

What's in store for us?
In years to come, we may find online temples where the GenNext would pay homage to the god by click of a button on a PAID internet website. We may find temples getting into shopping malls, or there may be temples branding themselves as Lifestyle products and targeting niche clientele.

I know it is exaggeration but still is it the religion that we believe in, and is it worth believing in the same? Is it necessary for us to have an organised religion? Or is it just another version of Hawala or a parallel money market?

I personally don't disbelieve in religion, or the religious practices. But for god's sake can't the caretakers of religion keep it clean?

A Day Full Of Life

2008-08-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

Even before coming to Bhubaneswar, I had discussed about a trip to Puri and thought of reaching XIMB a day or two earlier and visiting the place. But many things don’t happen in life as desired and most good things that happen are not planned in advance.

The idea of an excursion to Puri started with a mail seeking biking enthusiasts to join a group. The idea supposedly got attention of almost the entire batch and it turned out into a PGP-1 trip to Konark and Puri. The entire batch was all set to have a day full of life coincidently on the “Friendship Day.”

The CulReps n CRs planned out an itinerary and the first destination was Chandrabhaga Beach to catch the first rays of the sun. We were supposed to start from campus at 0300 hrs, but managed to start at around 0400 hrs and missed those first rays by 15-20 minutes. By the time sun was way above the horizon illuminating the clouds. I had never seen a sunrise at the sea, although had a chance at Palolem Beach in Goa, but preferred sleeping.

Anyways, the sight of a beach after a long time was captivating. This was the first time I was at the eastern coastline of India, the Bay of Bengal. All the beaches I had been to were on the western coast, the Arabian Sea. It is difficult to contain one’s emotions and excitement at the beach. And actually nobody cared about the clothes getting wet or changing the wet clothes and went into the sea, believe me it was fun. There were people with me who were at a beach for the first time in life and I can’t really imagine the ecstasy. We spent around an hour on the Chandrabhaga Beach and then moved towards the Konark Temple.

What I like the most about the ancient temples and monuments is their architecture and the creativity. Konark Temple was built in 1250 A.D. and is a World Heritage Site. We had guide with us before entering the temple premises and he started telling the history of the site. I tried listening, concentrated but wasn’t able to pick his lingo. I still don’t know how the temple relates to Sun apart from the fact that it depicts a chariot with 24 wheels, each representing an hour of the day. The temple seems to be inspired from Kamasutra, with sculptures in various amorous poses on all the main walls. I bet Hugh Hefner is reincarnation of an Indian King of that era. Even Playboy isn’t that erotic as the sensuous poses carved on the stone structure. Indians are ahead of Americans by 8 centuries. But at the same time, it is the art and the architecture that values the most. The symmetry, the size of the rocks, the perfection makes the temple astonishing and not to forget the fact that it was built in the age when there were no machines and cranes.

After the Konark temple, we took a break at Yatri Nivas, changed clothes and headed towards Puri. The marine drive was marvellous. We then reached Jagannath Temple regarded as one of the four most sacred Hindu pilgrimages in India. We were advised not to speak to the priests in the temple. The temple is known world over for the Rath Yatra, and the English word juggernaut originates from Jagannath. We spent some time in the temple had Prasad and was time for moving to the Puri beach. At times I feel the temples should never become commercial centres and whenever that happens I think it transforms into a business centre rather than remaining a place of god.

We spent the entire day at the Puri beach. The golden sand, cool breeze, rising waves, clouds what else to expect and rain added to the party. It was all about struggling to stay at a place in the waves, making groups and challenging the incoming waves to be washed away to the shore and standing up to the sea again. It was fun, adventure, enjoyment and tons of other adjectives...

Every cloud has a silver lining; there were clouds with more vibrant colours as we left the place. The entire batch went into hibernation on the return journey back to the college. The day is unforegettable and will remain very special to me.

Indian Demo-Crazy

2008-07-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

Many Indians feel proud when India is called the largest democracy in the world. Those who actually want to spare a thought, the "largest" can be attributed only due to the infinite population and democracy only because we conduct elections every now and then. But do we actually comply with the text book definition of democracy, a government by the people, for the people and from the people? I seriously doubt.

I have always had feelings that India is a weak democracy, and it surely is. There have been endless instances which have made me develop an opinion of this sort, no single party or even an alliance of a few parties' government for almost a decade, minority coalition partners ruling the entire country with the power to pull down the government, MPs accepting bribes to ask questions in the Parliament and the count never ends. Is this the face of democracy that we are proud of? Indian politics has become a management game fighting for power at any cost, any damn cost. No wonder what's at stake is the entire country, the people for which the government is elected, and this vicious circle becomes even more complicated as we delve deep into it.

UPA minus the communists winning the trust vote today may be a good sign for the N-Deal and the Prime Minister's efforts of taking a step towards ensuring energy security for the country. But the way it happened, buying cross votes from opposition, MPs producing wads of cash allegedly offered to them by the other political party.... Holy crap!!!

On a pessimistic note there is no will in the political fraternity to improve the political system in India, and the reason being that any improvement would be detrimental for those who initiate the process. It was never the case that all the politicians supported the OBC reservation, some spoke out initially, but didn’t have the guts to be in the system and change it. And eventually every political party supported the OBC reservation and the Supreme Court was left beating around the bush. Writing this, I am enjoying being a critic, at the same time I am also one who blabbers a lot and does nothing. At least the intent is good :)

But the unanswered question remains that is this the democracy we want the world to look up to in the Goldman Sachs report predicting dominant world economies in 2050?

We are emerging as an economy, the numbers say so, but are we emerging as a better governed country?

Are we actually doing any good or just becoming worse from worst?

Can we see a corruption free India in our life?

Opinions invited...

The longest train journey....

2008-06-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

I started out my journey to Bhubaneswar for joining XIMB, loaded with all the stuff that I thought would be required in coming two years. The journey was to be like any other trips, but turned out to be one of the most unforgettable. On 16^th June I boarded the B2 coach in Gitanjali Express, the best train on the Mumbai-Howrah route and was supposed to reach Kharagpur the next morning at 10 and take another train to Bhubaneswar at 3. I had a lot of luggage and was kinda difficult for me to adjust in the already cramped space, but somehow managed. I usually interact with people in the train, had a good company of fellow passengers, and all was going on well.

The train cruised through the central India in the day and was running almost on time. In the evening I watched a few episodes of 2.5 Men, had a good night sleep and on 17^th morning it reached Tatanagar half an hour late. Kharagpur was just 2 hours away. As the train left Tatanagar, I started packing up my belongings, unlocked the chains and was expecting the train to reach Kharagpur in some time. But the journey had a lot in store, it wasn’t gonna end soon.

Just about 45 minutes after it left Tatanagar, it halted at a small station Ghatsila. It wasn’t a scheduled stoppage but the train didn’t start for long. There were rumours all around, engine failure, a collapsed bridge due to rain, track submerged ahead and what not… We remained there for 3-4 hours and then the station master announced that the train would proceed. It did, not to reach Kharagpur, but only to halt at the next station Chakulia. It was raining heavily, and the station master informed that the train wouldn’t move indefinitely until the rail tracks at Kharagpur get cleared.

The AC went down, but hopes were still alive. I went to the station master twice or thrice just to get informed about what is going to happen next but there was not even an iota of certainty. The pantry car which had stock only upto 16^th dinner and 17^th breakfast, did manage to serve lunch and tea was still available, but no water bottles or anything else. I stocked up 4 7Up bottles for me from the pantry and only 2 more were left there. I went outside the station, in that heavy rain, just to find a few pan walas, bought some biscuits and kurkure. My cellphone was also not working then, made a few calls and informed back home about the situation.

It was late in the evening and all the people on-board the train had by then realised that the night had to be spent at Chakulia. There were many bongs in the train and all feared a naxalites’ attack. A local guy told me that naxals are not even close to Chakulia, and there apprehensions were worthless. The bong oldies argued with the station authorities to provide RPF or take the train back to some safer place. But none was feasible and I guess either they couldn’t sleep all that night or had nightmares of naxalites attacking the train.

By that time I also interacted with other people in my coach. There were 3 guys who were going to play the under 17 national level badminton at Kolkata just next to my compartment. Then there was chap Sambaran, who was making portraits of the people in the train, people were watching movies in groups on their laptops, thanks to the battery support by Indian Railways. I went outside the station again to explore ways of reaching Kharagpur or going back to Tatanagar in case the train didn’t move even the next day. The only thing I realised was that it was more difficult than anything with the luggage I was carrying. It was late night; the bongs’ fears reached heights, a local Marwari family took a noble step to and provided milk to all the kids in the train and puri bhaji to others. But still the railway authorities didn’t come up with any help for the stranded passengers. The station didn’t even have the water supply, and drinking water also was arranged by some local NGO outside the station.

Sambaran made portraits of the three baddy guys and mine too. He had his birthday on 18^th, we wished him at 12, went to sleep with a glimmer of hope to see ourselves at some other place when we woke up. At 530 AM I found the train hadn’t moved a centimetre. Going to Tatanagar was the next thing on my mind, so I enquired with the station authorities if there was any scope for the train to move to Kharagpur. Having not got a positive response, I found a few others who also wanted to go to Tatanagar. I again went outside the station to get a taxi or some other conveyance and just then there was an announcement that the train would depart for Kharagpur in 15 minutes. I rushed back, the train started, stopped again at a few stations on the way and finally reached Kharagpur at 1:30PM a good 27 hours late.

Kharagpur: the longest, most confusing, and most useless platforms in the world. Even for fetching mineral water I had to find a shop outside the station premises. I enquired about any trains to Bhubaneswar only to get a lame reply in Bengali “!@@$$%^$&#&&%#&”

Me: “Hindi me batao”
Enquiry officer: “Bengali seekh k aao”
Me: “Tereko Bengali bolne ke liye baithaya hai kya yahan, hindi me bata train kab jayegi”
EO: “ Sham 5 baje tak koi nahi hai, uske bad ka pata nahi”

I checked out the road connectivity to Bhubaneswar also, but it didn’t exist either. I went to the waiting room, and was prepared to wait endlessly, optimist of getting a positive reply after 5. In the mean time I asked my sister to check flights to Bhubaneswar from all nearby places, Kolkata, Ranchi and Raipur. Finally found one from Raipur. Mumbai bound Gitanjali Express was the frist train to leave from Howrah after two days of flood fury. Boarded the train, 2AC, got a seat after negotiations with the ticket collector. Got a flight ticket as late as possible, was very sceptical about its reaching Raipur in time. Finally reached Raipur again 5 hours late at 730 am.

I boarded the flight, which was again late by 45 minutes, at 130pm. I guess it was the only way to by-pass the clouds. Finally landed in the city of temples, Bhubaneswar at 230… A jaded sigh… Those 72 hours were way too much.

What should have been a more than comfortable journey became the longest and the most tiring and most trying journey I have ever experienced in life. Experiences like this are different, uncommon, but should never hit often. The hindi word “safar” (a journey) just turned into “suffer”.

I Me Myself

2008-06-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

Am
Straight forward, friendly, fun loving, not a narcissist (don’t go by the title, couldn’t find better)

Like
Reading newspapers, watching news shows, chatting and bakar, cricket, travelling, trying new cuisine, driving

Can
Crack PJs, be friendly with most of the people, find loopholes anywhere, always be a critic, read non-fiction, be diplomatic, laze off endlessly..Time is about to change this I guess,

Admire
APJ Abdul Kalam, Ratan Tata, Steve Jobs, Sourav Ganguly, Shah Rukh Khan

Dislike
Snobs, hypocrites, people who look down upon India and have reasons to not like it.

Can’t
Sing, be a sycophant, distance myself from a controversy around :P, watch more than 25 min a episode series, read thick novels

Am very judgemental about
RDB is the best movie ever made in India
Ganguly is the one who changed the stature of Indian cricket
The present democratic setup can’t improve India
Sachin is not a cricketing god.....nope
SRK is better than Amitabh

Want
To travel to the North East, to own a business, trek, camp in a wildlife sanctuary, give up my habit of procrastination
....

...

Still deciphering more about me>>>

IPL 1.0...Game goes International

2008-06-11T02:38:00.000-07:00

I am writing this because for the first time in life I found an India-Pakistan match boring. The same India-Pakistan match which people also write as their ideal match in Orkut profiles. And certainly the reason is nothing but IPL.

The first season of IPL left a mark in the cricketing world, something that will be looked back as a remarkable change for years to come. As I was in the college I didn’t get to see the earlier matches, but after coming home, the 8-12 time slot was on no day less entertaining. Poised as “entertainment ka baap”, it gave the saas bahu soaps a big jolt. Probably Indian housewives have realised by now that there is life beyond Ekta Kapoor. And once the IPL 1.0 came to a splendid end on June first, people including me started suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

I was supporting the Kolkata Knight Riders initially, not logically but because of being SRK and Dada fan. The only thing good about the team, the way they kicked off the inaugural match and the way Ganguly signed off in style. Probably that knock of his was for Chappel and Eden Gardens.

IPL might have been a money minter for a few teams only, but it certainly added value to the game. We found Indians cheering Pakistani players on the field, upcoming players mentored by greats like Shane Warne and McGrath, a completely written off team before the beginning of the season winning away the IPL 1.0, players giving there more than 100% to save a single... Overall it has increased the standards of the game. The policy of just 4 international players per match kept the tournament pretty Indian and also gave the young talented players a platform to perform, although in the very beginning it seemed more as an International Premier League.

But the Season 1 wasn’t void of controversies either. It started with politicians opposing the scantily clad cheerleaders in IPL matches, grow up guys...we need to evolve. Though a very American concept but still T20 isn’t for oldies to make it less interesting: P. Not only this, two dark skinned cheerleaders accused the team management of racial discrimination. But the spice was added by Bhajji slapping Sreesanth on the field. Well Sree deserved a tight slap, a slap worth 3 Crore :O, and later behaved well throughout the series, but still Bhajji show some decency dude!!! It wasn’t to get over, Sachin who usually doesn’t get involved in controversies questioned the poor third umpiring decisions and rightly so. Even a drunk n down person could have taken correct decision on the TV replay... Ganguly challenged the ground umpires and got the decision referred to the 3^rd umpire to his favour but that sparked off a verbal battle between him and Shane Warne...

IPL didn’t only have effect on cricket but also on various walks of life. Parle introduced 20-20 biscuits, Dhoni just got better with more endorsements, CEOs left their board rooms and to cheer their teams on the field and movie stars got another job of getting associated with an IPL team. So with the glamour pouring into the game TRPs ought to increase. All news channels allocated the time slot for strategising and providing free of cost consultancy to the teams. Hindi news channels, dumbest of all, gave employment to the retired cricketers who have been forgotten.

If somebody needs to learn a lesson is Vijay Mallya... Firing the coach and CEO in the middle of the tournament, lashing out at one of the most dedicated players India has ever produced is highly unprofessional. If IPL is about cricket glamour and flamboyance; it’s also about making money. The Royal Challengers is the team counting biggest losses, with no sponsors in the first place and secondly Kingfisher itself sponsored other teams...

At the end of season 1 there are some unanswered questions which nobody can predict...Will IPL like events take away the charm of ODIs? Is it a game only for guys in their 20s? Will players risk their fitness for money? Will cricketers give IPL a priority above playing for country?

Only time will tell whether we lose the charm of international cricket or not, but there are instances which refer to the other issues. Sachin and Zaheer Khan declaring themselves unfit for tri-series but playing for their IPL teams till last match.... Aussies getting Pakistan tour cancelled citing security reasons and making room for IPL.. Well it’s too early to be judgemental.

But then IS CRICKET THE ONLY GAME THAT INDIA PLAYS? We still have to pray for not getting out of Olympics on a duck...look at the sentence that I just framed...so much cricket imbibed into us...WTF!!!

I just wish that other games don’t die out in the background of cricket.

Last days at the college

2008-05-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

It sucks moving away from a place where you have spent four good years of your life, with people who have become very-hard-to-find-reliable-friends, but at the same time it is inevitable. The last days at the college were not even close to expected. We all had the feeling the BTP presentations were chillax, easygoing and all those cool adjectives, and actually were for many. Unfortunately I landed up in the most screwing panel of the six. It was actually like preparing for a suicidal presentation for the entire last week. My presentation was on the second day, and after the first day tales of Panel 1, on day 2 it had become a “tourist spot”. There were guys coming to see students getting ripped apart as early as 9 in the morning, who would otherwise not wake up till 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I too had a close to terrible presentation and a good grade was never on the cards.

Some friends left soon after their presentations, Accenture and Infy had given very early joining dates this year.

Just after the presentation I had the last GD/ PI of the MBA season at Nasik. GD was cool, I dominated, and most unexpectedly I was the only person in formals. There were guys coming in chappals, sports shoes, jeans and folded sleeves and even the panellists didn’t impress. Anyways I am also gambling for the topmost college that too in outside state quota. My 99.84%ile is a bit too low for my expectations, but it’s worth a gamble. Other than the GD PI, the documents verification process was very sarkari. I had to travel twice to a Government polytechnic college in some village in the outskirts of the city in a rickety auto. I had to prove myself Indian... Damn! And they didn’t even consider the Driving License as a proof of nationality, but were considering some crappy school leaving certificates issued in Maharashtra.

The BTP result was declared when I was in Nasik, and was happy to get a C, given the fact my panel gave the worst grades and most Fs. Nobody gives a shit to this grade and even I don’t. Luck or bad luck was the only factor that decided the grades in the 24 credit BTP. Holy crap!! I wished that the last college days to be a happy ending for everyone, but it wasn’t for all. The system has given so much power to the professors that any misuse even unintentional is intractable. Any kind of authoritarian powers landing up with a person isn’t a good sign on this earth. A few students were at the suffering end, paying enormous price for not following the never-declared guidelines, but in an authoritarian system there is no fucking reconsideration. In such matters sarkari colleges must be a fair deal to the students for sure.

I reached college back the next morning and tried an AC Tatkal for home soon, but was few minutes late. I got Tatkal 2AC the next day and now I had only 5 more days at the college with many unfinished tasks to complete. I wanted to meet many people I had known in Ahmedabad, wanted to visit the Sabarmati ashram, Adalaj step well and lotsa places. But surely couldn’t do everything, leaving things to call me back to Ahmedabad some time. I met a marketing prof at MICA, with whom I had taken an elective, did some shopping at the CG Road, and had lunch at Crazy Noodles, and the last night hang out at CCD. Another incident worth writing happened in these five days. Getting back Sanket’s stolen cell phone was a relieving moment. Though it is a complete story to narrate, but in short it was using a combination of pressure and friendly diplomacy, making fake police calls, receiving fake calls from the police, and commitment to make the culprit confess and return the handset. After getting the handset and the SIM, it was time to swing the hands without a speed check. Moreover it was Sanket’s good luck, coz not many stolen cell phones end up with you again.

Last two days I was packing the stuff I had been dumping in my room for last four years and stocking movies and documentaries in the hard-disk, so that I have enough stuff not to get bored for at least a month. The weather was pleasant and cool breeze at nights was always welcome. Lying on the grass at 3 in night near the basketball court, in a cool breeze and a late night bakar session with friends in such an ambience was the greatest 8th sem discovery and surely way better than any research or invention happening in the BTPs. And the second last night was the last use of such a wonderful discovery... :-) I was finally left with all bags packed, 8 in all and few hours to leave...

I went to brijwasi for the poha for the last time, bid good-bye to the workers I knew there, and it was almost the time... :-( I got the call from the cab owner which I had booked the previous day and then the last moments.... Adieu, ciao, bye-bye, tata, sayonara, cya DA-IICT...And it seriously sucks leaving a wonderful place...Sanket came to drop me to the railway station...Thanks buddy... :-)

Cricketly Yours...The IPL

2008-04-20T03:25:00.000-07:00

I live in a country where cricket is treated as a religion and players as god. India may not be an economic or any other superpower, but most certainly the only country that governs the world cricket is India. When BCCI, the richest and the most powerful cricket board, launched the Indian Premier League, all eyes were set on how successful and crowd pulling it will be.

IPL teams were bought by the most flamboyant industrialist and Bollywood stars and it became evident that lot of money will pour into the game. It is not only the money; even the glamour has become associated with cricket so much that IPL has not only remained a sport but an entertainment material. No matter MTV very humourously has coined IPL as Indian Paisa League... :-D The shorter version of the game will definitely attract audience, who usually don't have time to watch the entire ODI.

With the grand inauguration of IPL in Bangalore and the response people showed, I feel that the charm of cricket in India won't let anyone down. But the team composition and too much of money and glamour involved have created many unanswered question.

Will the IPL teams generate enough fan-following that people become hardcore supporters of a particular team, like the European football clubs...??

Will the players be driven by the passion of performing for their team or money or will just be employees of a team owner...??

Will the audience watch a regular IPL match with the same level of interest and anxiety as a match played between two countries in which patriotic feelings also get attached...??

And the most important one.... Will it improve cricket as a gentleman's game??

Well I don't intend to comment on the last one, as I am one of those few who support aggression, and I am a Sreesanth fan only because he treats the Aussies with the dose of the medicine they developed....

Well personally I don't see any fanatic kind of fan following happening in near future. It is most likely that people neither would identify themselves with their city teams nor Chennai would cheer if Murali gets Sachin out. And if it happens, then certainly we are promoting regionalism to an extent.

The media needs to play a role here, which I am afraid it won't. The kind of news content we see today, "Aussie ki Taisi" when India plays Down Under, makes our media so irresponsible and so not mature that it can hardly be assumed that it won't add spice to Inter-City teams rivalry...

Well as far as players are concerned, IPL has a lot to offer to upcoming talent and the retired players as well. Money does matter, but I feel the importance of the game should be the foremost. And if money drives players to perform better, it doesn't even matter.

The real business model of IPL will only be a success if the cricket fanatic Indian public gives an effective response to it. All the TV rights, ad rates, ticket sales etc depend how much the people appreciate it. If they do, IPL is all set to be a great money spinner.

IPL does provide with cricket lovers an opportunity to see the Sachin-Warne duel, which probably would have never taken place, Indian and Pakistani players fighting together for achieving the same target, Ricky Ponting and Ishant Sharma do a high-five (the latter had troubled the former big time in the series Down Under), more 6-sixes overs and probably big knocks in 20 overs match (nobody expected McCullum to score 150+).

IPL is the latest buzz around and surely something that cannot be ignored...

The people I will Never Forget

2008-04-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

The people I will never forget...

Sanket

The simplest person (read kid) of our wing...Thanks for managing my accounts, and Ram Babu ke Parathe, and being so good, allowing me to use your bed and PJs that leave you scratching your head and and...endless "ands"

Harsha
Innocence still exists in this world...Although can't learn it from him...better appreciate his....And more innocently he claims that he actually is evil... I bet he can get away with anything with his innocence.....

Garry
Had we not organized Rampage together, we would have only known that we have same names. In one simple phrase "A great friend for life"...Always stay in touch.

Joshi
He is the person you would find everywhere batooing gyaan :-P . Two of us hatched so many conspiracy theories, discussed and debated on everything from sports to politics to girls and everything you can imagine, the weirdest being what if RAW assassinated Musharraf?

Nattu
Stealing a Sidhu quote, "His patience is like a tube of toothpaste, it is never over" and I mean it.

Gajju
Carefree, don't give a damn attitude...Can't ever forget him asking about GEO, LEO MEO satellites from a call centre employee and asking him why ISD to Bangladesh is costlier than US.

Muskan
Entertainer, loud speaker, an eccentric personality a laughter pill... You can love him, or hate him...clichéd but CANNOT ignore him for sure. A self proclaimed scientist...I wish you really make your dream come true with a Nobel.

Pachar
Another friend as a fortunate by- product from organizing Rampage. His rugged charm and innate interpersonal and managerial skills will take him a long way.

Akansh
Thanks dude...you did all the lab work we were supposed to do together :-P...

Himanshu
Anything you need, he has it, from a screw-driver to open a PC to a pump to inflate a football, a needle and thread to a frisbee. A person with a great sense of humour, and his slapstick comments come out as Jonty's reflexes....Thanks for showing the T20 World cup in OAT and all the movies... :-)

Alter
I can only write that he is a coding champ and don't know what else to write about him, but 1 thing for sure can never forget him.

Aniket
Latest Hindi songs sunane ke liye shukriya :-) ... Well most of the time I spend outside my room is in his room... Have had lotsa bakar sessions there...strategizing Aimcats and the most unforgettable Muskan-Lalla duel..

Lalla
If there is a synonym for "Changes are Inevitable", it is him.

Pradeep
A simple straight forward person, a movie and music buff and one of the few intellectual species of our wing. I like him for his candidness and he is a person who would say No then giving a round about answer.

Ashwin
My roomie. We are probably the only roommates who haven't fought on any issue and if there is an award for the same, it goes to us. Calm and DND person.

A new begining...

2008-04-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

Why to start blogging. It is probably the first question that any blogger tries to answer. Having a blog gives one an opportunity to share his views and thoughts, and get others opinions on the same. Honestly I don't know what the future of this blog is. These days I have lot of free time, so trying something new is up on the list and this gives birth to another blog in the web.

I think blogging isn't just another way to utilize time, it is about thinking of the world around, developing a perspective, letting the thoughts flow and above all taking others views on them. Loads of experiences I want to share, my views and opinions on them, probably are the driving me to create a blog. Today, if I look back, I am not able to recollect the most happening moments of our first year in the college.

Blogging provides a good way of keeping in touch with your memories and prevent them from fading away. I believe that creating a blog is a good idea to cherish such moments all through the life. And also, this blog will be like the movie Momento, the past experiences will come later. So I guess blogger’s archiving won’t be useful, at least initially.

Well I will try to maintain and update the blog...and I am sure I will TRY. But it is an assurance from a champ in lazing.. :P