Ashrama

Political vs Economic freedom!

2010-04-27T15:00:00.001+05:30

Political freedom is useless without good roads and uninterrupted power. Indians have wasted a lot of time since 1947 on "non-issues" like social justice, agitation to call themselves backward or for caste-based reservations, while the world is moving at a faster pace, constructing 16 land roads and 1000's of MW power plants to fuel the growth the countries are experiencing. While all this is happening in Gulf, China, Brazil, Russia and the other emerging markets, here in India, our politicians discuss for years whether they need to approve a power project of 25 MW or whether an airport should be expanded to handle 50,000 more passenger traffic.

Should we blame democracy for this? Why should a group of low IQ individuals sit and discuss what should I import and export? Why should someone I didn’t vote for, decide that a particular economic system (communism or statism) is good for everyone in country, when such a system has been discarded everywhere in the world, including those places where they were practiced violently? Give an option, I would prefer better roads and uninterrupted power THAN the right to vote. What have my votes brought in the past so many years I have voted? What have the votes of millions of voters brought to us in the last 60+ years? Hope we don't have to ask same questions 60 years from now!!

The 'nasty religious' crowd

2009-11-29T12:46:00.004+05:30

How does god accept this "nasty religious crowd"? By nasty, I don't intend to mock at their religious sentiments or behaviour but I completely mock at their social behaviour. This question was in my mind everytime I went to temples, especially crowded ones like Tirupathi and was reverberating strongly in my mind when I was standing in queue, when I had gone to Shirdi in April this year.

By nasty, I mean the impolite, rustic devotees who don't mind jumping lines or pushing the queue with the sole intention of seeing god before everyone else, before all the other law-abiding citizens who are standing for hours or days in the queue!! This was the primary reason I stopped going to temples (the other being an inclination to atheism :) ) but Shirdi was not something to be missed, I was told. I literally cursed everyone, when I stood in the queue, even went to the extent of thinking that I should have never set foot there. Baba, nothing to curse you, but everything to do with your nasty, so-called religious follwers!! Why don't you do something about them?

Will god be pleased with this pathetic behaviour of 'q' jumpers who are braving all odds and civic senses to meet him or will he admonish such ruthless jumpers who are depriving the rights of other law abiding citizens waiting patiently in line to see god? GOD ONLY KNOWS!!!

The Art of Leaving!

2009-11-22T00:18:00.009+05:30

The art of leaving office after work is indeed a complex, metaphysical, psychosomatic process, which can only be mastered through a structured program, a la the art of living of Sri Sri Ravishankar ji. Whenever we leave office only, colleagues will have "urgent deliverables that need to be vetted by us" or managers would call for "meetings to discuss strategy for seamless integration of trainee associates". I am sure Dilbert faced the same problem too in his bounty corporate career but let us keep him aside for a moment. In this simple article, I intend to share some of the "best practices" I follow to accelerate the process of leaving office on time.

1) Start sending signals half an hour before exit. Make yourself a bit jittery, talk about traffic, some procession happening, weather, crowd at junctions etc. Send chaotic signals to make people understand you are leaving in the next 15 - 30 minutes!
2) Decline meeting requests (am serious) which may border the exit time. Cajole your colleagues also to decline meeting requests so that you don't stand as odd one out ;)
3) Go around the bays and talk to people, asking them when they were leaving, since it's about closing time at work and that everyone has to leave.
4) Talk about human rights, labour laws, 8 hour work shifts etc loud in such a way that the HR bay would also be able to hear. If HR sit in separate buildings, forward key labour rules as normal forwards to someone in HR so they may do the needful of forwarding it to their team members!!

5) One could also be proactive in starting preparations to leave for the day, right from lunch (isn't this getting better?!) After the lunch break, remind people half the day was over and that only 3 or 4 more hours are left for the work day to get over.

Is there more in your mind that could be added to the best practices list?, please do let me know.

Novels I read in the recent past

2009-11-14T20:39:00.005+05:30

In the past 3 months, I completed reading "Fountainhead" and am now reading "Atlas Shrugged". Both are intense, extremely gripping till the last word and pretty heavy, focusing on individualism and taking potshots at the socialist mindset. I enjoyed reading Fountainhead and I hope to read it again sometime in the future. I find Atlas Shrugged much more enjoyable than Fountainhead, but I feel I've had to read some pages time and again to understand what the author intends to say!!

I also read Erich Segal's Doctors. I have mixed opinions about this book. I feel the author has let down doctors by trying to expose the hypocritic side of this noble profession, unmindful of the fact that there exists a hypocritic side in any profession! Overall the book was interesting to read, but gave lot more medical information than what a layman could understand. I have always had great opinions on doctors and so I found this book to be negative on doctors!! At the same time, my respect for alternative medicine has also grown leaps and bounds, since I witnessed some ailments or diseases, which remain untreated or not properly focussed in Allopathy, having excellent cure in Homeopathy or Ayurveda. For example, Multiple Sclerosis has 100% cure in homoepathy, whereas Allopaths generally prescribe a steroid for MS instead of complete cure of this disease.

There are lots of books to be read - hope I find time and interest to complete them soon :)

A trip to இருதயாலீஸ்வரர் கோயில்

2009-04-13T22:37:00.003+05:30

I visited a temple after a long time. Called இருதயாலீஸ்வரர் கோயில் [Irudhayaaleeswarar Temple or Temple of Lord of Hearts] this temple is situated around 1.5 hours drive from Chennai, in a place called Thiruninravur. Roads were pretty bad in shape while going and the traffic added to the chaos. But it was worth the travel!

This temple was in an idyllic village, surrounded by lush green fields. Architecture was amazing, cool breeze flowing through the temple keeping us without sweat even though there was no power! Given the fact that the temple was built 1300 years back, the construction was marvelous and the temple also carries a huge baggage of history as explained in this wiki link

The drive back was also good, since we took a detour to reach Chennai via the national highways. I'm sure such breaks to a serene spot every weekend, religious or non-religious should be good stress busters for those who are heavily stressed during the week!

For those who want to try driving:
Route to this temple: From Chennai Koyambedu --> Ambattur --> Padi --> Thiruninravur --> Near Kodhandarama Perumal Temple in Thiruninravur

From Koyambedu, it's an hour's drive provided the traffic is normal.

Cheers for now!

IQ test results!

2009-04-01T23:10:00.005+05:30

I recently took up an IQ test at testQ.com and the results were quite interesting to read. Here's what the test engine said:

Precision Processor

Your IQ Score is: 136

You've got a very experiential way of learning and a strong mathematical mind. You're able to whittle even the most complex situation down to comprehensible component parts. In short, you have mastered the art and science of precision. That's what makes you a Precision Processor.

For you, life is a series of equations. Your brain is naturally predisposed to intense mathematical acuity, and your understanding of numerical problems is unparalleled. It's second nature for you to cut to the heart of an issue, so that you can discover quick solutions to problems while others get bogged down in unnecessary details. One Precision Processor that comes to mind is the Greek philosopher-mathematician, Pythagoras. Pythagoras had a mind for numbers and, as such, could come up with previously unknown theories like his method for calculating the sides of a right triangle (a2+b2=c2). You too, can use numbers to translate aspects of the world around you — something that doesn't come easily to everyone. Your quick mathematical mind will allow you to communicate a variety of ideas to other people, so don't keep it to yourself.

Precision Processors can apply their mathematical skills to any situation involving numbers. That's a talent that will come in handy for everything from the workplace to splitting a bill 12 ways to converting foreign currency in your head. Others often look to you to do the math and luckily, you're well equipped.

My opinion: Pontificating on these results, right since 2003 when I started taking these tests, I almost landed up in the same region of score - between 129 - 136. I am amazed that I always get a score around this number but not more or less!! This brings me to the trillion $ question - Does IQ get shaped by environment or does it remain the same for a person due to genetic reasons?

Long time!

2009-03-29T00:24:00.002+05:30

I just wanted to say a HI to my readers. It's long since I posted any entry in this blog. Not that I am VERY BUSY but I am lazy :-)

Will soon write a detailed entry about what I've been doing so far!

Have wonderful days ahead!!

When will India be a developed nation?

2006-10-19T12:26:00.000+05:30

The euphoria over 8%+ growth rates of economy and soaring quarter growths of Indian Corporations grab headlines in all newspapers for the past few days! Also appear news about increasing farmer deaths, rural unrest, employment-less growth etc. So, How should we interpret the current growth of Indian Economy? With a pinch of salt? Yes/Maybe/Obviously!!

What keeps me wondering often are the lackadaisical attitude of netas and babus (One of my oft-repeated rants!) and their sheer ignorance to steer our country to the next growth levels! We often hear about our ministers undergoing phoren trips to study infrastructure in Singapore, London etc, But, their study never transforms into any learning!! As this article highlights, Indian taxpayers fuel such trips to the tune of several crores!

Our ministers blow trumpets about how they would literally banish "Child Labour" through a legislation enacted last week, But, Experts feel the other way. Atanu opines here about why this legislation will not work and why we always get out priorities wrong and treat the symptoms instead of the actual disease! Worth a read! Other ministers worth ridiculing are our HRD minister Arjun Singh, Health Anbumani and a few other minions!!!

Ok. Let me stop the rants. Will focus on some positives: :-)

Indian exports have been surging, which may catapult India to the league of Top exporting nations of the world. The highlight is, apart from s/w exports, Manufacturing exports have significantly added to the export kitty. Top MNCs want to set shop in India, including Software Companies, Telecom Hardware manufacturing, Automobile accessories and OEMs etc. All these have spillover effects in employment and in other domains like Hospitality, Travel, Banking etc which cater to these industries. Civil Aviation is another sector to look out for sporadic growth, only if the supporting infrastructure enables it!

I am left with mixed feeling at the end of the day. Inclusive Growth is the mantra of PM's office and Planning Commission's honchos! We have to wait for another 8 - 10 years to see the outcomes of reforms and initiatives for inclusive growth!

Which religion is the right one for you?

2006-09-26T23:50:00.000+05:30

You scored as Paganism. Your beliefs are most closely aligned with those of paganism, Wicca, or a similar earth-based religion. You may also follow a Native American religion.

Paganism

88%

Buddhism

83%

Hinduism

79%

Satanism

71%

Christianity

63%

agnosticism

54%

Islam

50%

atheism

42%

Judaism

42%

Which religion is the right one for you? (new version)
created with QuizFarm.com

Mushrooming Massage Parlours

2006-06-09T11:57:00.000+05:30

Pick any classifieds section (of ANY newspaper) and stroll down to the "Health" section and the number of advertisements for Massage Parlours would bafffle you a lot, as it did to me!!

A few of them, hand-picked for this blog readers :-)

"Unwind yourself. Massage your senses. Awaken your soul"

"Luxurious Female/Male. Massage to relax and rest your body. Keralites for good body work"

"Special relaxation packages available with male/female massagers"

"APPRECIATABLE FEMALE/male. Home/hostel. Free pickup/drop"

Note the stress on Keralites in all the ads and also the Male/Female tag :-) And many ads were poorly worded, for eg. "Appreciatable", "massagers" et al!

My point - Why operate brothels in the name of Ayurvedic massage parlours? Another time to take stock of the situation and legalise brothels and massage parlours - so that such things don't happen in dark! If legalised, we could also prevent exploitation of youth/children who are forced into this profession.

Old economy managers for New economy companies.

2006-04-28T12:54:00.000+05:30

By Old and New Economy, I am not dividing the whole genre into good/bad, right/wrong et al.
New Economy is anything that has got to do with click and portal where as Old Economy relates to Brick and Mortar jobs.

An Old Economy (OE) manager would stick to '8 hour schedules' and would demand employees to work for around 8 hours depending on the kind of work, as they are physically tiring too. But, A New Economy (NE) manager, should ideally not have any time bound schedules, rather project bound. Employees under NE manager shouldn't in fact, feel him being at the top. Flat structure is what is needed in a NE company.

But, sad, many Indian companies who work in the NE fields, still have OE managers in disguise as NE managers, which is much more dangerous than an OE manager himself! Managers who question flexible timings (but expect the work to get done somehow!!), managers who endlessly talk in meetings, waste a lot of man hours and end up responsible for increasing attrition in the company! Read somewhere and wise to quote here "Men don't leave jobs, but they leave their managers."

Indian Managers have been found to be a little conservative when it comes to their global counterparts. A case study was carried out by BusinessWorld in which the results were quite believable, yet revealing! Most of the Indian managers still carry the egoistic attitude, and their best hobby would be "watching TV" or "reading a book". They haven't gone far from reading books or watching TV :-). While, their counterparts across the world seem to have adventurous hobbies like snorkelling, water-rafting or even spiritual healing! YO to a global manager!

Though the borders are fast disappearing in this global village, though the jobs are more universal, Managers take long to arrive there, much later than their sub-ordinates, at times.
Yo Manager, perk up and be there before I reach there too!! :-)

Where do you go?

2006-03-25T15:39:00.001+05:30

I dedicate this post to the two great Economists Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner for their commending book "Freakonomics". And now,I follow suit and do some analysis about "Where do they go?" when everyone roams around in the streets!!
Assuming there are 950 women for every 1000 man in India, if we go out to shopping, theatre, jogging, beach etc, we would go crazy! Are there 950 women for every 1000 men or are there only 200 - 300 women per 1000 men?
Ok, Let me exclude around 250 women for they have to manage households. And then what about the remaining 600 - 700 women?
When I roam in streets, I find 3/4ths more men than women. When I go to cinemas, I find 1/2 more men as women. Seriously, Where do they do? I wish I could sing "Where do you, where do you, where do you go, Oh my lovely."
I blame the TV channels which get women glued on to seats, at least more than men! SUN Music's constant blabbers, Jassis and Ghar Ghar ki Kahanis, Sun's own Metti Oli, Manaivi bla bla get women glued to their seats and that may be a reason they don't roam out much in the streets! I can see some feminists crying on top of their voice that "Our cities are very unsafe for women to roam around" which I accept to a certain extent! But, that is not a reason to sit inside our homes and watch the idiot gadget. Come out, show your strength, nobody will dare to tease you!!

Coorg and beyond...

2006-03-21T22:10:00.000+05:30

I terribly needed that break!

A Weekend@Coorg was something that I was looking forward to, for a pretty long time, since I have heard many a times about the pristine hills, coffee estates and kodagu food and yes, my expectations were very much exceeded!!

Let me try to do some justice to my travel writing skills, if I have any [:)]

Hit the road from Bangalore to Madikeri (Capital of Coorg!) via Mysore on a friday night. I was very much excited since it was a trip after a very long time. So, We spent the night al together in vetti mokkai [useless talks] and ended up sleepless at Madikeri early in the morning at 5 AM! That earlier night, I was sleepless a whole night for the first time in my life [:) pat pat ]

Our stay was arranged in a guest house amidst thousands of acres of coffee plantations, an utopian house which we often dream of. There was an anthurium too from which they send flowers for decoration to as far as Bangalore, every day!
Our guest house (isn't that out of worldish?)

The cook there brewed us some fresh coffee "degree kapi eh?" which took us to the extent of slapping "Intoxicant" label on that coffee, for it had us all get addicted to it!!! After having a taste of "fresh-from-ground" we decided to take a stroll in the plantation, to rejuvenate our souls!

Nature, I bow down to thee!! - That is all I can say.. Flowers waiting to bloom as soon as they see some sunlight, woodpeckers pecking on trees making loud sounds (which couldn't be caught on any sound recorders that we had, such a peculiar sound!!), Very colourful flowers, so many insects, reptiles living in harmony with one another!!
Coffee flowers smelt eggjactly like Jasmine and thanks to the time we went for stroll, flowers just bloomed and we could see flowers with coffee bean. Probably this bean colour is what is kaapi color!

It was time for Sun to come out of the closet and that was evident by the activities in the flora and fauna. Chirping birds and blooming flowers welcomed him, The Lord Indra! A perfect instance for performing Surya Namaskar to honour Sun's rays falling on us:

The trails here literally lead to nowhere. But, forests rangers who have well mastered the routes, guide people around. The Anthurium is well-protected by tents to shield it from direct sun-light but still filtered light falls in, to guide in proper growth of the plants. World renowned Bangalore rose, may not after all be Bangalore, but Coorg Rose!!

Another variety of a mesmerising flower here:

The day that followed was spent in more realisations and mokkai talks. More in my following posts with more scintillating pics!

Athiti Dhevo Bhava

2006-03-04T14:32:00.000+05:30

The ad for "Incredible India" pops up in pan-Asia/International channels like BBC, Travel & Living etc. many a times during the day. And, it first evoked some very positive emotions with some images of the "melting pot of culture and civilisation", yes I am referring to our motherland! Well clad women dance to the tunes of a fusion music, some performing Kathak, Manipuri, Bharathanatyam and the ad ends with a vocal artist singing "Athithi Dhevo Bhava" and an yogi performing a complex yogic art in screen.

Yes, We again get our priorities wrong! We showcase multitude of our cultures on screen, juxtaposed with a well-composed song, and a foreign tourist who see this ad goes overwhelmingly gaga over India and books his/her tickets, and finally lands up in a mess called Delhi or Mumbai Airport! Not to mention the harassment they would have to face at various tourist places. Digression.... Duh, Duh!

The same channels also show ads of HongKong Tourism, Singapore Tourism, Qatar Airways, Dubai International Financial centre and I am seriously awed at the way those ads are streamlined! There is clear focus (Qatar focuses on its five star service, while HongKong showcases some of its very famous tourist places with flamboyant graphics..) while we Indians show our multitude of cultures and forget to pass on the real message "We welcome you and please see these places". There is no clear message as to what you could see when you come over (I wouldn't just come in to see well-clad women dancing for a few hours.. I need more!!). HongKong ad scores millions better than an Incredible India!
Not that Indian ads suck. We have seen wonderful ads being made here. AirTel's ads, Hutch ads, Cadbury's are amazing! Again, the authorities get the priorities wrong! They belive in handing over projects to bidders who cost the exchequer minimum, but they forget that lesser the cost, lower the quality. My solution - Pool in the fund to a separate autonomous body which should take care of such promotional activities in a professional manner.
And, TN politics suck big time! There is clearly a war between DMK and AIADMK and both are trying to woo other regional parties into their alliance. MDMK, which was all along staunchly against AIADMK has now planned to join AIADMK!!! It happens only in TN in particular, and India in general!!!!!

Perusunga Pannura Ravusunga...

2006-02-22T13:50:00.000+05:30

Wondering what the title means? All that I wanted to write was about a few of my experiences with oldies - my own 'Achis' and the ones whom I sometimes meet in community gatherings, functions or marriages.

The moment I bump into an oldie in a marriage, She recognises me, remembers my name too (Amazing memory!!) and then asks me "Ennai Theriyutha?" (Do you recognise me?). Without any shame (why should I be?), I say a big NO and somehow escape from their vision!! Next comes the ubiquitous "Ivlo Periyavana Valandhuttiyae!!" (How big have you grown?) as though I have grown as lengthy as a whale, or as tall as a giraffe! These questions has been asked to me by 137 grandpas and grandmas in the 112 marriages I have attended so far. :)

My cousin Akila rants about our Achis in this sulekha article. It doesn't matter when she wrote (2001), but the 'achis' (We call our grandmas 'achi(s)' at home) who are 80+ years old even now exhibit the same energy they had many years ago!! One proclaims she wants to tour places with us, while the other asks us about "Windows." (Not the Home-window but computer windows!!)

But their enthusiasm stops once they fall a little sick. They should often be reminded of the fact that they are old, and that they should relax much more than others... Unmindful of their ages, they venture into "complex" household chores and end up exhausting themselves! Dub, Dub..

One of my grandmas recites word by word every poem or story, that she read even half a century ago! Here I am (shameless again!) not able to recollect what I read a few days ago. Dub dub again... I often take time to talk to them about their knowledge on "Kai Vaidhyams" (Home made remedies for any illness) and I am a big fan of "Patti Vaidhyam" (Grandma's remedies). The way they speak to (yes, speak to) kids through rhythmic songs, couplets etc never ceases to amaze me!! A song she sang with my niece in hand split us all into laughter for quite sometime after she sang. It goes like this - "Hey little kid, when you grow up, a gentle prince will come and carry you with him in his chariot". I asked her "Why do you talk to not-even-one-year-old-kids about marriage to a prince and yadda yadda?". She said "Marriage is the ultimate dream of any girl, and there is no harm in singing some funny couplets about it to this little kiddy". That split us all again!!

Achis are adorable, and sometimes come to our rescue when our parents are against us... One of my cousins had the support of our grandma for his romance even when his parents were a little apprehensive about going ahead in his marriage! They are way ahead in thinking though they stick to traditions and adhere to a standard protocol in delivery of daily chores. They establish immediate communication with even a few months old kid, and I have always been amazed at their deft handling of a 2 month kid who falls deep asleep after hearing the melody (yeah?) sung by great grandmas! I haven't written much about grandpas since I didn't get much time to spend with grandpas. Any grandpa stories pals?

My personality revelations!!

2006-02-18T18:07:00.000+05:30

Through VP, I went to this website to take up Jung Topology Test and get an explanation for my personality! Seems I am an Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging personality! :)

A few words from the Analysis:-
ENTJs have a natural tendency to marshall and direct. This may be expressed with the charm and finesse of a world leader or with the insensitivity of a cult leader. (I am neither :) )
ENTJs are often "larger than life" in describing their projects or proposals. This ability may be expressed as salesmanship, story-telling facility or stand-up comedy. In combination with the natural propensity for filibuster, our hero can make it very difficult for the customer to decline. (Is it so really??!! Who offers me a marketing job?, Here I come!!!)
ENTJs are decisive. They see what needs to be done, and frequently assign roles to their fellows. When challenged, the ENTJ may by reflex become argumentative. Alternatively he may unleash an icy gaze that serves notice: the ENTJ is not one to be trifled with. (hee.. hee.. )

Go here for more explanation. There are many more tests in that website which you could take when you are ultimately bored! :D
I am of the habit of taking a lot of these tests, and surprisingly, most of them close to accuracy predict my behaviours or traits! Either they all follow same algorithms or they predict the common traits present in all human beings that everyone thinks "Wow, it is so true for me!" oblivious of the fact that it is so true for all!
InshaAllah!!!

The controversial cartoons and the Haj Subsidy

2006-02-13T11:42:00.000+05:30

Rashmi has an excellent article compiled, about the recent Prophet cartoons issues. I resonate with her thoughts about this issue. As we grow more contemporary, the forward looking Hindus should not only condemn Hindu fundamentalists, but also take a dig at the Muslim extremists who create a flutter in world peace in the name of frivolosities like cartoons, news items etc. MSNBC's Cagle runs a very informative blog about this whole issue with many cartoons put up.

As responsible citizens, we should voice our protests against such brutal ways of condemnations. I agree that it is every human being's right to protest. But, the torching of European embassies by Muslim fundamentalists makes me think if this is what Islam teaches its followers? Why don't they protest peacefully? Peace is something alien to the Islam fundamentalists on the whole! (Completely my view). My perspective on Islam community is that they are not evolving as a matured religion and these protests point out to their insecurity and their incompatibility with the contemporary world.

In India, as a minority, Muslims enjoy more rights than a majority Hindu would. The government is not going ahead with any population control just to appease the sentiments of the Islam community, who multiply by the wink of an eyelid! And, Forceful conversions are an order of the day, by both Muslims and Christians. They take Haj subsidy from government (which is against the basic principles of Islam per se) and still complain that they are charged higher for air fares! Am I offered any subsidy to visit Badrinath or Kanyakumari? Only in India do they provide such subsidies to the minority community!! This is a brutal murder of religious sentiments!
To sum it up, I am against the protests of the Muslim community across the world for Prophet cartoons and I want the Haj subsidy to be removed by the Central Government as that subsidy amount could be ploughed back for some other developmental projects!

Of Pesky Profs, Playful Students and Provocative Porn!

2006-01-25T21:47:00.000+05:30

Last week, I was schocked after reading this, in fact, whole world read about the what happened in Anna University hostel. Professors who raided the hostels caught four students with porn VCD. No, I was not shocked at students watching or carrying porn VCDs, rather at the short sighted acts of a few professors, who are pulling the University back to stone age in the name of culture and moral. Moral policing is at its peak, following imposition of dress codes, ban on cell phone across the campuses including hostels.
It is very normal for guys of that age to watch porn movies (though it is illegal in our country to circulate porn). And, more than the legal standpoint, We are always known to flout rules and regulations and do somethings that we shouldn't. Looking at it from another perspective, there is no logic in keeping porn illegal and here is where we have to talk about legal reforms.

The English, who ruled us for close to 300 years enacted some laws duing their rule. More than 50 years after they have left, we are yet to make any modifications to them (to suit the modern times) whereas, in the intermediate time, UK has made amendments to many of its laws which empower their citizens a lot, at the same time, keeping the crime levels in control. Universities in the US, inclusive of the Ivy league dons, bring out magazines to satisfy the basic instincts of humanity. (For eg. Boston's Boink, Harvard's H Bomb) Here, in Anna University, where professors still live in cocoons built in stone age, dictate students what they should and what they should not do. They would better do research or further specialisation in their field instead of these retrogade moves!! Progress through knowledge or Regress through Insanity?

What year were you born under?

2006-01-17T18:28:00.000+05:30

You Were Actually Born Under:

You are totally loyal, faithful, and honest.
However, you don't trust others to be as ethical as you are!
Straight forward and direct, you really aren't one for small talk.
You are a great listener - and an agreeable companion when you're in a good mood!

You are most compatible with a Tiger or Horse.

You Should Have Been Born Under:

You've got a ton of energy - and need plenty of room to roam.
You tend to follow your whims, and it's hard for you to stick to one thing.
Specific jobs, loves, and friends are always changing and never a part of your life for long.
Very intuitive, you tend to know what people are thinking before they say a word.

You are most compatible with a Dog or Tiger.

What Year Were You Born Under?

Of festivals, fairs and frivolosities.

2006-01-09T16:36:00.000+05:30

When you have just one day at your own disposal (I meant Sunday :) ) and it so happens that there are lots of fairs happening across the city, what would you do? Attend all!! I did the same yesterday. First went to Mylapore festival, then off to Karpagambal Mess and then to the Book Fair (India International Book Fair 2006, to be more precise).

Mylapore reminds me of my younger days in school (kindergarden and first two levels of schooling). Kapaleeshwarar temple's Theppa KuLLam (Temple tank which hosts Theppam or water car during temple festivals) is jiving with water, thanks to the monsoon that lashed Chennai a few weeks back. Mylapore is a city within a city, boasts of mylaporeans who lead a very traditional lifestyle, yet embrace contemporary options when it comes to studies and work. The Subramaniams and Parthasarathys of Mylapore roam across the world and bring laurels to this microcosmic city within city! Mylapore festival predominantly tries to showcase these aspects of Mylapore and has been a growing success over the past few years. This year, I think it is better than the last. A quiz on TamilNadu, Drawing competition which was hosted on the steps of the Theppa KuLLAm (what a picturesque location!), Coffee festival, traditional food festival, an entire street of Mada (Maada Veedhi) dedicated to Kolams, what more do we need?!!!, the Mylapore admirers?!! I am just waiting for the temple car festival which is held around March every year.

Not to forget Kalathi Kadai (name of a shop in Mylapore famous for their Rose milk) and Karpagambal Mess (An old-style eatery which serves hot south indian delicacies at very affordable prices). One could always spot a few foreigners dining in Karpagambal Mess, after having read about it or heard from fellow South Indians in their country!! Their evening snacks are a big hit amoong the Mylaporeans. Savour it for yourself for sure when you step in Mylapore next time.

My next stop was The Book Fair. My friend remarked if so many people had turned into "Puthaga PuzhukkaLL" (Book worms) after seeing literally thousand of people flocking into the book fair grounds. At first thought, I presumed everyone had ended up there with no other place to go and just for fun. But, I could spot almost everyone buying some books. This year's big hits were Ponniyin Selvan, APJ's books and self-development books as almost every other shop sold them. I had an impulsive thought to buy almost any good book that I saw, which I had to resist. "Good books are Good Friends" (heard somewhere) but when I am hungry I cannot read a book (says me :) )

Cheers! Let us all live in peace!!

Happy New Year 2006!!

2005-12-31T22:22:00.000+05:30

Trust your Doctor!

2005-12-30T23:36:00.000+05:30

I have regarded Doctors as "Super-Human Beings" right from childhood and still continue to do so. Over the past week, I learnt a few lessons as to how imperative a doctor is when it comes to diagnosis and treatment of infections or diseases and how we should not become judgmental about him.

Last week, I had a frivolous infection, but the "urge" to learn more about that, led me to the ubiquitous Internet, and when I searched about the symptoms, the never ending net threw millions of websites to which I went immediately.. They had complex indecipherable information (incomprehensible for a non-medico) and I ended up confusing myself more than before. The net warned me of blabla"phytis" or blabla"ia" for the symptoms I mentioned. This perturbed me a lot and made me pay the unwanted visit to my Doctor's.
After making a note of what my problems were, My doctor asked me a few more questions. I put forth my theory about what I read online and what my assumptions/diagnosis about the disease would be. He stared at me and asked a question which I will never forget in my lifetime, "Do you think I learnt medicine in a day? I spent more than 5 years to learn the Art. Never experiment with partially available information.". I offered my apologies to him and started back home.
During my travel, I tried recollecting where else we tend to be judgmental or work on partially available information. I was startled with the instances I was reminded of! Everyday, almost every second, we end up making assumptions, spread superficial rumours, ponder over frivolous or even non-existent thingies! The net is of course a vast information resource, but we may just use it for reference and not make any expert conclusions from that. Information from internet could be potential resources for further study, but they may not give us the complete picture. (at least at the medical and higher science levels)
Hey, I am having a swelling in my arm. Should I look into the net regarding the reasons? :)

Chalega attitude and software coding!

2005-12-23T12:43:00.000+05:30

Indians are known for their chalega attitude which does not mean they are generous or humble but it exposes the sheer inefficiency in our mindset. We are "adjusting" to poor roads, incompetent netas, babus, managers and many more like what VP point out here. We have a very short-term memory too which the politicians are cashing in on. We forget their mis deeds in a few months and vote them back to power.

I prefer to say that this attitude has been ruining our country for long, and may end up devastating the whole country in the long run. If I may be a little aggressive in saying that this could have got perpetrated by some of the actions of Nehru, I intend to be. Atanu intertwines his comments with Lee Kuan Yew's speech, which I would rate as one of the best commentary blog articles I have read. I do not want to talk any more but just that Nehru's import substitution policies, license raj quotas (which he thought would take the country up the development ladder) ended up being disastrous pits which perpetrated corruption and inefficiency in Government establishments.
My soultion to this chalega attitude - Make all Indians write Software codes!!! Any compiler/interpreter (which "process" the codes writtten) needs perfect syntax to be followed and our chalega attitude of adding or leaving a few words, letters do not work here. Some softwares donot process codes even if a semi-colon or a comma is left. That is the perfection expected out of a human being! Our chalega attitude will definitely vanish in front of a software processor!

Bihar sans Laloo

2005-12-10T23:10:00.000+05:30

If someone talks about Bihar, next thing that comes to our mind is the inevitable Laloo. He is a mastermind when it comes to politics and experts who used to write him off during elections later started wondering about the crowd pulling mass effect he has ('had'?) in Bihar. If this could be the umpteenth time I may say it, Everyone knows how "backward" (relatively backward would be a better word) the state is when compared to the other states and we should attribute a substantial credit to Laloo, who, despite having virtually ruled the state like a king, did very little that could have taken the state forward.
Very often we hear of how Biharis topping all entrance exams like JEE, AIIMS, IAS etc. Laloo failed to give those intellectuals a space to experiment in their own states and so they started migrating to other states. Dacoity and theft went hand in glove with corrupt police. Do we have to think anymore about the law and order situation then?
For most part of his tenure, Laloo saw to it that his state people got little educa'sun'. (Education may open their eyes and ruin his posi'sun').
Alas, the day came when he was ousted from his seat! Will he cow down? No way, said Laloo and seated his wife in CM's chair and controlled from behind. Did he stay in jail for long? Nay! He became Central Railway Minister!!!! Isn't this absurd?? I was shocked beyond consciousness when I realised that even en elitist person like Manmohan had to bow down to the whims and fancies of power politics and had to succumb to Laloo pressures and tactics.
But, again, There is definitely light at the end of the tunnel :). In assembly elections, Laloo's party was terribly defeated and now Nitish Kumar has got elected as the CM. Some good news from him too. He plans to 'develop' Bihar but admits the fact that it may take a long time for him (He has put in his excuse even before the actual work, Ohh mere typical neta!!)
Only if fast forward reforms are carried out and speedy processes are followed, can Bihar catch up with the rest of the country, and later could think of moving ahead past other states. The people in power know this for sure. But, it is just that the Indian Neta Mentality may creep in anytime to spoil the party!!

Two movies, kids, grown-ups, triangle, magic and popcorn! :)

2005-12-05T10:00:00.000+05:30

Over the past few days, I visited the Sathyam cinemas often, thanks to the online booking they have introduced (thecinema.in). Two movies that I particularly liked - 'Harry Potter and the goblet of fire' and 'Kanda Naal Muthal' (which translates to, "from that day I saw you"). Both the movies occupy completely different bandwidths if you were to classify them on a movie spectrum. But, just that I couldn't stop comparing both.

Both happen to be stories of 3 friends - two males and a female, where one of the guys keeps fighting with the girl. The tamil movie deals with emotions among the three and how they tackle it and pair up, while the english flick talks first of friendship and then growing puppy love among them. And to top it all, both the movies keep us glued to our chairs for the whole length of the movie! While one talks of what happens in an utopian land where witches and wizards taught magic to young witch and wiz-kids, the other movie is very earthish, and juxtaposes very banal activities, like friendship, love, romance, ego etc, though in an acceptable and comic manner. Lots of scenes to relish often in both. A striking similarity between the two flicks is the absence of even one smooch (smooches have become so common in even Indian movies :) ) or sleazy scenes...

A must see is what I would say when you ask about both the movies!!

'JN NURM'

2005-12-03T21:42:00.000+05:30

Wondering what JN NURM is? It is (as usually named after Nehru) Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, another flagship mission (Mission Impossible?) of the UPA government. If our urban centres had been properly planned initially, do we need a renewal mission? The name 'renewal' is intimidating by itself! The mission was officially launched today at a project outlay of Rs. 1,00,000 crores (My, I mean taxpayers' money!!) and it claims to provide urban infrastructure and urban services clubbed with corporate governance (ooohh! Great jargons!!)
Today's newspapers carried half-page (Again, My, I mean taxpayers' money!!) ads on the launch of this project and the highlight of those ads were Nehruvian words which go like this "What I should like in regard to every city is a clear plan of what the city will look like; say, twenty or thirty years later"
Another big laughter for me after reading these lines from the father of mockery Nehru (If I were to award a title to Nehru, I shall consciously award him "The man who fcuked Indian Economy"
If he had said these golden lines during his rule, why do we see our cities in such disastrous conditions now? I don't think he created the infrastructure when he was ruling and that it has degraded over the years. It is just that our netas and babus are too good at snob talks but when it comes to delivery they fail utterly.
It is even a big shame to call out cities "Urban" or "Metros". They just lack the critical facilities that ought to be present in a metro city. For example, A metro is supposed to have a well connected transportation system, which links all forms of transports, say Train, Bus, Air etc. Our transport stations are situated in chaotic locations and they offer utter discomfort for the passengers. Another critical factor that affects the "metro" scene is people!! Our people don't deserve any facility to ease their lives. They steal electricity, don't pay taxes properly, amass wealth beyond proportion, even go to the extent of breaking rivers if it may cause danger to the encroachments. Moreover, the recent floods in all our cities should open the ever closed and dead eyes of the men who rule us, and these rains expose how poorly prepared we and the authorities are, to face any natural calamity. With little hope that this mission will succeed (Am not at all a pessimist, but given the handling of such previous projects by our authorities, I am sure that this is another mission impossible (for our netas and babus)). I anyhow, wish this project good luck with great hope attached!

This news rocks!

2005-12-01T14:29:00.000+05:30

Everyday, We look forward to some news in our newspapers which will keep us engaged in laughter for the whole day. Something that caught my eye today is from The Hindu, Now, designer uniforms for Chennai Telephones employees

The article went on to say that the designer uniforms would give BSNL a corporate edge and that it would give employees a sense of identiy.

My humble request to the BSNL honchos (who think uniforms could solve the attitude problem of their employees) is to first put in place robust technology, train the people (meaning, the employees) properly and then give them the freedom to experiment (with people and products).

My Blood Pressure shoots up everytime I call the BSNL Dataone helpline. We expect some cogent words from people sitting in a helpline, but most of the times I have called them, they are at loss for words or they put me on hold for a long time and "search" for words... Being a nascent service, I understand that there would be more enquiries and so they have to juggle with all, but One thing I know is that the questions we ask are not rocket science or nano-technology based and also that they would have been trained to answer all these questions.

Another issue with BSNL is that of their CellOne cellular service (I don't subscribe to it, and I would never do that mistake in the future too!) but have been witness to many a faults of CellOne and also many a pranks the network plays. We placed two CellOne mobiles nearby and tried calling one from the other. Guess what? "The subscriber is out of network". This was outrageous! BSNL also claims they have network in nook and corner of the country and to some extent, they have put up towers along the highways too. But, what if they haven't increased their capacity? Without additional capacity increase, it is as good as not having the network at all!

BSNL has to get more freedom (in terms of decision making at policy and financial issues) from the clutches of DoT. DoT and the Communications minister treat BSNL as their offsprings and so the PSU has to dance to the whims and fancies of the ministry and the department. In the recent days, the powers of the telecom regulator TRAI is also being curtailed slowly so that the ministry could take decisions on its own. This leads to a disastrous situation and nullifies the fact for which a regulator was put in place! ET strongly condemned this act of diluting the regulator in its Editorial through For Regulation, Not ministerial whimsy
If it may not appear that I am stressing an often repeated phrase, I would like to say that BSNL has to go to the markets. It has been estimated that total value of BSNL would be around $30 billion and it could be still more if a proper valuation is undertaken. Assuming BSNL to be valued at $30 - $40 billion, if Government intends to sell even 5% of the shares, it could mop up close to $2 billion dollars which could be utilised for so many developmental purposes (With a committed PM, FM, Montek and many other concerned oldies, I am pretty sure that the money would not be wasted). But, such a decision could be taken after multi-levels of meetings and talks and by then any damn thing could have happened!! It happens only in India!!

The Reluctant Indian!!

2005-11-23T21:03:00.000+05:30

I wanted to rant about "The Reluctant Indian" for long and after due reluctance, it is now that I set foot and byte to write about him (me too :) ). Everywhere you spot an Indian, there is this characteristic of reluctance that comes along with him. From what I hear about other country men, I believe this is unique to our country fellows, the phenomenon of being reluctant in whatever we set out foot to do. Of course, there are some exceptions, but exceptions are not examples!

Our Government is a very shining example of how reluctant an Indian could be. Key decisions take years to take, citing very unreasonable reasons. The reason being that our netas and babus don't want to take any step that would be risky and suicidal.. The very fact it has taken years for our public sector airlines to plan for upgradation of their fleet and also the number of years it takes to finalise plans for metro rail links in out cities reminds me of our reluctance. For such utility projects, there should be single window clearance for speedier clearance and speedier execution of projects. Or else, the private sector could gain more vis-a-vis the public sector.

Be it the top secretaries or IAS officers right down to clerks in government offices, they always want to pass the bucks. We have always had to meet umpteen number of officials to get our passport stamped or for obtaining driving license. Whether this is to purposefully complicate procedures or not, I give full credit again to reluctance of our Indian fraternity!!

A few more instances of reluctant Indians -

1) Government reluctant to press for hard reforms,

2) Indian ex-ministers reluctant to vacate!! - reports even a Taiwan newspaper Taipei Times

3) Reluctance to clean the mess in electricity boards

This phenomenon is not only observed in the government circle but also among the citizens too. Our fellow men hesitate for almost everything.. They hesitate to complain against irregularities ('the chaltha hai' attitude which is turning out to be more suicidal than anything) and lead a very mundane life. They are also reluctant to venture into newer fields of study or work. Only in the recent days, we observe emergence of a genre of people who venture into adventurous studies like 'voodoo art and its societal impact among indo-africans' and work like scuba diving,

adventure sports, salsa dancing etc.

We would continue to be more reluctant if we hear about what happened to a very few bold Indians like Satyendra Dubey and Manju Nathan who broke the tradition of being reluctant indians and tried an expose! Very sad, but that is the state of affairs in our country!

The growing online community and support in the form of chain e-mails and blog reports have had some ripple effects, but given the fact that the online user base is still low, there is very little awareness of these pressing issues among the common masses. I conclude with reluctance that we may be reluctant even in the coming years too!!!

My inner hero - Wizard!!!

2005-11-22T16:49:00.000+05:30

Seems I am a wizard ( a la Albus Dumbledore!!!, I don't want to compare myself with the kiddies Ron or Harry :) ). Wish I had magical powers too :)

My Inner Hero - Wizard!

There are many types of magic, but all require a sharp mind and a cool head. There is no puzzle I can't solve, no problem I can't think my way out of. When you feel confused or uncertain, you can always rely on me to untangle the knots and put everything back in order for you.

How about you? Click here to find your own inner hero.

What's your Nerd Score?

2005-11-22T12:16:00.000+05:30

Hey pals, I am not at all nerdish, but took this test out of sheer curiosity :)
Here's my Nerd Score!!!!

Soul Refilled!

2005-11-09T21:35:00.000+05:30

If I could say so! I felt completely rejuvenated and rejigged after my travel to rural lands around Nagercoil and Kanyakumari. I travelled across the rural countryside, in a bumpy road, in age-old buses and when it was raining too, but still felt elated at heart! The very sight of miles of green field on both the sides of highways brings joy to this city born, brought-up and spoilt soul!! :) The very fact that I was away from the hustle and bustle of the city traffic and the pollution added to my ecstatic thoughts! Apart from the rural kaleidoscope, I ended up making a lot of observations about the countryside. A few, I jolt down here. That the government owns lots of properties in all the towns and villages (property of BSNL, Police, Municipality, Agri office, this, that etc), that there are beauty parlours mushrooming even in remote towns and villages shadowing the barber shops, that there are still many temples along the highways, that the roads (even after the so much hyped about Highways projects have been carried out) are still full of potholes and in a generic note, a lot needs to be improved on the basic hygiene and education sectors.

Education!!! This word keeps reeling in my head more often now after a visit to my relative's place. Are we educating our school and college goers properly? A BIG NO! My cousin showed me an essay from her English language text book and it was (obviously) on The Nehru family (The Ubiquitous Gandhi and Nehru!!). She had marked a few lines as important and when I glanced through them, I was more than shocked! Her teachers felt that those lines were very important as they kept appearing in objective type questions in the examinations. I quote those lines here "Nehru travelled by Dutch KLM Airlines while returning to India." Dutch KLM was highlighted as very important!!! She had no clue as to what was KLM (She needn't know at all) but is this the purpose of our Education for our kids to know by what airline Nehru travelled?? (My Big Foot!!!)

Travel musings!

2005-11-08T22:45:00.000+05:30

Train journeys seem to be a little boring, especially if one has to travel in the evenings too! Sitting in a 'Super-fast express', you wonder whether it is inching ahead like a snail and at times, even a snail appears faster!! Co-passengers who are glued to their mobiles, murmuring either soft or cold words, rattling sound of the (ill-functioning) air-conditioner, constant jitters which keep reminding me again and again that I were travelling across the rural lands of our mighty country!!!

There are a few countries in the world where they take pride in running super express trains (The lightning fast Shinkansens of Japan or the TGVs of France) whereas in our country, Our railway babus don't want to operate trains even at moderately higher speeds! It's high time they learn some basic calculations that faster you travel (in safer tracks :) ), sooner you reach your destination (of course at a higher cost). Time saved == Money (in simple terms). Ignorant of this, our babus and netas don't want to make the initial investment, though it is huge to start with (Is money a constraint at all?)

The whole of Indian Railways (touted as World's largest employer, which I would re-word as World's largest employer of least efficient people) needs to be stripped and built from scratch, which I am sure, our netas and babus will never do. The need of the hour is to slowly introduce corporatisation as it has been done to BSNL and many other energy PSUs. At least, to start with, private operators could be allowed to run scheduled trains, in similar lines to private airlines. Little do we have to reiterate, how the public sector carriers AI and IA have improved their efficiencies after competition was introduced in Airlines. Competition is the key word! Competition ensures better service to the customer and improved efficiency. I am sure, private Indian companies like Reliance, Tatas would be ready to foray (given the frequent Indian rail traveller, and the need of the hour for better service from the railways, private train service providers stand to gain even during the initial stages) in this lucrative market, but over-regulation by government regarding pricing, licensing etc might kill the golden goose again! At least in the next 10 years, I wish something on these lines to happen, so that Railways properly utilise the additional capacity.

Pathetic state of Airports in India!

2005-11-07T22:39:00.000+05:30

Rediff has published an excellent article by Govindraj Ethiraj "On a wing... without a hope!" highlighting the very sorry state of our airports! Everyone (irrespective of whether he would use the airport in the future or not) should read that article! Though I have used Chennai Airport only once, I had very bitter experiences at almost all stages of boarding and deplaning the flight. Immigration official forgot to stamp my passport, the custom officer forgot to handle me some papers (No traveller should be expected to remember these procedures. The officials are after all paid for carrying forward these duties properly) and in the security check, the official failed to manage the crowd properly. Little wonder that frequent travellers have a lot of such bitter experiences, when I, who has used the "facility" called airport just once has so much to lament!

But I simply don't understand, why our netas and babus often go on foreign tours to visit airports, study infrastructure etc, but never come back and implement them. Money is definitely not an issue. It can be mopped up through proper budgeting. They just don't want to improve the facilities. They just want to live a life of heck and don't want to provide better facilities to common men. Just imagine, when public facilities like Roads, Railways, Roadway transports, Airports etc are in such a pathetic condition, how do we intend to be among developed nations in the future, if not the near future?

I guess, as I have said earlier many times, as long as Left is at the Centre, The Government may hesitate to take any positive steps ahead to reform the existing situations. One shining example is that of Foreign Direct Investment in Retail. FDI in retail must have come long back (when countries like China, Malaysia etc opened up their retail trade) and it is already too late here. But still, left doesn't want to allow FDI in retail. I completely don't understand, why they don't have the maturity that even I exhibit? I am sick and tired of shopping in kirana and annachi shops where they dictate the rules more than me (a customer asking for a bargain). I want big shops to be setup, which can in general improve the infrastructure in retail, like international class supply chain management, cold storage, export of surplus Indian goods to countries where demand is high and bring in moolahs to our exchequer. China has greatly benefitted out of this, and figures like $15 billions are quoted to be China's exports in retail just by the top retailers out of China (Walmart, Tesco etc). So Who are these communists who are stopping me from having an international shopping experiences at bargain prices? Don't I have the right to choose whom should I shop at? Why should they dictate? First, UPA should cleanse itself and unfetter itself from the left, call for fresh elections, project themselves better and then emerge single and victorious. Left should be left in the roads. Then, I wish Manmohan and Chidambaram can go ahead and proceed with more reforms. LEFT SUCKS BIG TIME!!

How much is my blog worth?

2005-10-31T14:47:00.000+05:30

My blog is worth $564.54.
How much is your blog worth?

Does SB command this premium pricing?

2005-10-28T21:32:00.000+05:30

One thing that has never ceased to amaze me is the price of dishes served at "Hotel Saravana Bhavan" which claims to be one of the largest chains of quality vegetarian restaurants! Starting from the basic items (the inevitable idly, dosas) until the proclaimed or claimed premium dishes (the ubiquitous punjabi, chinese etc), their prices command a huge premium vis-a-vis many other restaurants of their class in especially Chennai as well other cities where they run from!

Take for example, A plate of Pongal. It is made of plain rice and a some cereals and some top-ups. It could be considered very well a simple dish. And the portion that SB serves would not even be more than 60 - 75 grams. If we simply calculate the ingredients and the cost involved (excluding logistics and the restaurant's cost of preparing it) it would come to around 5 - 7 rupees (since they prepare in huge quantities). And, if we add to it SB's brand value and price for their hygiene (which again I will put at around 3 - 5 rupees), the dish could come somewhere between 10 - 12 rupees. But guess the cost of a plate of pongal? it is an exhorbitant 20+ rupees in an SB restaurant! Whatever may be the overhead like air-conditioning, rental, supply chain management etc, a simple dish should not be sold for more than 10 - 15 rupees. Another example is that of one of my very favourites, Onion Rava Dosa or ORD (mmmm!! :) ). Many hotels (with comparable or a little lesser class service as that of SB) sell ORD for around 20 - 25 whereas SB prices them at 45+taxes. Isn't this ridiculous? But who is there to ask? Will The government set up a regulator like Hotel Tariff and Dishes Prices Regulatory Authority of India??? :)) That was a ridiculous suggestion, but only people have to give proper responses to such premium pricing! When there are pockets to pay, there will be bottomless pits to suck them empty!!!

Digressing a little, Incessant rains lashed Chennai city for almost two days! In fact, yesterday, it poured HUGE cats and dogs ( :) ) and people couldn't step out of the house from the mornings till late evening! And yes, the rain water harvesting and rain water storms did come to rescue and drained mose of the rain water...

Waiting for some more rains to pour down and declare holidays!!! :))...

The new AirTel ad!

2005-10-23T21:19:00.000+05:30

For quite some time, there were no new ads from either AirTel or Hutch (Their ads are rated among the best in the industry). Hutch came up with ads for SMS tones. When I anxiously waited to see a new AirTel ad, it slowly started appearing without much fanfare and yes, they have done it yet again! The usual AirTel music in background juxtaposed with a few emotional scenes, truly blend unambiguously!! Yet another Great AirTel ad! The ad features people expressing their wish or love to their dear ones, especially the otherwise enabled boy expressing his feelings to his teacher deserves ultimate praise! Don't miss to watch the airtel ad that has started coming up in the prime time in TV shows...

To dabble in politics is what I like to do a lot, but what I haven't done for a long time!! :) Especially after dumbos like Deve Gowda speak irrationally about Honchos like NR Narayanamoorthy, should we the "educated" crowd shut up and keep quiet? First of all, We need to educate people about the bad politics of Politicans like Deve Gowda and make them (the people) realise that these thugs were stopping them from getting literate or getting rich almost! All that we need to do is take up an information campaign against the miscreant politicians and make people realise that they had done a grave mistake by voting them to power.

And, if anyone in India wants to buy an iPod or any of the apple's products, just visit iFarm.in and get the product delivered at home!

Tele-marketing blues!

2005-10-12T15:41:00.000+05:30

Let me rant here about the innumberable calls I receive from Banks and Financial services providers who believe that I am their "Valuable customer" and that they had "their best offer" for me and that the offer was ending the very same day!!! Puhlllezzze!!! someone save me :)

Just a few minutes back, I picked up a call in my papa's mobile but was surprised that the person at the other end was asking for me (People call me only in my mobile). The call was for a "lifetime super bla bla card" from a foreign bank. But, to tell a point here, the connection was in my name and this clearly proves the point that my cellular service provider had passed on my information to the bank. Even after the supreme court condemning these activities of banks and mobile phone service providers, they still retort to such marketing activities, which, instead of attracting a customer, irritates and frustrates him! How I wish there was a donot call registry a la the one existing in the US of A!

My 2 cents on the IIPM issue!

2005-10-12T15:03:00.000+05:30

I extend my complete support to Gaurav for his articles on IIPM's advertisements (See Gaurav Sabnis ) and JAM magazine's articles on IIPMs (See the article ). I can vouch for Gaurav's remarks on IIPM, since I hear a lot from IIPM students themselves about the stakes claimed in the ads. desipundit invites comments from bloggers about this issue. It is shocking to read how the Delhi IIPM threatened to burn IBM laptops since Gaurav was an IBM employee! The very fact that guys at IIPM brought in the issue of IBM laptops throws light on the fact that they lack corporate ethics and that they would go to any extent to track and beat down people who speak up against them. Now, we have to wait and watch the situation. I extend my complete support to Gaurav on this issue. Truth alone triumps!

An update:

Oh God! Could men retort to such cheap comments online or offline? See the comments put up by some nasty humans in this link. It is very dusgusting to see people writing so nasty. Men, wake up, react and speak out, don't exhibit cheap, kinky mentalities!!

My take on the commies!

2005-09-02T18:10:00.000+05:30

I am back with a bang :)
In the recent days, If there are a few people whom I hate a lot (lot more than smokers!!) they are the communist party thugs of India! They are a bunch of brainless nicks who do everything to stall reforms and development initiatives taken up by the Manmohan government! It is sad to see our country being led to ruins by a group of idiots who just go by books, but not by present practical situation... It sometimes pains to see them stopping many initiatives to disinvest or privatise government units. The commies are now crying to stop the modernisation of airports too... The only alternative is to dissolve the parliament, call for a mid-poll and whoever gets elected, they should focus on forming a government without the left! yes, this may be a costly move, but this could protect long term damage from being inflicted on the Economy!

MIT Weblog survey

2005-06-30T14:17:00.000+05:30

After a long time...

2005-06-30T13:13:00.000+05:30

I am writing again after around 5 months! In between, I traveled a lot, went to Tirunelveli, Bangalore for 4 months and Kuala Lumpur (KL) for one month. Bangalore is amidst a metamorphosis and we have to wait to see whether it is for good or bad. Crippling infrastructure, but bubbling youth and people :). KL is a traveller's and a tourist's haven! The city is integrated especially for a tourist. KLIA (International Airport) has an amazing architecture and supports thousands of landings, take offs and millions of people. I could also notice many things in KL, including usage of automation wherever possible. Though a Muslim country, people are not that conservative but mostly liberal. The view atop one of the tallest communication towers in the world, Menaral KL (Menara - Tower in Bahasa Malaysia) is breathtaking! http://www.menarakl.com

Here in TN, Amma wants to abolish Entrance Exams (She does lots of stunts especially when Elections are on the anvil) citing the reasons that it gives an edge to city students and that rural students are not benefitted. In my view, An entrance exam is a must, but unlike what has been conducted so far which places emphasis on the memorising capacity rather than thinking capacity of the students. There is more to the issue that just saying! We need to address the issues at the grass roots level. The method of teaching or rather to use a better word, the method of educating has to completely change. Kids have to be taught ways to think and act rather than read, memorise and write! Though this issue has been on the air for a long time, the sad fact is that no concrete step or solution has been found out for this by the Educationists or the Government!

Tsunami and the aftermath

2005-01-26T13:14:00.000+05:30

The totally unexpected event in the year 2004 (that too a few days before the dawn of the New Year!!, on December 26) was the Asian Tsunami which amassed more than 200,000 lives and displaced more than a million people from their turf land. Thousands of people became homeless, lifeless and lost their kith and kin. The blog Tsunamihelp is doing a great job by updating every second, the information available about the tsunami and tsunami relief. In India, Both the central and state governments are doing their best for the relief. But, the ultimate decision is that of the Tamil Nadu government and that is to construct a wall across the coast line at a whopping cost of Rs. 3000 crores (in numbers it is 3000 00 00 000, isn't that HUGE??!!). This is illogical and doesn't command any scientific reasoning. Scientists say that promoting mangroves in the coastal areas could prove very effective when another tsunami strikes. When will our politicians become thinkers?????!!!!

digressing a little from the topic, I am now in Bangalore, the so-called "Silicon Valley" of India. The city could be a lot better with cruisable roads and better traffic management. But, truly there are more Tech MNCs operating here than any other city in India!

Let us wait and see what is up for 2005!!

The 100X100 Project

2004-12-23T15:28:00.000+05:30

This is amazing! why don't our Indian scientific community and policy makers think like this? The 100X100 Project in the US plans to network 100 million homes in the US with 100 Mbps connection! That's mind-boggling!!! Key institutions and the industry have stakes and have formed a consortium for execution of these plans. To name a few, AT&T, UCB, Stanford et al. As per the information in the site, it is said that high speed networks need to be the key for easy access to information! Truly a knowledge economy! Let India get some forward thinkers who could implement such scale projects for the benefit of the common men instead of the babus and netas who are always into high sounding words but no performance... God Save Us!

Of gadgets, temples and gods

2004-12-21T22:01:00.000+05:30

First gadgets! More the tech gadgets available to men, more they will misuse them. The recent news of a Delhi school boy using a camera phone to catch an act of sleaze and another guy from IITK selling the video footage on the net, A Mumbai journalist capturing Kareena in intimate moments with Shahid in his camera mobile and printing it in press and then the obscene video of Trisha speak no less about the growing lascivious attitudes of men, truly men, as Men would do anything to prove they are men!! The juveniles are being screwed up for this act while thousands of porn videos and pictures are circulated across the length and breadth of the country by thugs and toads. How can we open the eyes of the Judiciary System in our country??

Then about gods and temples!

Last week, I paid a visit to the famous Thiruverkadu temple (around 15 Kms from Koyambedu) but was a little pained at the status of maintenance of the temple. Being famous, we expect more people to come in and PRAY to God, but people do more than praying, they eat, splash water, put wastes and maintain it as worse as their homes! When will the morons learn to keep a public place, that too a temple, clean? Should eating be permitted inside the temple?? and, only in this country, will God be available at a premium for people who can shell a little more than the others! There are special entrance queues, super special entrance queues, the people in which are respected A LOT by the guards and the cleaners for the few coins and notes they would throw at them! I was a lot more astonished at this "If you are rich, i fall at your feet" attitude of people working for Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams. There, the hierarchy is truly mind-boggling. There are Darshan tickets ranging from Free, Rs. 40 ... upto a lakh and a half. This raises very painful questions - Should God be available to men at a premium? what about people who cannot afford to pay for and see him?

God, Please answer my questions!!!

Panel Discussion on Economic Policies

2004-11-29T23:38:00.000+05:30

The sunday that passed was an interesting day! I attended a Panel Discussion on the topic - "Economic Policies - The Road Ahead" held at LIBA (Loyola). "Eminent" speakers like Subramaniam Swamy and some noted Economists had been panelists. One striking thing was that though he was claiming to be an Harvard educated, S Swamy displayed his political skills on the dias and tried to make the whole discussion a Political one rather than an Economic! other panelists also had to condescend to the levels of swamy who brought down the pertinence of the whole show! Even the other speakers spoke of banal information like BRIC report, Automobile revolution, IT and ITeS boom bla bla.. I wish i avoid such panel discussions in the future unless and until chaired by non-political men!

Brain Lateralization Test :)

2004-11-26T16:09:00.000+05:30

Here's another Personality test that i took! It seems to be quite interesting and the results will tell one if they use which part of the brain more than the other!! The results of the test were as follows...

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (38%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain.
Left Brain (54%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?
personality tests by similarminds.com

isn't that interesting??

Gyan Talk 2...

2004-11-19T13:16:00.000+05:30

Helloa!
One main proposal that I kept for today's gyan talk - Work Timings in The New Age Organisation. There is no fixed work timings though the employee would be expected to complete the project/work assigned to him as per the schedule. The schedule should be drawn taking into mind the person who would be working on it. And, at sharp 6 PM, the doors of my office would close down!!! Noone would be expected to be in the office beyond 5:30 and maximum time limit is 6. ok, now the main question, what would everyone be doing at the workplace?? will talk about that too in the days to come.

Gyan Talk!

2004-11-18T13:12:00.000+05:30

How I wish an Organisation should be run? In the next few posts, I shall discuss my dream organisation and goals and objectives for the org. The first thing to start with is
1) Meetings should last only for nanoseconds or milliseconds unless and until there are pressing issues to discuss. Having observed meetings which mar the productivity of employees, i wish there were no meeting rooms in my organisation!
2) Talk less to the seniors and interact more to Juniors. Juniors present a better picture as they would have a fresh mind and would be the ultimate point of delegation of work. so they would know more about the complexities of the work. Seniors would be complacent (?!)
3) Donot bill the client for 8 hours in a day when a human being could truly work only for 4 - 5 hours (EFFICIENTLY) in a day. See to it that during recruitment itself, right people are chosen for the right job unlike "any person for any work" kind of attitude which prevails present s/w industry
4) Try avoiding words like "seamless", "fyi", "cool", Road Map", "Approach Document", "Brainstorming" and most funny of all "Status Update"...
5) The Manager could go down to the bays and talk to people for a minute or two and get updates of what is happening with them instead of calling everyone to a meeting room and making them feel hecked for the next hour or so!
More to come in the days to go....

News channels and papers are a lot busy nowadays. Two weeks back they had Veerappan's Story and this week they have Kanchi Mutt's! There is something or the other to spice up their columns and programmes.
Kanchi Sankara's behaviour was shocking and revealing the connexions he had! It's always better to believe in God and to not believe in people who presume themselves to be messengers of God. The sanctity of the Mutt is in a great trouble :( God is great!

An interesting note:
In google if we search for Indian cities, the number of links coming up gradually decreases with the popularity of the city! Mumbai and Delhi rule the numbers list followed by Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and other cities! See how the cyber space reflects the 3D space!

The list follows:

Mumbai & Bombay - 19 million links
Delhi & New Delhi- 17 million links
Chennai & Madras - 5 million
Bangalore - 4.3 million
Hyderabad - 2.4 million
Pune - 2 million
Ahmedabad - 1.25

That's it for now!

India races ahead!

2004-11-17T13:15:00.000+05:30

The number of mobile connections in India outstripped that of the landline connections, thus marking a great phenomenon in History of Communications. On October 23, number of mobile connections (around 43 million) exceeded that of landlines. At present, the numbers are 44 vs 43. It took 50 years to make 43 million landlines while it has taken less than a decade to make 44 in mobiles! Such gadgets and technologies need to be paid attention to and be used for social and economical development. heard somewhere that teledensity plays a crucial role in economic development (10% increase in tele-density increases GDP by 1 percent - don't know how true is this!). There are ambitious targets - 200 million mobiles by 2008. Could we do it this time? (atleast)?

"Low cost, No Frills" is the mantra!!

2004-11-15T23:39:00.000+05:30

The newspapers carry headlines almost daily reporting inauguration of Low Cost Carriers, Mid-budget Hotels, Apartment hotels etc. Days have gone when corporates spent lavishly on air travel and hotel stay. With cost-cutting playing a major role in the Corporates' day to day activities, companies now look for avenues to reduce expenses and the first victims falling prey are hotel stays and flight travel. Even CXO's are looking out to cut costs, as any effect in the balance sheet of the company would have an impact on their pay cheques too! Low cost carriers like Air Deccan have a headstart when compared to other proposed carriers, as, by the time the new players enter the field, Air Deccan would have almost gained popularity and learnt the nuances of the tricks. Had the service been poor, it would backfire though, with people opting for new players on the block. Tata has introduced it's mid-budget hotel TataIndiOne in Bangalore thus making a foray into mid budget hotels. Here's a link to what C. K. Prahlad says about IndiOne. The name IndiOne sounds a little funny, but being a Tata product, it would be Indi like Indicom, Indica, Indigo and now IndiOne!!! Anyhow, if people get to save some rupees on low-cost operations, there shouldn't be any compromise on safety and qualilty standards set for the Industry. It's All in the Game!!

Just Another day...

2004-11-04T08:30:00.000+05:30

Helloa!!

The US presidential elections came to an end with Bush and Kerry tied neck to neck. (later i got the news that Bush won!) Newspapers and News TVs have had sleepless nights compiling news about the election in the Most Powerful Economy in the worlD! One thing that admired me in the US elections was the debate that the two candidates took part in. Though i don't have any information regarding the history of such debates, i can assure that such debates assure healthy competition, unlike in India, where politicians behave like thugs and goondas. Ok, Ok, Let's speak something else outside Indian Politics!

Vaanga-Nalla Irukkengala-Sappittengala?

These three words were often uttered by me and many of my family members in one of the occassions in our family - A marriage of one of my cousins. An occassion, which used to be a meeting ground for relatives who meet after a long time, has nowadays become a ritual by itself. In yesteryears, say even during late 60's and early 70's marriages used to be a 5 day affair (with expenses mostly borne by the bride's family!!) but nowadays, it merely lasts for a day or a day and a half. Old pattis, aged uncles, ask "Ennai Theriyutha?" (do you remember me?) but they should as well remember that i have more things to remember (simran, google.com, BBC, Scuba Divin' et al!) than an old aunty who had made sweets and come home during the Diwali a decade back! :) But the fun in meeting everyone would never come down. Especially, well clad females, would become apple of everyone's eyes and there would be enquiries from all old uncles and aunties "Varan Pakkuriya?" (are you looking out for a suitable groom?). In all marriages - I always pity the bride and the groom. In the hurry, many a times, people even forget about the couple and keep talking to those whom they have met. or at times, the focus lights put the couples into trouble or the torture brought out by camera men in asking the bride and groom to pose for snaps in "n number of positions" make me feel that even though marriage comes once in life, it should be less pricky!

Fait Accompli!!!

2004-10-29T22:32:00.000+05:30

At last, The java files i had compiled started working!!! Hurray!!! I thought I was a nut, but the codes that I wrote started working too!! And, to put things in a wider perspective, I got a feeling of accomplishment yesterday which I hadn't got in the past 1+ year. I was able to evaluate an opensource testing tool called Abbot all by myself! Though this could be a trivial exercise for experts, The fact that i was able to do something "this complex" made me feel elated! And, i could learn more from Shao Fang, who had flown from CA to motivate us in this project! He is a doctorate from U. Penn and has been an evangelist of Open Source movement for the past many years. His work culture impressed all of us here. And, He was working both during onsite and offshore timings! Thank God, He had flown down or the floor would have never been set in order (That's what i feel with incompetent managers around!). I wish i get an opportunity to work with competent people, so that I leverage as much capacity as of mine I can!

How much is a Kg of Java?

2004-10-27T23:13:00.000+05:30

To put in a nutshell, I truly hate programming! I don't know why, during my school days, i used to write "efficient" codes and programs, but after coming to college, i started hating anything that had some "syntax" and "codes" to follow. But, my inner voice kept telling me i need to brush up my "skills" in programming and now i know why it did so! I landed up in a Technology Solutions company where i am expected to code as per some quality standards too. There are many here who hate to code, but like a lot to speak and delegate work! (Operation Delegation is what i would term it.. :) ). Today, i was in my nadir when i had to write a few Test cases in Advanced Java. That's when it struck for me, how would it be if Java or whatever we want to learn is sold for some amount in some shops and how would it be if we buy it and upload it into our memory? Sounds Matrixish?? yeah, it could very well happen someday. so, hey managers, could you wait till that day comes, as i can't do any programs now???

A Doha from Kabir

2004-10-09T09:11:00.000+05:30

Dukh mein sumarin sab karein, Sukh mein karey na koi?

Jo Sukh mein sumarin karein, Dukh Kahe ko hoi?

Everyone remembers and chants the name of God when they are in trouble. does anyone remember God during the time of joy and happiness? If anyone remembers God when they are happy, will trouble ever come to them?

These lines from "Kabir ke dohe" have been in my mind for the past 10 years. They mean much more than what they convey! In the name of God, if we perform our duties, we can rest assure that things go on fine.

Broadband biggies..

2004-09-11T08:49:00.000+05:30

A few numbers on the total broadband connections available in developed countries. The article in gigaom.com writes about the total high speed net connection statistics of a few countries. The numbers are startling which India would take at least 4 - 6 years to match. Another detailed article in internetnews.com elucidates the fact that US has more number of connections, while the per 1000 broadband penetration is the highest in South Korea (21.3 per 1000). When will we even see a million connections in India? The state owned BSNL has been reporting for the past several weeks that it would unveil a broadband package which would be very cost-effective both for the operator and the consumer. Is Indian market mature enough for million broadband connections? What would people browse over the net? Content too plays a major role in spread of the net. Atanu Dey expresses his angst here over the politics in India which puts bottlenecks to any developmental effort taken by individual or an organisation. He lashes at the policies and regulations that keep away technology from a common man. The dial-up that I use at home is in despicable condition. The only thing that a dial-up handles without any difficulty is the open page of google.com! When can we see cost-effective cum high speed net connections in India?

A Personality Test

2004-09-10T16:06:00.000+05:30

In the website bbc.co.uk, in one of the links present there, there is an interesting Personality Test. There are twenty peculiar questions but they seem to be related. after every five questions, there is an intermediate personality report, like whether a person is governed by heart or mind, whether planned or spontaneous etc. and after the answering of 20 questions are over, a detailed personality report popped up which almost resembled my personality! 89% of the people who have taken the test have agreed to the test results! There are a few more tests like "Are you a good entrepreneur?", "What kind of thinker are you?" etc. In my personal opinion, personality tests are check points for us to realise where we stand and in case we see aberrations from our goals, we may do a personality rejig and start focussing on the issues we have to focus on.

The Phenomenon called 'Appraisal'

2004-09-10T15:40:00.000+05:30

Appraisals happen across all organisations, and do really "happen" in some organisations, with juniors being almost threatened by their appraisers with the sword called appraisal. How do we ensure that the seniors are not being taken away by personal relations with their juniors? 360 degree review appeals a lot to me rather than the senior appraising the junior. It happens at times, that we may be even appraised by a person for the particular appraisal year by a senior of us, who knows us just for a small period in the whole year. How can we ensure transparency and absolute appraisal when the "professionalism" exhibited by the senior working class is an absolute mockery? during a dicsussion on appraisals, one another friend of mine, threw a very interesting observation. 'In a 360 degree review, n people appraise their managers, so it makes it a much more effective appraisal. more the sample space, better would be result of the outcome.' So, I would be a strong advocate of 360 degree reviews.

Exclusive Speaking Zone

2004-09-02T15:06:00.000+05:30

What is he talking about? What's this speaking zone?? are you wondering what? yes, i am referring to speaking zones similar to smoking zones and pubs. These speaking zones (hereafter referred to as SZs) are exclusive "shouting places" where people can walk in, rent or buy a cubicle for them which is sound proof from outside such that they can SHOUT at the top of their voice over their mobile phones! I make such a remark after having observed human beings (in office, streets, theatres, malls literally everywhere!) shouting at the top of their voice over mobile phones. Are technology and the usability of gadgets making men more numb and stripping them of their sixth sense? shouldn't men become more refined as they start adopting newer technologies? Theatres are places where we would even ask our peers to keep quiet while watching movies. but, hundreds of mobiles keep ringing in all possible tunes, polyphonic, monophonic, bla bla and end up making us regret for having gone to the movie! Workplaces have also become very noisy nowadays, with people shouting over their mobiles, office phones and internet phones (while talking to clients too). I am sure SZs would solve the problem and at the same time, give freedom to people to shout at the top of their voice.. any takers for SZs??

Those were days!

2004-08-27T15:02:00.000+05:30

Those were days,
when break time and lunch hours were the most awaited periods in school years! The day's discussions would start of with "did you watch 'Giant Robot' yesterday, i missed Captain Vyom, How was it?" if i even think of those days, i feel elated at one side while at the same time i miss 'em a lot! During the pre college school years too, though there was the "public exam" fever amidst us, we took time off to play during class hours and used to go to inter school fests and competitions.I had the habit of penning down a few lines everyday in my personal diary, a habit which has almost become obsolete nowadays. More the ease and use of technology, more we tend to forget certain habits. During college, apart from having wasted four precious years, i don't seem to have done something useful or gained any significant knowledge, even in my specialisation.

off the track, i was amazed to see Azim Premji holding 20K shares of TCS. The biggies would do anything to acquire more money. moreover, he holds shares of a company which is being regarded as one of the main competitors of the company he runs! Azim was also recently in news when he recommended increased taxing of IT professionals as he felt they were "well-paid." The irony was that, in his very own company, Entry level professionals get paid lesser than the Industry average, but are extracted more work than anywhere else. The business magnets have also started behaving like Politicians, expressing statements which are abstract or make no sense. Azim's remark on professional tax would fit in this category.

Why Ashrama?

2004-08-26T14:20:00.000+05:30

Ashrama is a name which signifies peace, spirituality and prosperity. In yesteryears, i mean thousands of years ago, sages lived in Ashrams where they taught young people the art of life and also traditional education under the name Gurukulam. The name Ashram revives the thought of a place which is serene, spiritual and lets one think peacefully. It's even comparable to an abode of the super power, generally referred to as God. I am a staunch believer of the supreme power God and an anti-atheist. Those who say God doesn't exist have that rational thinking only because of God. They will immediately say "Show me God..", the least that could never be done. A very fine example was given by one of my friends Gopal during a discussion about God. He said "As a child, we have been amazed to see a motorbike or a car go around. we never knew that there was a person driving it. as we grow up, we get to handle the automobiles and can drive them. and still as we grow into an automobile specialist, we know the ins and outs of a vehicle and we can build vehicles that run around." So, it all takes some time to realise the values of any object and it would still take more time to undertsand the supremo called God. Time does matter!!! coming back to the thoughts on Ashrams, the ashrams we hear of nowadays are ashrams run by thugs and unholy self-proclaimed "samiyars" who run the ashram merely for money and fame. I wish we had old age style ashrams!

More on QLC...

2004-08-23T15:32:00.000+05:30

A few lines from an interesting article on Quarter Life Crisis-
They call it the "quarter-life crisis." It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two but then get hot and scared because you barely know where you are now.
You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and are scared.
Doesn't this truly resonate with what we think?
This is what i always think - why don't people get to do the work they "aim" to or atleast they "wish" or "like" to. It is said that we have to chase such work but the work we like to do will not come to us and ask us to "do" it! I have always wanted to interact a lot with people, sell concepts, spaces and products. I like travelling too. But i never get to do them in my present job! Enough has been said about "Like the work you have got." How can one simply like a job where knowledge gained by the end of the day or at least learnings that we use from past experiences is "nil". In a so called "software company" in India, all that remains in the end of the day are tonnes of documents, ppts and excel sheets. HR Managers talk tirelessly about attrition rates and job hopping professionals but i wonder if they have done a little introspection on why this was happening! They should know the realities of techies' working atmosphere.
The IT industry in India runs over the following two parallel tracks:
1) The notion that Indians are excellent software programmers and
2) Indians will work day and night including weekends if paid a little more.
The second idea is taken for granted given the mindset of an "average" Indian. But, i seriously doubt the first notion, after having spent more than an year in an Indian s/w services company. It may collapse any time and put the train in danger. Little can i understand, how american companies who offshore work to Indian s/w services companies, are ready to pay those millions for a low quality work (YES, the quality of work is low here, let me explain down the lane...) that they get in return. Quality of work lies in the product that we deliver, but not in the documents that go along with the product. Our managers here tend to give utmost importance to a document or a presentation but when it comes to a code deliverable, they have little time to go through it, given their "competence" in doing so. Indian software companies need Technical Managers rather than managers who come up through the "experience" chain or who has done a certificate course in Project Management. I often come across managers who use the words "Road Map, Proactive, Ground Work, Priorities etc" too often (without any need to use them) that i tend to hate these words nowadays.
Atanu Dey, an economist has written an article on why India can never be an IT super power. It's available here.
The only reason i am happy about the Industry is that many young passouts and professionals are getting jobs which otherwise they wouldn't if the industry is not experiencing this "tremendous" growth.
Another reason why the americans are outsourcing could be this: what if we venture into High Technology R&D and come up with World Class products in Chip Design, Telecom etc. Then, the US would loose its numero uno position among the technology nations. (would this ever happen? :) ).
moreover, a few facts as to why India can never be an IT superpower. Indian s/w exports in 2003-04 were aound $12 billion whereas the total exports of Microsoft alone (one of the big s/w companies in the US), was much more than that of the whole India. Take china, where the domestic s/w consumption was worth around $ 30 billions (My GOD!). China is doing great in manufacturing too that the Government wants to slow the growth of the country. Much has already been said about the technological prowess of Japan, automobile competence of Germany etc. Finland has also been emerging fast as a Techie nation, why not when it's home to Nokia, which connects more people on Earth than it's nearest competitor. When so many countries are fast revving up their technological competency, can we, a poor nation of kinky billion people ever come up the tech ladder? It's a serious question which needs a multi dimensional introspection. First there are so many mouths to feed rather than teaching their fingers to handle mouse and key boards.
We need to do a serious multi dimensional soul searching to answer the question "Is India an IT super power?" In my view, in a decade or so, say in 2015, there could be very little to boast of india as an IT super power, as, I hope, by then, International biggies would have acquired many Indian companies or Indian bigges will merge with IT services giants like the big blue, accenture etc. So, what can we do, that makes us specialists in that job and lets us command the world??

The "whys, whats and hows?" of life

2004-08-23T15:03:00.000+05:30

Each day is passing on like a jiffy. Everday i wish to list out what i "unlearnt" and what i "learnt" that day but not a day have i been able to jolt them down. but, recently, i have taken part in quite a few discussions with some of my friends on the intriguing questions in life like "Where is God?, What after death?, Why should men or How should men live?" etc. The whole purpose of discussions boiled down to a simple point - "The purpose of our life." Today morning, i had a discussion with one of my colleagues, Gopal, a very learned person who is a member of the ISKCON group. They (the ISKCONers) have crystal clear replies to many of common men's questions. Though many are axioms (which don't have a proof but are taken for granted), they furnish lucid explanations and examples which convince a common man. Why do these questions come for us during the post teen youth period? and has it got anything to do with Quarter Life Crisis?

The UPA Budget - Is it progressive enough?

2004-07-08T13:48:00.000+05:30

Fin Min PC presented his budget for the year 2004 - 2005 today. While i was going through the main highlights of the budget, i put a search for the word "Education" and the explorer responded saying "Word Not Found". This is the sad state of education in our country! The primary goal of any nation has to be strengthening the Educational Backbones in our country - I mean the schools, but i felt very bad on looking at some reports in newspapers about schools across the country where teachers spend just an hour or so every day and never complete the portions. How can we bring about Accountability in each individual? That brings us to another serious discussion on Accountability. The other day, i was wondering why shouldn't a Rank List and Performance List be prepared for all the ministers and MLAs every half yearly or yearly and replaced/commended depending on their performance. It could have details like Major projects executed by his ministry, cost incurred, direct employment, indirect employment, whether it caused any major problem or does it solve the purpose. The ministers should be on their toes, similar to school children who would be very afraid to receive their progress reports and show it to their parents! Could this work out?

Trademark Yoga!

2004-07-05T13:40:00.000+05:30

Economist has an article on Bikram Choudury, a popular yoga master is the US who is campaigning hard to franchise his style of yoga. Could anyone franchise the way we eat or sleep? similarly, The nutty guy forgot yoga is an ancient art which evolved over centuries! The full article is available here

The week which just went away!

2004-06-18T15:07:00.000+05:30

It was sunday just a jiffy back and now it's friday! The week ending had so much events that i may need a week to write about them! The project client had come from the US and i had a wonderful interaction with him in which he stated the need for everyone to work for their passion! Yes, he meant it. And then, a new manager has been inducted into the team who gave a complete third dimension to the project and took us into storm! But, the approach was great! Lots to learn in a project!
And, I have not been spending enough time with my friends, like what i used to earlier. Nowadays, weekends are also pretty tied up. More in the days to come...
Bye
Happy Weekend,
Venkat.

Me bLOgS!

2004-06-14T16:15:00.000+05:30

Hello Everybody!
Atlast I am blogging. It's great to express one's feelings on the net and i guess, i will write in as and when i can. Plz excuse me today, i got some work here at office. Meet you all soon with loads of information!
Happy working and have fun!
Venkat.