The Big Rural Debate

Once again the health minister Dr. Ramadoss and AIIMS outgoing director washed their dirty linen in public. The last two and half years has seen frequent disputes between these two and yet this drama is not completely over, ball in perhaps now in the court of judiciary. But, in India, at last no one can beat these politicians and especially to those who are in power!! So, minister finally succeeded to get rid of Dr. Venugopal. With the latest amendment in the AIIMS act minister ensured the retirement age of director as 65 years and therefore, Dr. Venugopal had to go.
Dr. Ramadoss is well known for creating the buzz all around with his steps and decisions . Though, on detail and in depth analysis of most of the measures taken by him will suggest that they were succeeded in creating the hype and hoopla but failed miserably to achieve the desired goal. Starting with the ban on smoking in movies, he made his presence felt across the country. Why didn't he realized that movies can be blamed up to an extent for promoting cigarettes, but what about the desi stuffs like beedi and other form of tambakoo. These desi stuffs are popular in the areas and among the masses who hardly follow any movie trend. If statistics are to be believed then these are the desi stuffs which are claiming more lives than the branded cigarettes. Coming to the point of promotion of cigarettes through movie, why not minister is taking in account the people who are smoking has got brain of their own and they can read the warning written on the cigarettes packs. Moreover these smokers are educated and very much aware of harmful effects of cigarettes. So, just by banning smoking in movies nothing can be achieved except the cheap publicity stunt for the minister. If minister is really worried about smoking related diseases he should first ensure the ways to curb the beedi and other desi stuffs among the rural and uneducated citizens.

Recently, minister played another card and this time he was in no mood to lose the battle. He has played his ace this time and therefore wants to make maximum out of this. He made the provision of an additional year of rural internship for medical students through out the country. By doing this he thinks he can address the problem of poor health services in rural India. May be minister have succeeded in scaling his popularity to another highest level but, this is no way going to improve the poor condition of rural health services. Probably this step will be more helpful to minister and his party and alliance in the coming parliamentary elections(which may come anytime..all depends on Mr. Karat..whether he can bite or can just bark??).
This step of minister raised an endless debate all around. People are still finding its usefulness and on the other side there are people who are in no mood to accept such dictatorial decisions. Why these politicians always try to divert the focus of people from the real problem? Is this forced one year rural posting the solution to improve poor rural health condition or the solution lies somewhere else?
The fundamental problem is not the disparity in the number of doctors available per 100,000 citizen in urban and rural India. If we consider the total number of registered medical practitioners(including some of retired and emigrated) in India, it comes out around 0.6 million. This means on an average there are 50 doctors per 100,000 of population and some statistics suggest that this figure is about 150-200 per 100,000 of population in case of urban India. So, overall availability of doctors is abysmally low as compared to US and European countries (almost 1/6th). Even figure of the urban India is not very impressive. It is also lower than the national average of western countries. So, where is the question of forcing the doctors to go to rural areas? The basic problem is that we have lesser number of medical colleges to cater to the requirement of our country and government needs to address this problem immediately. If government is not in a position to fund more medical colleges then it should ask for private money in this sector. But, why instead of looking for a practical solution to address the problem of poor rural health system minister was busy in playing political game??
Currently India produces about twenty thousands medical graduates per year and simply looking at our present requirements this figure should be at hundred thousands per annum. So, minister if you are really worried about the health of rural citizen then just go and put all your effort in creating more and more medical colleges. Please stop this political game. This time minister didn't spared even media. He went on saying that media is dragging him in controversies because he belongs to MBC(most backward caste). Enough...minister rural-urban, caste...you used every weapon this time.Please..please..stop it.

A simple question to minister--India stands at 171th position among 175 countries in the term of public health expenditure to GDP ratio. So, minister you are the best person to answer this question. Also, can you tell with this condition of public health expenditure how can you improve the poor health facilities of rural India where poor people are mostly dependent on public health services.
Leave these political stunts and try to improve the rural health services honestly!!!

Why do we need blinds to promote sunglasses: Just the glamor or another show of hypocrisy

Few months ago, India celebrated its 61st independence day. It was a great occasion. The biggest democracy of world completed sixty years of its independence and still democracy is in very good shape while democracy has failed on numerous occasions in its neighbor nation. This is really a great achievement and nation must celebrate this. Because of young and vibrant electronic media the different campaign related to this sixty years completion of Indian independence was reaching the masses and getting enough attention. Starting from politician to big industry houses- everyone was trying hard to build a bigger brand image by associating with these campaigns. One of the biggest media house of India started a leadership campaign in order to attract youths and women to join Indian politics but committed a blunder in choosing the brand ambassadors for its campaign.
Yes, I am talking about the "lead India" campaign launched by "Times of India" group to celebrate the completion of sixty years of Indian independence. This concept was really great and publicity was also good. But, in order to make maximum out of this campaign they submitted to glamor. They chose Shahrukh Khan and Abhishek Bachchan as the brand ambassadors for this campaign. This move to publicize the event forced me to think the very basics about the system and our mindset.
Why we always treat politics as a contagious disease?? This was the campaign with the tag line "India seeks her future leaders" and there were Sharukh Khan and Abhishek Bachchan to promote it. Now we have a handful of young politicians who dared to be the part of so called muddy and dirty roads of Indian politics. So, why not some out of these were chosen to promote the event? The campaign was about leading and attracting young promising individuals to be the part of politics and still organizers were trying to avoid politics and politician! It is already a well accepted fact that the current pathetic state of Indian politics is because of negligence shown towards it by intellectuals and promising individuals and yet we are following the same path. So, what this campaign was trying to convey?? This was yet another TV show which was focused to get limelight and increase TRP for its programs. Shahrukh has told on numerous occasion that he has no plan to join politics and even he has made a statement "I am too good to be into the politics". Almost similar case is there with Abhishek. He has also not taken any initiative which shows his association with politics. In some aspects even our young politicians may be wrong and examples of bad persons. But, these are the very few individuals who has shown the courage to be the part of Indian political system. So, definitely making any statement about leadership suits them better than these showpiece items like Shahrukh or Abhishek. How can we really improve the state of Indian political system until young bright intellectuals start to become part of it and those who are not the part of it don't compare it with dirty gutter of city. Our attitude towards politics is the major reason behind the current state of affairs. Whenever we hear of politics and politician we simply accept any argument. We forget the fact that only the insiders of system can bring the changes in the system in long run.These dummy icons can't bring any change to this system. If we recall the recent presidential elections, a majority of intellectuals were stressing on the need of an apolitical candidate. But, at the same time why we forget the fact that these will be politicians who will directing this nation. So, up to what time we can avoid politics and politicians?? Instead we need better politicians and that may change the face of the politics. In Indian democracy president has very few powers and the parliament is most powerful. If we think out of so many parliamentarians and so many politicians if we can't a find a suitable candidate for this post then how can we hope for better future of this nation which is to be governed by the bunch of these politicians??
Choosing these muppets to promote this campaign reflects our hypocrisy. We speak something else and practice something very different. The time has come when we need to change our thinking. We need to be more practical. We have to stop this habit of using blinds to promote sunglasses because these blinds look good. What about their eyes?? Let us choose some average looking person who has eyes. We need to change our attitude towards politics and politicians. We have to stop the habit of simply treating politics and all politicians together as a dirty and polluted system. Instead we need to treat every politician as an individual.

Hope, while celebrating the 70th or 75th independence such campaign like "lead India" will use some politicians as their brand ambassadors in place of these cartoon characters!! Also hope we will not be accepting these blinds promoting sunglasses, lames promoting skates!!!

What a bad idea sirjee??

During the recent times the creativity has been at its best. With so many entertaining and amusing ads and moreover not many ad able to cause pain like watching any of the Ekta Kapoor's TV family drama. Ads like many of the recent in the Hutch's different talk time recharge card campaign, Centre fresh's- centre fresh khaiye aur juban pe lagam lagaiye, Chloromint's - chaparghanchu ye bhi koi kabbadi khelne ka waqt hai, Reliance Mobile's- India me muft ki advice bahut milti hai or Ye India ka cricket hai biddu, Pepsi's ads- Kahin aap dada ko bhool to nahi gaye or hamre dress ka naap le lo for 2011 world cup..So many to count these ads were the ultimate source of entertainment. But, while making an ad one must take care of some basic things. If ads sole purpose is fun and to entertain then you can go up to any level of nonsense and in that case you must avoid any reference to a serious issue.

I got the idea to write this post while watching a very popular ad campaign of Idea Mobile with having Abhishek Bachchan playing the role of a sarpanch. Though this ad seems to be very popular these days because it is being telecasted very frequently but what I didn't like about this is that it tries to make the mockery of a very complicated and long existing problem of Indian social system and moreover a curse to society- the so called caste system. This ad just tries to undermine the real problem behind this caste, creed, race or religion based discrimination. This matter is not such that one can make fun of it. This needs some serious thought and research not the funny advertisement.
Start looking closely at nay of these discriminations caste based, religion based, race based or of some other form the problem is far more complicated and has many more background to it than just a name. Take caste based system for example- at the macro level names today can hardly tell anything about a person's caste and at micro level i.e. at a village level it's not the name rather it's the image of person in front of you and your thinking leads to caste based treatment. The root cause of the problem is not the name rather it's the mindset and the values inculcated by the parents, teachers and moreover by the social system. Just you try thinking of someone's cast by looking at his/her name. Believe me you will not get any idea about it unless you really care about the caste. So, what is the real cause?? So, the need is to change the mindset of people and not their name.
These caste or religion comes in picture only where we want them. Even if the name reveals caste or religion , things remain unchanged where we are not at all interested in such nonsense details. Take the example of Hindi film industry. It is mostly dominated by the Khans. But, how many persons have you find yet telling that he/she didn't like a movie because a Muslim was the actor in it. Because we watch movie for entertainment and that is why we don't show any interests in actor's caste/religion. Another good example is Cricket. Irfan Pathan- the guy who has seen the highs and lows of life at a very young age. But the sides he saw because of his game and his religion was of no use and had not played any role.

So, at any stage of life these caste/creed/religion comes to play a role only when the people want to take use of it!! In this technically advanced world, these birth based (caste/creed/race/religion based) discrimination is real shame on human beings. In India these catse and religion based systems have been real hurdle in the path of development and even a danger to the integrity and sovereignty of secular democracy of India. Our political and religious leaders have gained maximum out of it. This is because of them the walls of religious and caste systems are still rock solid. We need to demolish the walls of such systems. We need to treat every human being in a manner which is not affected by his/her birth time credentials.

So, by just replacing the name with numbers will not give the solution. This may just result in a funny ad. If we will still remain interested in such details of caste and religion then the number system will not stop us for sure. In fact, because of technical and legal complications the phone numbers are more hierarchical (though in geographical perspective but then also if someone is too bothered about a person details..he will decode out of number also). So, even in number based system it will take hardly any time in drawing the lines of caste and raising the walls of religion. The basic need is that we need to understand the importance of being a human. We need to realize that these man made boundaries are of no use. We need to change our mindsets first and then if needed change these names!!

So, please no more funny ads on any serious topic. Stop this please..What a bad idea sirjee!!!

Rahul Gandhi: The controversy child of Indian politics or just a soft target

Few days ago, I saw a clarification made by Rahul Gandhi on his Khadi remark made earlier at the executive meeting of Congress party. This was not the first time when Rahul was facing this situation. Since the day when he entered in active politics controversies have always surrounded him. He has been the target of leaders from other parties or at times even from his own party leaders. So, is Rahul the person who creates controversies or it is just that he is the soft target??

After leaving his regular job of financial consultant in UK, Rahul returned India in 1999. In the 1999 general parliamentary election he appeared alongside his mother in the election campaign. But, still that time it was not very clear that when will he become the part of active politics?Later he became the member of Congress party and then contested the election form Amethi parliamentary constituency in 2004 and currently representing Amethi as an MP. He joined politics and moreover Congress party during a period when it was going through its worst time. But, since the day he became the part of Indian political system a long run debate has started. He has always been questioned about his capabilities. Some people just expected a miracle from him while others were busy flashing his failures and mistakes. Were this all hypes because he was the son of former Indian prime minister and moreover the fifth generation person from a family which has ruled independent India for more than thirty years? All these tags which Rahul was carrying since his birth have certainly helped in entering and rising in Indian politics very fast but at the same time because of these tags he has always been surrounded by critics and controversies.
If some unconfirmed news are to be believed then Rahul has paid really a heavy price to become the part of Indian politics. His split from his long time Columbian girlfriend Juvenita was the huge cost he paid to be in Indian politics as suggested by his mother Sonia Gandhi. He did this in order to avoid controversies but even this price proved of very little use in keeping him away from controversies. Some of these controversies were of such nature that Rahul could have hardly help himself.
One controversy started with a cheap remark on Rahul by Gujrat chief minister in an election campaign. By calling Rahul "the hybrid bachra of jersy cow" Modi has crossed all the limits of cheap political publicity stunt. But, was this controversy making any sense or it was just made to check the temperament of an aspiring young politician who has hardly experienced the muddy and dirty roads of Indian politics? Before making such remarks Modi must have thought about its validity. If Rajeev Gandhi opted to marry a foreign lady then what was wrong in this? If Rahul's mother is of non-Indian origin so, what unconstitutional scenario does it create? Modi must have feel ashamed on him by making such irresponsible statement.
Another major controversy came in picture during March 2005, when a PIL was filed by a group of lawyers in Allahabad high court to set up a formal inquiry in Rahul encounters with FBI almost four years ago. Following are the reports from TOI.

Rahul's $0.2 mn encounter with FBI
8 Mar 2005, 2043 hrs IST, IANS

LUCKNOW: A suit has been filed in the high court here seeking information about the alleged detention of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and his Colombian girlfriend by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2001. The petition, filed by four lawyers, is likely to be heard Wednesday.
According to the public interest litigation, Gandhi, the son of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and his companion were released after being detained at Boston airport following the intervention of the Prime Minister's Office.
At that time, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Indian prime minister and Gandhi was not a member of the Lok Sabha. "Vajpayee's principal secretary and then national security adviser Brajesh Misra spoke to top US authorities to enable Rahul Gandhi and his girlfriend to get away," claimed Prem Chandra Sharma, who moved the court along with three others.
Sharma claimed to have gathered this information through the Internet and said he had downloaded certain documents to substantiate his allegations. The petition alleged that Gandhi was found in illegal possession of about $200,000. And it was in that connection that the FBI had detained him along with his girlfriend Sep 21, 2001.
The FBI was said to have sought an explanation about Gandhi's possession of such a huge amount of money, which he was unable to provide, the petition said. The petition sought a writ of mandamus to the Indian ambassador to the US as well as the union home secretary to make a disclosure about the entire episode.


After this date this episode never came in limelight again. Don't know what was the real case??

The real test started during the UP state assembly elections earlier this year. It was wellknown for a long that in UP the condition of Congress party was worse than ever this time. Despite the fact that there were many complex fundamental problems were the reason behind the party's current condition many congress party leader were expecting miracles from Rahul. They were thinking that by projecting Rahul as the face of Congress in assembly election they can overturn the party's fate in a short span of months. but, was this expectation of magical change (jaadoo) in this real world was justifiable? After all Rahul is not a superman, he is also a normal human being. On the other hand the leaders from other parties who were busy in relating the failure of Congress party in the UP election to Rahul's political capabilities should have thought rationally.
How the failure of a party as a whole can be related to a newcomer of politics? That also at a time when party is already going through lean patch, the overall political landscape of the nation has taken a major shift and the just the charisma of Nehru-Gandhi family was no more enough to win an election. Again Rahul was victimized for none of his mistakes.

During the UP election campaign itself, Rahul's statement at a rally created another major controversy. This time it was something which Rahul has given birth to. He made a statement mentioning that Babri demolition would not have happened if anyone from Nehru-Gandhi family have been in the power. By making this statement he undermined his own party great leader and former prime minister P.V. Narsimha Rao's capabilities. Also, he forgot the very basic fact that India is a democratic nation. It is another story that his family has ruled this nation most of the time in post independence era but that doesn't change the India's status as a democratic nation. by making this statement he was not helping his party. In fact he was attacking his own party's failure. He also quoted the division of Pakistan as one of the achievements of Nehru-Gandhi family. Again he didn't realize the sensitivity of this issue. He also forgot that this kind of statements may lead to communal vote-bank shift. These statements created a major controversy this time with people from opposition and from his own party questioning these remarks. This time Rahul's political immaturity was uncovered and he had to face its consequences.

The most recent controversy was something that doesn't make any sense. In the Congress executive committee meeting Rahul has asked for major reforms in party's charter. He raised the points which are genuine and practical in nature. He questioned the validity of few code of conducts mentioned in the party's charter. Wearing Khadi all the times, abstain from taking alcohol and perhaps land ceiling and a few more code of conducts were under the scrutiny. By raising these points Rahul tried to be more practical and realistic. But he was forgetting that we live in a gernotocratic country where people are not ready to easily accept reforms instead they were happy in carrying legacy. The time when these conducts would have been introduced these were making sense. But, change and reform is inevitable. But, a nation as a whole we are very much allergic to change and reforms. So, again a progressive statement made by this young man created hue and cry inside his own party. Finally, he retracted from his statement or moreover tried to cool down the situation by making the statement that he has found Khadi as the most comfortable dress to wear and he never made any such statements regarding removal of Khadi from Congress party's code of conduct. Clearly it was an act of damage control.

Rahul has climbed the steps of political ladder of Indian politics very fast though not as comparable to his father, because of his family and a number of trusted followers of his family in the party. But, because of this Gandhi-Nehru tag has made the public life of Rahul much more vulnerable to controversies. It is not always the case that he creates controversy instead he is made the soft target. But, Rahul has to learn to face these controversies boldly and to rise in the Indian politics with all these misfortunes.

Sports equal to Amusement

The Title of this post may appear surprising. But, it is true in the context what founding fathers of our Constitution thought of sports. They believed that sports had no role greater than being an amusement or recreation. Though I am not someone who is expert at Indian constitution. But I came to know about this fact from the interview of Union sports minister Manishankar Aiyer given to Karan Thapar in last weeks Devil's Advocate.
During last decade, on several occasions we have witnessed some unusual hue and cry about abysmal Indian performance at different international sports event. But, on most of the occasion this hue and cry was just an impulsive reaction which didn't change the fate of Indian sports even to a least significant digit. Usually all this drama took place immediately after the pathetic show from Indian sports person at some international event. Even the so called powerful Indian Media used to highlight this kind of sports related concern only at the time when it helps to increase TRPs of their program. Even after a consistent history of abysmal performances and 60 years of independence we have failed to analyze the root cause leave apart the implementation of solution to this problem. Every time we look at the short term problem and try to find some specific solution to that problem. But, We never tried to visualize the bigger picture of Indian sports.

Why I mentioned this interview is that I found some strong and reasonable answers from the minister. At least he is someone who dared to raise a finger at the fault of the founders of Indian constitution. At the same time with his following statement
"Now if the founding fathers of our Constitution believed that sports had no role greater than being an amusement or recreation then it’s hardly surprising that over the last 60 years we have not given sports the kind of importance it deserves."

He made another important point clear that we as Indians are very slow or non-reactive in rectifying the mistakes or in correction of errors. So, if something wrong was there in the constitution at time of formation it is still there even after about sixty years.

Also the minister gave justifiable answers to other questions as well. About cricket he made a valid point that BCCI doesn't get a single penny support from government so there is no point in crying at the benefits provided to cricket players by BCCI. Also he made one good point that at least this is the one sports in which we have done well in past and doing well.

It is really surprising to see media acting in such an irresponsible manner. After the T20 world cup they were busy in flashing the protests by the people associated with other sports. So, what media was really trying to convey?? Should we stop the all happening around cricket because we are not doing well in other sports??? By stopping all cricket activities would we be able to improve the poor conditions of other sports?? Or the solutions to the poor sports condition lie somewhere else?? Instead of looking at the bigger picture media was busy in this cheap stunt to increase the TRPs. Why not these media people shown the cold and blunt responses of Indian public and government towards the Hockey players when they won the world cup?? Why did media find that the governments attitude towards hockey players was unjustifiable only after T20 world cup?? So, what media was attempting to show?? Rewarding hockey player was necessary or not rewarding the cricket player!!!

What a short-sighted and baseless thinking?? Can't a country of more than a billion people dominate in several games. Just look at Australia- A country with 20-25 Millions population. Still it dominates in Cricket, Hockey and has also produced great players of single player event like Tennis.

There are so many fundamental problems responsible for the current poor state of Indian sports. The need of the hour is to implement a policy which will address these problems in long run. But, the drafting an honest and practical policy and its implementation in the complicated Indian system is really challenging.
I am still surprised at the thought of the founding fathers of our constitution - sports equal amusement!!! How they reached this absurd conclusion even at a time when India was dominating in Hockey and the even the history of India tells the importance that was given to sports like wrestling, archery!!!! Hope now after sixty years of independence our leader and more generally average citizens of the nation will change this equality and will give sports its due respect.

A diwali with difference: TOEFL and SAAWARIYA...the ultimate combo of pain

Few months ago I would not have imagined the way I celebrated the 25th Diwali of my life. As far as I can recall no Diwali of my life was anyway similar to this. All this started with a $50 mistake committed by me few months back. After writing my GRE and getting a satisfactory score, I decided to book a date for TOEFL. It was September last week and I wanted the date of TOEFL as early as available. I got a date of November 3 at Bangalore and I immediately booked the date. Just after booking the date I realized that this date is special(in a sense that I have already scheduled something on this date) and recalled that this is the same date on which I will be writing subject GRE in Computer Science and that at Chennai!!!! What a blunder this was??? The rescheduling was going to cost $50 to me(Thank god...falling dollar was giving a bit of satisfaction!!!!). Then it was real frustration for me...I immediately searched for the next available date and this was on 9th November, 5.30 PM at Bangalore. Without wasting a minute I booked this date. After few days of booking the date of TOEFL I got to know that this is the day of Diwali. After knowing this I was imagining the Diwali with TOEFL from 5.30 PM onwards!!!! Even after this I didn't realised the Diwali day. Just TOEFL was not enough for the day. A day earlier to Diwali, I threw an idea to watch the Bhansali's blockbuster release SAAWARIYA..and what a surprise I got the sponsor as well!! Bhattu was ready to sponsor, condition I had to book the tickets. Anyways for me it was a usual task to which I am used to. This day was different, but I can manage a ticket on most of the occasions. I tried to get the ticket at INOX but it was my hard luck...houseful!! But, my good luck as well..FUN cinemas has started in Bangalore!!! I tried booking 2 tickets at bookmyshow.com then I came to know there was 2+1 offer on my credit card. So, I booked three tickets. I contacted Baba to be the third person. But , it was good luck of Baba who refused!! So, finally all was set for me on this Diwali. From 5.30 PM onwards TOEFL and then 10.00 PM onwards movie on its first day!!

I woke up around 11.00 AM on the Diwali day. Because, TOEFL was from 5.30 PM onwards so a day ago I decided to wake late on this morning. Also late last night I started to watch the movie "JAB WE MET" and slept early morning so even it was not possible for me to wake up early. After waking up the big question was what to do till the TOEFL time because, I was not in a mood to do any useful work. So, I slept again. And finally woke up around 2.30 PM and then after finishing the routine job I went to MG Road to see some of my friends(One usually comes to Bangalore from Mysore on weekends and holidays...to see someone...so I can expect at least two there!!!). I had my lunch with them and then I proceed towards the test center and canter was also on MG Road itself. I didn't have the printout of my admission ticket and this was a Diwali evening. After running around the test center I was able to get the ticket printout.

Here it comes-the big Billion crowd of India!!!!! It was really a long queue to write the TOEFL examination. Moreover the queue was looking similar to one at railway reservation counter of at the public distribution system shop!! So, the morning started to signal the day's story!!! I made my mind to face more troubles ahead. Anyhow I managed to sit on the allocated seat by 5.45 PM. I was also worried a little because of the packed schedule after TOEFL movies was there to follow from 10.00 PM. But, there were more troubles waiting for me!! The microphone of my system was not working and the replacement and further testing of microphone wasted another 10-15 minutes. Finally I was set to fight the long lasting war!! But more troubles were waiting!! Even good things happen in life at a wrong time!!! A beautiful lady was writing the test at the adjacent desk!! So, this was big cause of concern and big source of distraction for me during the test!! The fire crackers were adding more fuel to my trouble-list. Anyways, even till now I had no idea about the complete duration of test. I started working on reading section..oh my god..there were three passages and I was supposed to work for an hour in this section!! Bachpan se ab tak kabhi bhi shayad 1 ghante lagataar angrezi nahi padhi hogi!! Ye to sarasar nainsaafi thi aur wo bhi jab ki bagal me dekhne ko ek badhiya lady ho then ye angreazi ke ghatiya and abstract passages pe concentrate karna kitna mushkil ho raha tha!! After struggling for sometime I finished the writing section. Now, it was the listening section. This was the real pain. I can't recall the last lecture which I have attended without sleeping!! Here it was more problematic. Lectures and talks which I was supposed to hear were on the topics that I never liked to listen and in front of me there was something/someone which my eyes didn't want to miss for a moment despite of the wrong timing!!! So, I really struggled through out the listening section. May god help me?? After this there was a compulsory break for 10 minutes. I came out and replied to several Diwali greeting messages. I also informed Bhattu about my pathetic condition and asked hime to reach the theater in time and get the tickets from the counter.

Now, it was the speaking section. oh..come on...I was being given times in the range of 45-60 secs to speak on different topics!! This time interval was something unusual for a person like me (people know about me..main kitna kam bolne wala insaan hoon!!!). The time used to finish while I just introduced the topic!!! It was already 9.20 PM. Then came the last section - the writing assignment. It had two questions and supposedly to take an hour more. But, I was already tired of this TOEFL!!! So, I managed to finish this off in 35-40 minutes and came out of the testing center by 10.00 PM. The immediate task now was to rush to FUN cinemas. Managed to reach there by 10.15 PM.

Now, whatever has happened was beyond my imagination again!! I had an hint of pain of TOEFL in back of my mind(definitely not of this level of pain). But, I never had even thought that a Bhansali movie will also turn out into a pain!! Don't know how a film maker can make this kind of commercial movie?? Commercial movie should have at least some sense and practicality in it. But, trust me, this movie has very few logical and practical thing(if at all!!) in it. Don't know if Bhansali has assumed a different world in which the story of movie is developing!! But, definitely nowhere in the world you can find the city of this movie!! The movie lacks a good story. The weakness of this movie is someone who was being highlighted as the USP. It is the poor direction which can only led to such a poor movie. The sets were of Bhansali class..really superb, Good quality music..great job by Monty Sharma...Even acting of the newcomers is good and Rani Mukharjee as a street woman is fantastic!!! But, movie lacks the basic in the script and direction. Bhansali has tried to show a blind love and that also for someone who is almost an unknown person to her. May be this kind of love would be existing but the question here is people would definitely not like to watch all this in a movie. The movie completely fails to be an entertainer. Whatever story Bhansali has directed seems only possible in an utopia of his imagination!!

After all these happenings/mishappenings we returned back home. Because of the packed schedule I didn't even get a chance to have dinner. So, the samosas of FUN cinema was my dinner. After reaching home I decided to pen down the story of this unforgettable Diwali day. Still more drama left!! The electricity was gone in between. It is now back. Electricity cut left me in really pathetic condition for almost two hours. I couldn't have slept, even sitting was difficult. Mosquitoes were in party mood and celebrating Diwali and giving me no room for survival. Thank god..now when electricity is back..hopefully after finishing this blog I will be able to sleep properly. So, whole day story- TOEFL+SAAWARIYA and then electricity made this Diwali a different one with a complete package of pain for me!!!

So, finally all the troubles of examinations with dollars investment are over. Now new day, new beginning and new journey ahead!!!

This was not an Indo-Pak cricket match at all!!!

5th November, 2007, about 10.00 in morning I got disturbed while sleeping due to TV noise. Oh..it was the commentary of first ODI of five match ODI series between India and Pakistan. I have just missed almost half of the Pakistan batting!!! Something unusual for me. This all was because of some changes I wanted to develop in me.
This was a Monday morning..the boring and monotonous Monday morning on which after a two days of either very happening or very dull weekend I used to prepare myself to reach office. But, no..this Monday morning was very much different from the past so many Monday mornings. This was the first working day after my relieving from Qwest. Now, for few weeks, till the time we rent a permanent office I have to work from my house. So, I decided not to waste time (already I am less productive during initial phase of work and especially while working at home!!!) in watching the dull cricket matches which last for so many hours!!!! Because of this brainwash I just forgot about the match. This was Gujju who disturbed me. I got the few glimpses of Pakistan inning while half awake half sleeping.
Finally I woke up around 12.30. After finishing the routine stuff..I thought about my lunch!! I didn't have the courage to take the chance of eating in the shop downstairs!! Also I was not so energetic to go to a decent restaurant in the locality. Also I was tired of Maggi. So, I decided to make food. After thinking for few minutes, option of food was clear!! I cooked Khichadi!!! Then I started with understanding and reading stuffs related to our work. After sometime I opted for my lunch.

Now i switched on TV to watch the score. What a great day??? I had Khichadi in my plate to eat and a boring India-Pak cricket match to watch!! Life rarely provides this kind of combo offer.
During last 10-12 years I have become used to watch a quality India-Pak cricket match. Though in the early and mid 90s India-Pak matches were not frequent. But whenever it took place it has always entertained up to fullest. How one can forget the world cup 96, 99 and 03 clashes between these two arch-rivals. In 96 and 99 it was Venkatesh Prasad and in 2003 it was Sachin who led India to a triumphing victory. In recent time the last two T20 matches has delivered such high class competitive and entertaining cricket. With these kind of past performances and clashes no one would have expected such a dull and slow match between these two countries which took place at Guwahati. Even in past cricket fans have witnessed one sided match ususally in which Pakistan used to crush India. All credits to the lethal fast bowling trio Wasim-Waquar-Aquib. But, even those were completely one sided matches. But what took place at Guwahati on 5th November, 2007 was really not expected and even not enjoyable. This Pakistani team seemed to doing everything wrong.

Anyway I am very happy with all this. if this kind of match will continue. Things will be easier for me and I will keep myself way from TV set easily. But, may be India-Pak history will be repeated in coming matches!!!! Though it will be difficult for me to be away from watching a typical India-Pak match. But, in the large interest of fans I would like to be an altruist and hope for a better next ODI at Mohali. No more Guwahati ODI please!!!!!

One inning is over with waves of changes all around

As per my expectation, my last working day at Qwest was given as 2nd November. So, now I am free from Qwest. This day was something for which we (I am not alone!!!) were preparing for last one month or so. But, during last few days there were so many changes and new development happening around me those worth noting down here. Few were expected but still of very much importance for us and few happenings completely surprise package for most of us.

31st October, 2007

This was the last working day of the only lady of our group/team at Qwest. After all it was also different from most of the other person's last working day. She is going to get married and then moving out of country. She was able to initiate the paperwork formalities of exit by afternoon. By 5.00 PM I received the call from boss regarding today's meeting(daftar). So, I asked Baba to move for meeting. Madam was still busy in working out the exit formalities. I asked madam about tomorrow's schedule and then I came to know that at 6.00 Pm it is her train to Hyderabad. So, I told that we will meet tomorrow and then I and Baba moved for the daftar. We first reached at a place where boss was waiting in order to look for some permanent place for our daftar. The agent got a shock when he looked at the people who would be working at that place(Baba ki mahima aprampaar!!! Jo dekhta hai wohi tez se chondhiya jata hai!!). Anyway we also didn't like the place and moved to Bihari's house for meeting. I switched to car now(sorry Baba..Bangalore ki traffic me option milte hi Bike ko bbye bolna padta hai!!!) . Now I heard something which was something not very clear to me. Boss was telling me that Bihari called him a day ago and told some problems. Bihari's family members were asking him something about his marriage. All this talk was on such an unexpected and unanticipated line that I was not able to figure out anything about which boss was talking. Anyway after crossing all the old Madras Road traffic at around 6.30 PM we reached at Bihari's place by 6.45 PM. Akhil was expected to reach at his place by dot 7..so till that time we moved to Bihari's place.

We started our meeting at Bihari's place because boss had to go to meet someone around 9.00 Pm and the dot 7 guy didn't arrive till 7dot 7..so only agenda of today's meeting was to clarify individual stands. So, the first thing..surprise package for me and Baba!!!
Boss: haan to batao Bihari kal tum kya bol rahe the?? kuch shaadi ka bol rahe the??
Bihari: haan sir...ghar wale shaadi karne ko bol rahe hai..
then this discussion went to a long stretch . Everyone put his own thoughts and suggestions.
but, the most interesting part was Bihari's statement:----"Ab jyada jor dalenge to karna hi hoga!!!"

Still not very clear to me..anyways I tried to give my best opinion about what to do if he is ready with the idea of marriage. Also told him to please provide us the ticket along with wedding card.
After all without our dance how can his marriage take place???
So, with this surprise package this day was over.

1st November, 2007
This was the day when madam was to say bye-bye Bangalore!!! I woke up around 11.00 in morning. After sometime I called madam and asked for her schedule of that day and if she has time we can have lunch together. I got a positive response from there. Sorry Bihari..but keeping practical considerations in mind I didn't ask you!! I asked gujju and he readily agreed. We reached to madam's place and then called Baba for the lunch. but, Baba was in no mood to come without makeup. So, Baba asked for some time. We went to a nearby restaurant and Baba later joined us after completing his makeup. We finished our lunch then it was the sutta time for Baba and Gujju gave his wallet that was something Baba will never forget (Baba otherwise nahi lene ka..Gujju ki bhavnao ko smajhne ka!!). After lunch we moved to madam's place to finish her packing.

Though initially we were given access to the very limited area of the house (don't know why???). But after sometime we got the access to the complete house. Then the champagne video came into discussion. Madam was telling that she didn't receive that. But, the real problem was that madam didn't look at the mail. Baba was putting all his creativity in explaining that video. So, finally madam decided to watch that video. Who was knowing this step will lead to one of the embarrassing moments for people there. She opened the mail and directly played the video attachment. What the hell was this happening??? I didn't have any clue...the only thing I knew by that time that Baba had played that video successfully. But here something else was playing!!!!!!!!!!! Next question was directed at me. "Tu sahi video mail kiya hai na??"
My answer was yes as baba has already confirmed that he watched the video!!! Also, that video playing in front of me(though for a small moment) was new!!! So, I was nowhere the source of this video. But for few moments this video put me in a clueless situation. This would have been a more entertaining topic if I would have not sent that mail or someone like Baba would have got a glimpse of the video!!!Anyway this episode was over very soon. After sometime boss called that he was on the way and he will be coming in few minutes. So, after sometime boss arrived and today he was before the time!!! He was then briefed about the protocols to follow while sitting at this place. After some light talks the time to leave for station came. The discussion about leaving early or on time ended. Baba had some pre-scheduled important meetings and Gujju had booked the ticket of "Jab We Mat". So, they formally said good bye to madam in their own style. I, madam and boss left for Bangalore City station. Just few minutes after leaving madam's place I received call from Langda (Bihari). He inquired about the things (He uses to keep himself updated about every khabar!!!) and then told me to pass the phone to boss and then discussed something important to boss. Bangalore traffic was in no mood to forgive us for a day...everywhere it was huge rush of traffic despite of a public holiday!!! Anyhow we were approaching city station in time. Suddenly near Corporation circle boss asked, what is the source station?? I just looked at the ticket and it was Bangalore Cantt!!!! One more surprise.....fortunately we left early for station.....boss made some calculations and turned the car towards Cantt station. Boss told that this train must be starting from City station. We tried to get the time of train at city station but by that time we reached Cantt. Now boss was here to show the energy and stamina of maggi...he carried the heaviest luggage with him and successfully crossed the platforms. Though I was suspecting every moment that tomorrow he will definitely be not feeling well!!! It was still 15-20 minutes left in the arrival of the train. Boss asked us for coffee/tea. just hearing coffee...madam repeated coffee for 2-3 times and then boss asked..what??? Then on not getting any answer..he spoke.."ye kya kuch bol ke chup ho jate ho tum log!!!" Then I told that it has to do with some mail....then he asked to forward that mail..I asked madam to forward the mail..but she put some excuse..that she would not be able to forward that mail(though I insisted that please elaborate the coffee story to boss!!the simple question...what do you think of coffee???). After few minutes one of her friend arrived at station and then the train arrived. While she was boarding to the train....I got a call from Langda..but sorry Langda..I was not able to pass the cell to madam. So, I briefed Langda about the events...After few moments train started slowly to leave the station and our raising hands were saying good bye!! Though there was no emotional drama visible..this was definitely a heavy moment..for someone who was leaving the city after spending 3-4 good years..for me also it was a heavy moment..it was the end of good friendship times we enjoyed. I also received few uncalled titles because of this friendship!!!!
So, after the departure of train I, boss and her friend returned in the boss' car. While we were about to reach my house I received a call again..no prize fro guessing this was again a call of Langda..This time he was in no mood to to spare me..He started.." aur good bye kar diye madam ko?? aur ye kya?? tum saale ek cell phone nahi de sakte the.itna bhi dimag nahi hai..ek akeli ladki train se ja rahi hai!! yahi thi tumhari dosti..ek ghatiya sa Nokia 1100 bhi nahi de sakte!!..." and he went on....I was just hearing all this..i tried to clarify.."yaar tu bol to sahi raha hai..but yaar us samay socha nahi!" Then he came again.."tum saale info box...sahi time pe kuch dimag lagate hi nahi..main yahan yeh soch paa raha tha aur tum wahan pe hoke kuch nahi soch paye!!" I tried to give more excuses..but he was in no mood to accept any of these. Anyway the fact remains in no way one person can replace the other...so, Bihari..I can't think of what you can easily...so sorry once again..as I failed to think where it was needed!!!

2nd November, 2007

This was again a big day for me. After all I was to leave my first job/company. But, things have gone in such direction during last few months so that I didn't have any good feelings about the company. So, I was waiting restlessly for this day. After waking up around 11.30 AM, I reached office around 1.00 PM. Then I, Baba and Gujju went for lunch. From 2.30 PM I started the exit formalities with full pace because I was in no mood to come again on some other day just for these formalities. By 4.00 PM I gave the exit interview form to Amresh and was waiting for Exit interview and signature from Administration person. Earlier Amresh told me to wait for few minutes and then he will call me for exit interview. But , after browsing through my exit interview form he changed his mind (Form was full of bitter facts and experiences)and it was Soumya who was going to take my interview. About 5.45 PM my exit interview started and to surprise everyone it lasted for almost 45 minutes. This was somewhat longer than my selection interview of the same job!!! I was asked to elaborate each of my answers which I had written in the form. I was also enjoying this. Elaborating all those bitter facts and my bad memories was giving me great satisfaction!!!! Also, this was very enjoying because of the fact that at the time of job interview..there was so mush on stake..this time nothing was on stake!!! Even during my worst time in future(if it comes!!!) I will not be looking back to these people or this company!!!
After this interview I was a free bird!!! Again it was the daftar time. Boss was on the way to daftar..Today I couldn't be the part of meeting. I had to leave for Chennai to write my subject GRE in Computer Science. Now, I am tired of these Exams. What a wrong moment when I took the decision to write so many exams!!!! As boss reached the office(Qwest) to pick me..It was the Bangalore rain which forced Baba to also come in the car(kitna badtameez hai ye Bangalore ka Baaris..samajhta bhi nahi..weekend pe Bike ki kitni jaroorat hoti hai Baba ko!!! ab Baba ko wpas daftar se lautate hue bike le jana padega!!Bike bina to baba weekends pe jee hi nahi sakte!!! Pure Bangalore ka chakkar lagana hota hai!! Waise bhi baba ke multitasking me bike ki kaafi ahmiyat hai!!) After coming back home I packed my bag and move towards station to catch the train to Chennai. I was really feeling free and relaxed. Leaving Qwest was giving me a great comfort and satisfaction!!!

I reached station and occupied my berth. It was still half an hour in departure. All the happenings of recent days started to flashback in mind!!! How things have shaped during recent days. After diving through those memories of old inning I started to think about the new inning which is waiting there for me with open arms. Let us see the more waves of changes and what they will do??

Nepotism of modern Indian politics and its ugly face

The developments which took place in Karnataka politics during last one month has once again uncovered the black faces of mean and opportunist Indian politician. Nepotism has not been a new phenomena in Indian politics or say world politics for that matter. But, the events associated with nepotism that happened during the last one decade is striking the alarm to remind citizens about the beginning of a worse era of Indian politics than ever before. Nepotism is not the only one weak aspects of Indian politicians. In fact there are endless list of wrong thing associated with politicians in India. But, this shameless show of nepotism is reflecting their shortsightedness and how they consider politics as a family run business rather than discharging their responsibilities in professional manner. For the sake of immediate gain of their loved ones how these politicians have crossed all the limits and forgot all the basic principles of politics. To fulfill their and their relatives desire they turned blind eye towards rest of the world. They also forgot the very basics which have raised them to these heights.

During last decade we can find some high profile example of nepotism which murdered the principles and meritocracy(if exists!!!!) in Indian politics. First example goes back to 1996, when in Bihar an uneducated, housewife Mrs. Rabri Devi was made the chief-minister despite of presence of several senior, educated, experienced and competent for that matter leaders in party. Another incidence took place probably in 2006 when ShivSena supremo BalaSaheb Thakrey preferred to sideline his nephew Raj Thackrey to make the way for his son Udhav Thackrey. It is not hidden to anyone how competent a leader is Udhav Thackrey when compared to Raj. So, the real face of Bal Thackrey has come in public. A person who just used to talk about bravery and courage can't take a brave decision because this will annoy his son. Shame on you BalaSaheb and shame on citizens of Maharashtra who made this coward person as a symbol of bravery!!! These two are just the showpiece of this kind of events which took place during last decade.

The current mean show of nepotism has crossed all the limits and has taken the Indian politics to a new low. How, a former prime minister of India has behaved like a flip-flop controlled robot. That robot has just forgot his stature and dignity attached with that post he held earlier. He formed a party called JD(S), S for secular, to be in a separate line from that followed by BJP. But in early 2006, it came to getting the chief minister post for his son, he shouted much but reacted like a paralyzed person. He just acted in a manner that he was helpless. His son became chief minister of Karnataka with the support of BJP and signed a pact(political 20-20 even before it arrived in cricket!!!) which itself shows the desperation of politicians to get the power. After that for almost 20 months, this Ex-Prime minister didn't have any problems with a communal party like BJP. But as soon as it comes to power transfer as per agreement, this person started to suffer from so many incurable diseases caused by BJP alliance that no political doctor found its cure. How can one would have found after all it was the putramoh rog !!! He and his son betrayed BJP and even made some baseless claims. This was really a kind of unique betrayal even in Indian politics. If someone of that stature can betray to a written agreement at this stage, may god help people in keeping promises?? almost a week of political drama and halt was really a bad chapter in politics of Karnataka and moreover in politics of India. President rule was imposed in Karnataka. Father and son both tried their best to get supports from elsewhere like Congress and independents.
The Big Mistake: Father and son commited--> During all this circus they both just forgot the human(Esp. politician) instinct. If they are so shameless in the hunger of power then what about other of their party men??? It is still 20 months left in the completion of terms of this assembly. So, who is willing to waste the 20 months of his 60 months quota??? Result is now crystal clear. When party MLAs tried to form a government with support from congress with splitting JD-S. Suddenly this old bastard has forgot all the problems associated with BJP. Esp. at a time when media is uncovering the communal face of BJP. Now, they are in a hurry to support a BJP government. Only the time will tel what will happen to their opportunist effort. Even from BJP leadership's perspective, the CM in waiting Yeddirappa is also desperate to become CM. He is again ready to swing in the arms of a partner which issued divorce notice even before marriage!! May god help these politicians and moreover voters of India.

If we look closely at this trend of nepotism in Indian politics, just by looking at the above examples we can say this is not a phenomena bounded by regional factors. Bihar, Maharashtra, karnataka..it is omnipresent. The only thing we can say is that this trend is dominant in regional parties. But if we analyze the scenarios we will find that this is nurtured by national parties. Even in case of Karnataka, just to weaken its arch rival Congress, BJP signed such a mean agreement. So, most of the time national parties behave in an opportunist manner that results in some short term gain for some regional parties and to some extent to that national party. Though Leftists are the real hindrance to country's development, I like one thing about them is that there is no place of nepotism in left parties.

At a time when globalization is a worldwide phenomena and we are talking of boundary les world our politicians have failed to come above these family barriers. This is the high time for the citizens/voters of the country to respond to this call before it becomes too late!!!

An unusual evening at Mojo

This was one of the such evenings I will never forget and will cherish forever. After ten days of vacation at home I was back to work on Tuesday (31st July) afternoon. On reaching to office I received warm greetings from our gang members as per my expectations. Then sweets which I brought with me were on distribution. I also received some uncalled congratulations because of sweets. It was already few minutes past 1 PM and also I was too hungry so immediate work to be finished was getting food that could have satisfied my hunger. Lunch started with our usual discussions. Of course, I was the day's prime target!!!!!!! After all it was ten days ago when I would have been the target (but as far as I can recall ten days ago it was the day of one and only one the grt BIHARI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he was the centre of attraction that day!!!!!). Then the planning for the evening's celeberation was on the agenda. After all it was not just that I joined the gang after ten days but, the eight characters (Akhil(BHAI.......my mistake....I am still trying to rectify this mistake......., Arup Malakar(MALA), Ashish, Suresh (Bihari), Priyabrata(PK), Rohan(BABA) , Deep and myself ) of this blog were gathering at evening after a very long time (though few months.....but really long taken in consideration of working together earlier or meeting at various pubs usually twice a week). what a great day it was...I was back after the vacation, Akhil was back to bangalore after a short trip of US, PK was also back to Bangalore a day ago and Ashish was also in Bangalore because of some of his official work. So, all we started to discuss was timing and venue for the reunion party. About venue everyone was convinced with MOJO(our homeground) and about timings also nobody had any objections with evening.

So, at 5.30 PM, PK arrived at Qwest and we went out to cafeteria and started discussing a wide range of topics. But, today the highest priority topic was 60% ratio in PK's company. After chatting for sometime I received a call from Ashish telling that he would be available after 7.00 PM. Then Bihari called our busiest gang member (Akhil....commonly known as Kaamdev..because of his love for work or atleast as he pretends!!!!!!). Bihari also fixed the schedule with Mala. About 7.00 PM, we were about to leave office for Mojo...but it's the real devil....Bangalore's rain...it truely obeys Murphy's law. Till the time you are inside your home or office there will be no rain in Bangalore, as soon as you come out it will start poring heavily. Anyway, jab irade itne majboot ho to baaris aur toofan kya?? We took an autorickshaw and reached Mojo after covering 3-4 KMs...(all credit to Bangalore's one way roads.that forced us to reach 1 Km far destination after covering 3-4 Kms).

Around 7.30 PM we arrived at MOJO. Surprisingly despite of a weekday Mojo was almost fully occupied. Fortunately we managed to get a big table(sufficient enough to accommodate 8 persons) very soon. ohh....I saw Mala walking on his one and a half tang.......during my vacation his bike skid while returning to room after drinking.....Bangalore's rain was the culprit here also!!! For me it is still not clear who is responsible for Mal's this condition....Deep and Ashish are the two prime suspects. Anyway Mala was reminding me of Chandraswamy with his one and a half tang looks. Very soon all the eight persons were there and our usual protocols at Mojo. So, the first order was two pitchers of beer and some snacks.It was not just Mala who had a different appearance but there were a lot many surprises. Akhil's swelling tummy was forcing everyone to go for some interesting comparasion or infer amusing facts from this. So, there were a lot many guesses about the number of months to how many this tummy contains??? Even people started to discuss Karm-Kukarm theory behind this tummy.

For me this evening at Mojo was very different from my earlier evenings. I have stopped drinking and smoking about a month earlier. Though after that I have been at pubs with our gang and have taken mocktails!!!! But, this is the first time at Mojo after stopping drinking and also this was perhaps the first complete reunion after that....So, I was expecting that it would be really very difficult for me to resist today. As per expextations, before going for their first mug of beer, everyone started requesting, threatening, forcing.....me to drink. But, I was very inflexible and was in no mood to drink. So, everyone tried his best to convince me...it was like a board interview for me in which every member of board was applying his all the best techniques. Request, threat, abuse, senti, some unprintable dialogues were there for me. It was really a tough choice for me. Refusing to their request especially on such occasion was really something which I would never love to do. But at the same time I was in no mood to drink so, I had to go for this. The very obvious question everyone was asking... kisi ne kasam de di hai kya??? Koi mannat man rakhi hai kya?? ..a many more similar sort of questions... Even I am not very clear why I stopped drinking and smoking....but I want to stop it for more time... It may be the part of my love for changes..so, after drinking frequently for quite sometime now I want to stop for sometime!!!! So, after more than 30 minutes of this drama people accepted that I was not going to drink so they started with Bottoms-up.

Realizing that they have wasted about 30 mins in convincing me all were in the mood to go faster. Surprisingly today PK was also not drinking. We were going great, party was in full swing ..everyone was enjoying every moment of it. more and more beer were coming to our table....baba n mala were more than happy as songs playing there was very much familiar(Floyd, Nirvana, Eagles....) which is not a usual case at Mojo. Mala was busy in head banging after opening his hairs....Ashish was trying to imitate baba n mala...showing him like a crazy rock fan!!!!!! Deep was lost in thoughts as usual...Pk had the same deadly smile....for PK it is immaterial whether he is drinking or not??? Akhil was pretending to drink lesser as his parents were at his place.I tried to click some interesting photographs!!!!!!!!But as I was not drinking..so everyone together was there to stop me..so I was enjoying gobi manchurian, popcorns n watching these guys njoying their drinks n rock!!! Just all of this was not enough...I was thinking that Mojo has become monotonous place for us...We can't have more fun at this place we used to have. Later this thought was proved wrong and given me a strong feeling that at any stage of anything there is always a scope for improvement!!!

So, many more happenings were waiting. This time ot was something unusual....A guy sitting with the group in front of us started staring Mala continuously..... Then he came and sit at one empty chair near our table...then started interacting with Mala...By this time some of us realized this unusual behavior. Then he told Mala that he was looking exactly same as one of his friends (I forgot the name!!!!!!). Starting with some senseless chat with Mala that guy tried to mixed up with our groups. By that time Mala also sensed his intentions (though still unclear!!!) so, he shifted to the corner and sat at maximum possible distance from that confusing character. Then it was again time for everyone to give his expert suggestion and comments on this incident.
So, Bihari started-"Bhaiyon..aaj ke baad main to baal bade nahi kar raha!!!". What a timing??
That guy approached Bihari(Suresh) and spoke-" Hi, I am Raj. You look very similar to one of my close friend Bobby!!!". Then Baba(Rohan) started his long lasted chat with that guy and gave hime Bihari's cell No. Then this whole incident become too messy and people (Bihari, Baba and Deep) started the big fight. These guys were really crazy. Though the uncalled guest was gone but here these three guys were trying to kill each other with there innovative abusive WMD. After sincere request and intervention by rest of the gang mebers these guys were finally calm.

With so many happenings, we have already the almost closing time of the pub. This was a common happenings whenever we gather at Mojo. Whatever be our arrival time at Mojo after 5.00 PM, we left that place at the end only and that also after the waiter's repeated request about closing time.So, today also nobody was in the mood to leave this place. We started singing our own numbers because the music was off by that time. What a great performance by Baba...he sang so many Hindi tracks that I was hearing for the first time and truely speaking hardly there was any song which I have heard for double digit times. After a long pleading by the waiters, we finally came out of Mojo. Oh...it was raining outside, though not heavily at that time but sufficient enough to wet you thoroughly till you reach home.

Baba and Bihari was still in full form just like..."Mahfil to abhi jawan hi hui thi!!!". So, Baba was again singing from his own antique collection of Hindi Songs. Suddenly Baba was shouting at everyone "saala koi gaa hi nahi raha" then it was humble response form everyone "Baba aisa gaana aap laye kahan se ho??Yaad hoga tab na gaenge!!". But, Baba is known for his stubbornness so, he continued with his innovative numbers. The must interesting thing was that he had song for every gang member.After standing, singing, dancing and discussing the immediate course of action in that rain which was intensifying with time made them feel that they ahve the defeciency of alcohol again. So, the waiter of Mojo was asked to arrange some more alcohol at 12.00AM in night and that waiter went with Akhil and brought three bottles of beer. Then my house was chosen as the place for further happenings. Bhai(Akhil) ..aadat se majboor..bhav khana start kar diya!!! At the end everyone was convinced to be the part of further happenings.

Around 12.30 all of us gathered at my house. Then it was an openfloor discussion going on. There was a new joinee to this discussion- Ankur Bhatia(Bhattu). I started to click some of the unforgettable KODAK moments but it was not my day after all....A number of threats and unprinttable to me!!!!! Camera was taken out of my hand. I was the part of those KODAK moments then. After an hour of open floor session...everyone was feeling sleepy and started to leave for his place. So, the great evening was finally over.

This was an unforgettable as well as an unusual evening for me. I ws enjoying the great reunion at Mojo and that from the other side(not my usual side till this day!!!). But, this side was also very interesting. As, I am fond of changes, I enjoyed this very much.

Mind your language

It was a usual dull and hot (though not like North India)Monday afternoon. I managed to enter my office around 1.00 PM(Thanks to a personal loan call). Despite of my several short-lasting sincere efforts during last one year, by now I have happily accepted the fact that I am not meant for coming office early in the morning. More importantly, how one can avoid sleeping during morning (this is one of the wonderful habit developed during four years of IIT hostel life, though there are many more habits but need not to be mentioned here!!!!).

As soon as I entered the office a group of goons of my company(not my offence...this is how people in my company refer our group) forced me to go for lunch. Then it was our usual lunch discussion again. Usually, the food is so pathetic, it is practically impossible to have your lunch without having interesting discussions on a variety of topics. Though a wide range of topics are discussed during the lunch but there are a few selected topics without discussing them we never finished our lunch. After being in IIT for four years and then working in Qwest for last one year (height of loyality) has made us such that presence of females (esp. if beautiful) near by us make us behave differently. The following para briefly describes this change in behavior.
One of my friend couldn't work that day she (someone special...though for a little time) came and when she didn't come his emotions didn't allow him to work!!! another friend of mine started feeling the hotness of weather and suffocation of closed office building when he found a vacancy near a hot-seat!!! another one didn't miss a single opportunity to be close to any of the females, even after doing the atyachar on one sharif dost for last several years he was not ready to put him ahead in any of these situations. Another one was very happy in enjoying the rain from the balcony itself instead of getting wet!!!

So, the lunch started with discussing the angels. How one got extra power (like Hritik in Krrish) on thursday night and how one shouted about it in Barista(like Sunny in Gadar) were the most interesting topic to discuss. Then the another topic of common interest came in. How are we going to manage the tickets of POC this Thursday evening (thanks to Manhattan Cards....1+1 tkt on Thursday at INOX!!) , I asked. Answer was obvious we definitely book the tickets on Tuesday. Then abusing this company and its management (this time reason was justifiable...no water cooler for last one month and finally today water cooler is back after servicing..also abusing the company is one of the best timepass I enjoyed during last one year, because nobody has any objection or reservation about it) made the discussion and more importantly lunch interesting. After all this it was my turn to get interviewed. I have started my GRE preparation 1-2 weeks ago. Now I can understand how tough this decision is for me. How difficult is memorizing word-list for me (Despite of my sincere effort, I struggle to get the output of even one third of time spent, but again not my fault..born as a Bihari, graduated in Computer Science and now working as a Software Engineer... There is not a single point of my life which is even close to these painful English words!!!!). But, discussion about my preparation is also one of the common point of discussion nowdays. Sometimes compliments like "Ab India me rahne ka bilkul irada nahi hai" reminds me of my preparation.
After discussing all these interesting topics I was feeling more energetic and the dullness of afternoon was not very influencive. As I directly went for lunch so, the morning rituals (checking mails of Outlook, code updates, graph generation, looking at number of defects) were still left to finish. Though I belong to the team which has very high workload, I have almost no work nowdays. This forces me to explore different wy to pass the office time.
So, I started with rituals one after another. I saw one mail sent to me personally (during last couple of months our team has been added to n number of mailing groups..so usually it's the useless group mails are there in outlook). I scrolled through the mail and then the obvious reaction in mind was this had to happen!!!
"Avinash,

When email goes out to the whole group try to lower your language. "
This was the response from one my senior On-Site team member after reading my mail on Friday. On Friday one issue was discussed in mail. The mail was travelling across the company and n number of people were replying the mail with their expert comments. As, that issue could only be looked after our team so I started looking into that and after scanning 10-15 MB (my good luck..else this count would have been around 50 MB) of logs I got the reason behind the issue and replied back mentioning the error by another team which needs to be fixed. Then I received reply of my mail with expert comments.
"In first instance this is not a new change and appears from long time. This is has been tested successfully by Business. I don’t think this is the main cause."
Now one can easily understand what could have I done after reading this reply. I scanned through those MBs of log file and found the reason then these people (during all previous mails they were no where near finding the reason even gave us the incomlete logs....so that forced me to run the batch utility and get the logs) were trying to impose their expert ideas in this solved problem. What I am still trying to decipher is wht they actually wanted?? You don't know the solution and when somebody is providing you the solution and then you are trying to impose your ignorance to this solution. So, you really need the solution or just wanted to stretch this mail sequence!!! So, my instant and impulsive reply to this mail :
"This is the only cause ....................................................
.......................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................
Does it make sense??
.........................................."

and then I got the mail to soften my language. I replied that mail also......
"Sorry for the harsh language used in that mail. I will try my best to take care of it in future.

Actually, after scanning through several MBs of logs..I found the error an then someone tried to impose his expert thinking on it. That frustration resulted in this harsh mail."

These mail sequels screwed up all the happiness of our lunch session discussion and made the day even more dull and clumsy.
But, honestly as replied in mail, I can't control my reaction which will result from any kind of frustration (As a Software Engineer you need not to worry about the reason for getting frustrated. You will always have more than one with you.......females, work-pressure, contarstly sometime no works....appraisal...job change, higher studies.....and many more always welcoming you!!!). So, precisely I can say I will try my best but it is lamost impossible for me to be sweet everytime to everyone!!!!

The desultory verdict of UP polls

The much talked hype and hoopla about assembly polls in the biggest state of the largest democracy is almost over. The long stretched five phase elections, pre-poll surveys and exit-poll analysis by burgeoning news channnels and highly optimistic statistics given by netas are the things of past now for the people living in this political battleground. But, all the fuss about this election is quite natural. This assembly poll's result was the determining factor in selecting the next president of India. Also, when about two years from now another parliamentry election will be around the corner, these result provides the report cards of minors to do the perfect prepration for the final examination.

People across the country (even those who are living outside UP) have started feeling the heat of the result. Amar Singh (the most powerful dalla of Indian poltical arena) started to think jail as a peaceful place. Big-B, who enjoyed the status of a farmer for last several years (thanks to his proximity to the biggest political broker---modern days version of a dalla --Amar Singh, otherwise everyone is very much clear about how a hardworking farmer is Big-B), is no more a farmer. Anil Ambani, who was racing blindly in the billion dollar race to get ahead of his biggest rival (Mukesh) received a series of jolts (first it was Noida SEZ then his dream project--Daadri power plant). Apart from these big impacts the babus , bahubalis, chamchas etc belonging to different groups have also received the blessings or abuse of behenjee.

But none of the above mentioned incidences would have a long term impact on the political scene of this state or country. One significant but less talked implication of this poll results is that though this country is fighting with the fundamental problems like poverty, illiteracy, corruption but it is no more living in the glory of past and not ready to submit itself to mere charisma of someone and most importantly is coming out of royal sickness.

Definitely, Rahul Gandhi's poltical capability should not be questioned on the basis of UP poll results. But, the manner in which Congress organized its poll campaign in the state one thing was clear that it was not fighting the election instead it was trying to project Rahul as a well accepted leader of masses. Unfortunately, the result tells the different story. Voters of state made it clear that mere charisma (if Rahul has!!!!) is not going to give a longlife to dieing soul of congress in the state. One thing Rahul must understand is that he doesn't have those liberties which his father enjoyed during his time and got the PM's hotseat in a just few years after leaving his pilot's job. During these two decades country and mindset of its citizen has changed fundamentally.

During his much hyped UP campaigned Rahul mostly talked about Babri demolition, Bangladesh formation etc. Unfortunately Rahul failed to emulate his father. Rahul committed a blunder by just repeating the past glories about his family and party. In his early days his father succeeded in this. But at that time scenario was completely different. it was the time of (there is no alternative) choicelessness in the Indian politics. The present generation voter is no more ready to live in the glory of past. The present generation believes in learning from past, living in present and think about future.

There are many fundamental differences in circumstances under which Rajeev was in Indian politics and presently Rahul is tring to prove himself as a mature poltician(no more a bachcha)!!
Firstly, Rajeev enjoyed the extreme loyality of his royal guards(Even in their late 60's 70's they gave their full respect and were submissive to this Nehru-Gandhi heir in his early 40s.). The condition is different here for Rahul. Though there are a handful of Eklavya(The Royal Guard!!!) are there with Rahul but, they all are even not in a position to carry there weight on their own feet. These Eklavya are not capable enough to influence the current generation masses and have no grip over party youth cader. They are just loyal to encash their in loyality.
Secondly, the thinking process of masses (especially youths grown up during last two decades) has changed fundamentally(thanks to the era of globalization). These youths are no more submissive to anyone(even if he or she belongs to a royal family). This generation is promising but ambitious and optimistic but practical. Apart from these, there are many more major nad small differences.

These differences clearly indicates the different graph of growth of political career of Rajeev and Rahul(even if we extrapolate Rahul's graph over a certain period of time). Sorry Rahul...but truth, you need to have patience because in no way you are going to get that political transition like your father ( in almost no time from pilot to PM). You need to be more mature in expressing your ideas, develop leadership qualities , be futuristic and most importantly deliver the result in due course of time. Please don't rely on your glorious family past!

The verdict of this poll has shown certain fundamental changes in the mindsets of masses but, there is not a complete shift or only positive changes. After almost more than a decade voters has given a clear mandate to one party(Hopefully this government will last for 5 years). Unfortunately, this is not the result of visionary thinking of masses. Infact this is the result of myopic thinking of voters, dirty caste-politics and needy coalitions. Looking at the portfolio of ruling party and its legislators it is crystal clear that citizens of UP should not expect much economic development and perfect law and order. When the agriculture's contribution to GDP is falling drastically across the country(even across the world), it is the hightime for a state like UP whose economy is totally dependent upon agriculture to look for opportunities in other sectors and face this challenge and threat to economy boldly. Unluckily, Behenjee doesn't seems to be the right person to tackle these complicate issues. The fundamental problem is that she lacks a vision. She knows how to pull votes but not how to create employment, knows how to give Dalits there social and poltical dignity but not what to do for their economical upliftment. Sorry citizens of UP...Don't expect much ...except goons belonging to Samajwadi Party will be behind the bars.. but their jobs will be done by those of BSP.

In total, this poll verdict has a number of short and long term impacts on the future of this state and moreover to this country. For Congress it is an alarm(Especially after losing assembly elections in Punjab and Uttarakhand) to wake up from the dreams and be ready to face the reality. If Congress is looking to perform well in 2009(Hopefully!!) parliamentry polls, it needs to learn from the mistakes of this election. Congress need to give bigger roles to its youth brigade in terms of cabinet berth and organizational responsiblities. Throw out the loyalists (in their late 80's ..still not ready to come out of politics!!). Just appeasing the left by making a hopless statement at CII meeting can help in running this government for five years but definitely not help in regaining the power. So, in this need of time congress has to deliver not just to promise.

Hopefully someday voters of UP will give mandate on the basis of fundamental issues like development instead of current issueless mandate. Someday UP will be above caste-poltics, secular-communal politics!!!!!