Prashant Tripathi

Bangkok - Siem Reap - Phnom Penh - Bangkok - Overland Simplified

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 12:14:00 +0000

After a lot of research online, reading numerous blogs, travel forums I concluded that making the overland trip would be, to quote an unknown source, 'a journey to be undertaken only if you are a masochist'. Numerous reports of touts, cartels of taxi & bus drivers, corrupts officers at checkpoints more so on the Cambodian side, made me expect the worst. At some point I was even confused whether I would make it all, whether I should just book an expensive direct flight to Siem Reap.

I'm listing down my experience to help future travellers understand how easy it is & not believe the outdated reports on many travel forums.

Bangkok to Siem Reap via Aranyaprathet (Thai border town) & Poi Pet (Khmer border town)

Bangkok - Aranyaprathet
There were multiple ways to reach Aranyprathet from Bangkok, cheapest being a direct train for THB 48 that takes 8 hours leaves twice a day once in morning and then again in afternoon. Accounts of multiple travellers I met at border confirmed it was comfortable & not prone to delays. Morning train is advisable as immigration offices close at 8:00 pm and you might have to spend the night in a hotel at Aranyaprathet.

Another option was a bus to Aranyaprathet which is what I took. They start leaving from Mo Chit Bus Terminal every 30 minutes from 3:30 am at cost about THB 209. Duration of journey is 5 hours.

Upon arrival at Aranyaprathet, I walked directly to the immigration building, politely ignoring gentlemen who were offering Cambodian Visa and pointing me to go to different buildings.

Inside the immigration building there were counters to take departure stamps & a single counter for people who had overstayed their Thai Visa or wanted a re-entry permit. I applied for re-entry permit as I planned to travel back to Bangkok. Benefit of getting this over the Visa on Arrival while returning is that you don't have to show the require funds in cash (THB 10000) to the immigration officer.

At this point I had my only bad experience entire trip. The lady at this counter asked me a re-entry permit fee of THB 1100. After waiting for about 45 minutes my passport was returned with a stamped permit & stapled receipt. After leaving the building & crossing over to Cambodia, I opened the receipt and realized that actual fee is just THB 1000 and the lady had conned me off 100 baht due to my ignorance.

After getting the departure stamp one move on to the Cambodia side & crosses the road as the Cambodians follow opposite direction driving conventions.

Poipet
Upon entry into Cambodia, there is a tiny office with a single window that offers Visa on Arrival. I paid the $30 visa fee & paperwork. Received the Visa promptly, in about 5 minutes. This is where a lot of tourists report about corruption. I witnessed a gentleman being asked to wait because he wanted Visa on a new passport as pages in old one were exhausted. This special requests probably need a special fee. Though later the tourist in question told me he wasn't asked for any bride and that he himself paid couple of hundred bahts after his issue was resolved.

After walking another 50 metres, I came to the immigration checkpoint, could've missed it and walked straight into Cambodia without arrival stamp save for another backpacker who beckoned me into the office. Took another 10 minutes to line up and get the stamp.

On exiting this office there was a shed with many tourists huddled together. This is where you get a free (yes it is free) shuttle to official (probably it actually is) international bus terminal claimed to be about 1600 metres away (felt about 5 kms). Upon arriving to this terminal there were straightforward options to travel to Siem Reap, $9 for bus, $10 for minivan, & $12 per head for taxi shared by 4 people. I opted for minivan.

Siem Reap
The minivan ride was uneventful. The driver decided it was too cold and switched off the air-con at one point about halfway and didn't turn it back on even after multiple requests.

As you'd have already read, all these transports arriving at Siem Reap do not enter the town or drop you near the city centre. They stop at place about 4 kms from the city and you tuks tuks waiting for you. You talent at haggling/bargain will really come handy at this point. Some of them offer a free ride if you book them for next day tour to Angkor Wat. As I was travelling solo I just paid the tuktuk & rented a cycle later for my tour.

Siem Reap - Phnom Penh

This was a simple one, I bought the ticket from my hostel receptionist with a door pickup. It cost $12 for a VRB (Virak bus) hotel bus (one with flat sleeper beds, good for overnight travel). Later I realized there is popular scam where VRB tickets are sold and later tourists realize that they have to travel on a rickety seater bus rather than the promised luxury travel.

Phnom Penh - Bangkok

I realized all the buses were already booked on this route. I got a ticket for Poipet on Mekong Express minivan at 12:30 am. Beyond Poipet it was a simple task of going through the immigration and getting back on the same THB 209, bus to Mo Chit Bus Terminal.

There are also slightly better ways to make this overland journey easier, such as direct buses that do not require a change of vehicle & tickets can be booked online. Cost about THB 750 for Bangkok to Siem Reap. But all of them were sold out & wouldn't be helpful for impromptu plans.

Good Luck on your journey!

Joint - Combine - Multiple Country Visas

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 09:46:00 +0000

As someone who cherishes solo travelling, I keep looking for information that can be helpful for my future travel plans. One of the most daunting task for any traveler is getting the Visa. If you have planned a multi-country trip on your own, you would have spent hours reading about all the requirements/documents for obtaining the Visa for various countries in the itinerary. It is a major hassle.

But there are these joint or combined Visas that can really reduce this headache. Knowing about them and utilizing them can save a lot of time and help you have the peace of mind while travelling. I googled multiple times to get an exhaustive list of such joint offerings but couldn't find one. So I decided to create one myself. Do send me any information that you've come across in your own research.

Schengen Visa

Probably the most popular one on this list. This Visa offers free movement to 26 countries in Europe. It is also a substitute Visa for non-Schengen agreement countries Albania, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia & Herzegovina if you have a multiple entry Schengen Visa.

Similarly Turkey offers an eVisa to holders of multiple entry Schengen Visa.

ACMECS Visa

This is a newly implemented single Visa for Thailand & Cambodia, available for nationals of 35 countries. Vietnam, Laos & Myanmar are the possible joiners of this scheme in near future.

East Africa Tourist Visa

A combined visa for Kenya, Uganda & Rwanda with no restriction on country of origin. It is a multiple entry visa for travelling in these 3 countries. Tanzania is touted to join this agreement but there has been no confirmed reports if this has happened. Can be obtained online by filing an eVisa application on Kenya's eCitizen portal.

British Irish Visa

Chinese and Indian nationals can visit the UK and Ireland using a single visa when travelling on certain short stay and visitor visas.

Under the British-Irish visa scheme, some Irish short stay visas will allow onward travel to the UK and some UK visitor visas will allow onward travel to Ireland. For example, under the scheme an Indian or Chinese visitor in Dublin will be able to make a short trip to London or Belfast without needing a separate visa. Alternatively an Indian or Chinese visitor in London could travel to Dublin or Cork.

Qatar-Oman Visa

This visa is issued for one month upon arrival. This visa is issued for one month upon arrival at the border for citizens of 33 countries and can be extended for another one month. This visa holder is permitted to travel freely between Qatar and Oman during the validity period of visa.

Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) UNIVISA

The KAZA UNIVISA is a common tourist visa for the SADC region which shall be piloted by Zambia and Zimbabwe for siz months. After the pilot period, the UNIVISA is intended to be rolled out to three other countries in the KAZA region – namely Angola, Botswana and Namibia. More countries in the SADC region are expected to join in the UNIVISA initiative at the later phase.

Currently nationals from 40 countries are eligible for this Visa.

Totems of Indian Youth in 2015

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 07:58:00 +0000

Cashback Toh Banta Hai

It’s no more an ingenious marketing campaign for an upcoming brand to accelerate adoption. Cashbacks have become the new normal. From cabs to self-drive cars, groceries to gadgets Indian Youth today expects deals every time they take a buck out of their wallets.

Pampered by startups that have splurged their Venture Capital for customer acquisition, Indian Youth’s thirst for cashbacks and deals has even affected established brands. They do not want to compromise on quality as well. This new all demanding customer segment knows a bit too many price comparison sites for a marketers liking. The segment has an attention span of a goldfish. They’ll download your app to get that lucrative cashback deal, but don’t expect them to ever use it again unless you delivered Customer Delight in that one tiny interaction.

This new customer segment is taking competition to another level, wafer thin margins, absolutely cutting edge service levels and flawless customer service are just hygiene factors, companies will have to innovate fast to survive and delight the Indian Youth every time to succeed.

Desi is the new Cool

There was a time when SMS-ish texting transformed the lingo of India Youth. Bro’ and buddy were a thing of past. Teenagers were all about dude, ma (my) manh and what not. English was no longer cool, you needed to know the hip lingo.

Fast forward 2015. AIB (All India Bakch*d) rules YouTube. It’s roast video had to be banned. Honey Singh’s erstwhile ‘obscene’ raps are the life of party music. Anurag Kashyap’s GoW dialogues are the source of more memes than all Hollywood flicks combined together.

Desi lingo with all its ornamental abuses are accepted not only by young India boys but the fairer sex approves of them as well.

The trend has not only influenced the way we talk, it has also found its way into T-Shirt designs, mobile covers and every other field imaginable.

Brands like Happily Unmarried, Ustraa, bewakoof.com have identified an opportunity and have successfully appealed to this new Desi aspect of the Indian Youth.

Social Media Activism

There was Social Activism and there was Media Activism, the young India chose the best of both worlds and created something new. The Social Media Activism.

In past few months the young India has successfully made its opinion resound in the power corridors of the country. Whether it’s the case of porn ban, or net neutrality or eve teasing. Twitter has directed the debate on national issues. Facebook shares have brought down the brought local issues to national attention. YouTube videos have rattled like of Unilever.

This new trend has proved that Indian Youth is no longer disinterested, it has the power to utilize media and communication technologies for social and political movements.

Looking beyond stereotypes and generalizations!

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 15:48:00 +0000

I was onboard Aeroflot flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Had dozed off and woke up with a start as the plane landed. As it taxied through the runway, instead of standing up and reaching out for their baggages as they do in India, to my surprise passenger on the flight started clapping. I was clueless as to what just happened.

Had it been just few weeks earlier, I'd have formed some opinion about this event and moved on. But today I'm an enlightened man. After attending the Cross-Cultural Management course, I know its important to know, why does it happen? Peculiarities of each country, their eccentricities, whims and fancies! It all happens for a reason.

Why are Indian always late? Why do Saudis treat women.. erm so badly? Why are Danes known for innovation?

All these and more can be explained. Cultural dimensions. It is possible to analyse each and every country's DNA using these dimensions and understand the nuances of their cultures.

Such learnings form CCM have been immense, though like any other MBA course, once you know them you feel like they are common sense. But as they say common sense is not so common after all. The classroom was in itself a very interesting composition of various cultures. You could just sit back and observe people and learn a lot. Something I'm sure I did very well. European students would argue and challenge things that Indian students would accept as facts, just because they were being told by the Professor. This is the effect of difference between power distance in the two cultures.

Having participated in Prof. Viji's another course earlier, my initial expectations from this course were that it will be jam packed by activities conducted by her that will help us understand various theories etc. They make the whole course experience fun. Contrary to this, this time around the classes were more of experience sharing sessions, discussions were usually led by the students, instead of relying heavily on PowerPoints. This made them more engaging. As you had to keep thinking and introspecting throughout to understand and validate with personal examples whether what was being said was right or wrong!

Apart from the classes another very important value addition from this course was the group assignment. Sticking with the same group for so many activities helped us understand each other better. Here too, the method of group formation ensured that there was sufficient diversity within the group. We had a good time preparing for the final presentation. There were idea and ego clashes. Social loafers were confronted for the first time by the group in my 2 years at DoMS. People were shouted upon. The German obsession for quality made us actually rehearse our presentation with a stopwatch on. Indians who love to present impromptu had to carry cards to ensure they speak only what they are supposed to. Germans who reach to meetings 5 minutes earlier to be on time, would come 20 minutes after the scheduled time to ensure that they reach together with their Indian counterparts.

Probably not needed in this blog, but I have had some very valuable takeways from this course that I would like to enumerate for my own record:

Being honest with yourself about the biases that you hold about other cultures is the first step to actually overcoming them. I personally had so many of them, I'd judge each and everyone on the basis of their background, state, region, country or culture. Our behaviour changes subconsciously towards due to these biases and we do not realise it. During the various activities and interactions in this course I understood that Cross-Cultural Management is all about being unbiased and non-judgemental. Instead of holding the bias that you shouldn't trust people of Bihar or U. P. which people have in their subconscious mind, if you actually interact with them without the prejudice, maybe you'd start to think differently.
Life is easier if you research ahead of time. The final presentations for Cross-Cultural training left me with so many insights about specific cultures that I have decided to make it a habit of doing a brief reading before I immerse myself into a new culture. It helps. You don't want to go to Russia and bad mouth Putin. Souvenirs shops sell T-shirts with Putin printed on them to tourists, they are so proud of him.
Individuals are Individuals. They are always different from their cultures in someway. Not all Muslims are terrorists, neither are all Indians rapists. Generalisations positive or negative shouldn't be whitewashed across an entire community.
Smile is a universal language, it means the same in all cultures. It has helped me get out of tight spots while I backpacked across Tamil Nadu without speaking even a single word of Tamil.
No matter how different we're, we're still the same. Though our differences are real and they makes us experience the same world differently, but at the core all of us are humans with similar needs, desires and instincts.

Suggestions:

Can we celebrate the ethnic day differently? Probably on culture gets a 15 minutes on a particular day, by staggering the food and dresses through the course, they'll get the much deserved attention. On a single day it was all so jam-packed I feel bad on missing out on so many interesting things I could have learned.
A language module can be introduced. Students from each linguistic group get 15 minutes to teach some frequently used words and phrases to others. Personal experience say illa and teriyaada can be used in 500 different forms to make things work in Chennai!

To conclude, I'd like to thank Prof. Viji for another unique experience, Cross-Cultural Management helped me gain valuable exposure into new cultures.

Youth can have political aspirations again

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 17:29:00 +0000

As Arvind Kejriwal swore in as Chief Minister of New Delhi today, I could feel something changing within me. I knew million others of my age would be feeling the same change.

India is young. People talk about the country's demographic dividend. It has been benefiting us in some many spheres of life, the shiniest beacon of this success being the IT Services industry. It has grown at an unprecedented scale in recent past. One field of life which was nearly untouched by this energetic youth was Politics. The most crucial part aspect for any country's growth. Young people like me have been skeptic of joining politics. The reason isn't because they wish to play safe, or because they were no willing to serve the society/country.

I have a lot of talented friends, who are natural leaders. Who have the will to serve the society, but they don't want to join politics. They volunteer for NGOs. Teach in slums, orphanages. Do all sorts of things but do not have political aspirations. Even when they know that, it is the avenue to trigger the biggest change. I

When I turned 18, I was excited, I could vote. I could participate in electing the next government for my state, my country. I went to the polling booth, I was confused. There was no one who I could vote for. None of the contestants were pursuing an agenda which I was interested in. This is the reason why a lot of young people still don't vote.

There has been a buzz in the media. In next general elections there will 120 million first time voters. It is a huge number but wouldn't have been take seriously by the political parties hadn't it been to the turn of events in last 2 years. (An unintended revolution)

Before I delve deeper into what has changed, I would like to enumerate reasons why I couldn't participate in the elections when I was eligible for the first time to vote. There are a large number of political parties in our country, but they have been contesting elections of issues which were relevant back in 1980s. Some parties do stand up for things that look beyond the political horizon, talk about growth and progress, but their are other factors that would hinder an aspiring young leader from joining them.

Congress is the undoubtedly the single largest party in country, with a rich legacy. But today it has degraded into a mediocre undemocratic organization, which bows before 'the chosen one'. The excellent cadre system destroyed, you need to know more about 'chamchagiri' than politics to rise through the ranks.
BJP the only other national party, cannot distance itself from the fundamentalist sister organizations, VHP & RSS. The ideological narrow mindedness means that it will never have the country wide acceptance.
Regional parties like RJD, BSP, SP who cater to a specific target group, generally identified by a caste.

In this political scene, a person would have to make a compromise with himself before actually entering in the fray to do good. I personally registered for membership two times, but couldn't do that.

Nitish Kumar in Bihar seemed the only person who didn't have these vices attached. Maybe a few others in Southern India.

In this environment Arvind Kejriwal has broken boundaries. There is a brand new politics, which focuses on contemporary issues. A person of middle class has reminded us again, that you don't have to belong to a particular family or caste to become a politician. Something which was lost after independence, sons & grandsons ascended constituencies from their fathers.

I'm hopeful again, that politics will once again become a passion, it has been a profession for too long.

This gives me hope: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/lal-bahadur-shastris-grandson-adarsh-shastri-leaves-job-at-apple-to-join-aap/articleshow/28022852.cms

It was not just another HR course

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 20:02:00 +0000

Second day of the second quarter it was the second lecture of the day. The time table said it was time for Individual Dynamics in Organization. An HR course! I had had an experience of HR courses in my engineering days. They were always theoretical, always monotonous, always boring. Whether it was Industrial Psychology or Industrial Sociology, most of them would look appealing in the beginning but after the initial few lectures there would be mass bunks especially planned for them. Not that they weren't interesting, but usually because the class would fail to see what value they would add to an engineering student. Credits and marks for these subjects required just a lot swotting, the last night before the exam.

On these lines were my expectations from this new course. At-least two credits would be easy to earn, one sixth of the quarter was only done. I expected myself to doze in the lectures.

With such stereotype already built in my mind I sat expectantly to see who the professor was, what would be her grading, was she more focused on end-quarter exams or there would be assignments? Will there group assignments or the boring individual ones.

The class started, the professor swept in with a smile on her face. Asked us to form groups of eight. We were to discuss about the best and worst class that we had ever attended. Focusing on those two classes, we had to recall what the professor had done, and what the students had done in those classes.
This was exciting. Everybody had something to share from their experiences in the first quarter. Each group shared their finding with the prof. For best class, professors were usually perceived to be fun, simple to understand, setting easy tests and expecting fewer assignment while students were attentive, interactive and sincere.

At the end of this activity, the professor said that this was supposed be a contract, we were supposed to behave as if we were back in the best class, while she would act like the professor we described from the best class.

It was quite and exciting start for a course. The initial comments at Gurunath after the class were, "Yaar aaj pehli baar laga jaise MBA ki class thi" (First time I felt, I was in an MBA class).

The next few classes were also immersive and interesting. Video clips from movies were an integral part of each lecture, something most of the class would look forward to. Concepts which might take an hour to understand through formal instruction, could be perceived clearly by the class through those 10 minutes clips. In class group activities and continuous interactive learning meant that even the laziest bum would never dream of dozing off in an IDiO lecture. Those two hours were a recharge, between all those mind boggling concepts of Operations Research and Cost Accounting.

My personal belief about all HR courses transformed with this course. Though not sure if I learnt what I was supposed to learn from this course, but this course helped me learn more about me. It helped me define who I was. The MBTI test that was part of the class activity, explained a lot of things about. I realized that the reason why I hated taking all those phone calls, going to all those parties wasn't because something was wrong about me. It was just me being a typical INTJ.

The reflected best self exercise was a similar moment of reckoning, helped me finally get a clear picture of the superman hidden in me. Everybody can't be best at everything, knowing your best self can help you channel your energy in that direction, helping you get sure shot success. This activity helped me in imagining what kind of career would really suit me after my education ends.

Another module that though not formally taught, but rather learnt by us through class presentations and guidance from professor, was on decision making. It only helped changed my attitude that gut feeling and intuition were the right way forward. I have started appreciating the fact that decisions of a group usually are more effective, better, than the decision made by an individual. I have actually changed the way I approach towards taking important decisions. I heed to people's advise even when they suggest something that I'm really against to. Because now I know that maybe I have a bias, which is blocking me perception, not letting me think from a certain point of view. A little introspection has also helped me regret a few important decisions in past which could have been different, had I attended this course earlier.

Class about personality, was another one which forced me to reflect on past events. I could now analyze and perceive the ego states of people when they were performing certain actions, my own ego states which forced me to behave in a certain way.

While each lecture of this course had a unique set of takeaways, two classes were a treat. First being a guest lecture by Mr. Shiva Subramaniam, on creativity and innovation, and other being a conclave of experts from the industry. The conclave bridged the gap between campus and corporate. Hearing those professionals talk about Pygmalion effect, Halo effect in their respective organizations was like a ISO certificate for the content of our course. This was effectively we were being taught what was actually relevant in the corporate world. Importance of an HR course wasn't never so great in eyes before.

The assignments were another learning experience. Coordinating with groups of 8 people to get things done wasn't a walk in a park. It was like managing your own pseudo-organization to attain the objective. Only glitch here was that the deadlines weren't evenly distributed throughout the quarter, some of the assignments that were really interesting got caught into the end-quarter frenzy of submissions, quizzes and presentations. The video making assignment was one of the best assignments we were asked to do in our MBA program. It really helped express what we had learned, with our creativity. Any competitor to this could only be LSG's Systems Thinking assignment.

Overall this course was really a fun and learning experience. It was inspiring too, to see how passionate one should be about things they do. Individual Dynamics in Organizations wasn't just another HR course for me, rather it broke the stereotype that I had for such subjects, helped me appreciate the value of these subjects, would look forward to another same experience in the next quarter.

An end and a new beginning.

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 18:44:00 +0000

Last few weeks have flashed past so fast that I hardly remember any of the events in detail. A journey that began of September, 14th, 2009 ended. Everything that I put together in the period of four years in engineering fell apart in a flash. There was no time for emotions. The world was now glaring at me, it isn't too kind to a graduate. I was well prepared for this moment. I've been hunting down every opportunity that I could lay my hands on, preparing for this moment of realization.

I had secured a job at Tata Consultancy Services Limited through the campus recruitment process. So I wasn't gonna be jobless. But fours years in a private engineering colleges had already taught me one thing: never settle down for what you have. Once you're satisfied with your life; it is finished. This hunger wasn't there when I had finished schooling. At the point of time, I was content. But this time I was ready, I already has decided that before even appearing in the interview, that if I get selected in TCS, I wont join. The offer letter was supposed to be a trophy of my first kill.

I had planned it all through, if I didn't get an awesome job, I'd go for higher education. Get a tag from an Institute of National Importance and bask in the glory of being a part of it for the next two years. Life was kind to me, I fared well in the entire MBA admissions procedure, the CAT, the group discussions and the interviews. I hadn't left Lucknow for most part of the 20 years my existence. If I did, I was only to Allahabad.The whole process of B-School hunting took me to new places, alone. My parents supported me, bearing all the expenses of these trips to Delhi, the tickets, the hotel stays. This exercise gave me a lot of self-confidence. I always was poor in facing interviews in my college life, but those 30 minute sessions with the some of the best professors in country helped me get over this shortcoming.

With God's grace, I secured admissions for MBA in two IITs, I finalized the admission in DoMS Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Though it cannot be said, that it is the best B-School in country, but it is one of the top destinations for MBA aspirants. It has its own set of unique features which one will not find anywhere else in the country. Relative very low fees being one of them. I was happy. Everyone who cares about me, was happy too. An IITian tag would be a blessing for my career. Life was looking good.

Then came this same feeling, which visited me in October, during TCS. Am I settling down with something that isn't the best? I started apply for jobs for the heck of it. My peers find it difficult to travel unreserved in railways and appear in interviews in far off cities in a day's notice. I don't. Those MBA trips, helped me toughen up. So as soon as the final exams ended. I started chasing the recruitment drives of Big names. Got rejected. But it didn't affect me, as I already had a Plan B (MBA) which was as good as Plan A (job).

People thought I was crazy now, wasting parent's money. I was one of them. Felt guilty when I left for Gurgaon, for an interview which I decided would be my last for now. I'd come back and then leave for Chennai to join IITM.

But fate had something else in store, I cleared the process, got selected in Alcatel-Lucent, the company which is has seven Nobel Prizes to boast about. The company that owns Bell Labs, place where C, C++ were invented.

Meanwhile my final year results were declared and I graduated officially, I scored more that I had in the past 4 years.

Anyone would have thought that one would be happy with so much in hand. But everyday when I wake up I'm in strange mental agony. A pain, what to leave and what to take. The strange scenarios of 'What If?' have been swimming in my conscience and I'm in a fix. It is a strange dilemma. What to join, where to go. Do I love technical stuff enough to make a career there. Should I try again for a better B-School. Should I continue with education and become a manager so early in my life.

I'm leaving home tomorrow. For the first time I believe, I don't have a plan. I always thought I was very resourceful, but I guess now the sweet excess of resources, will make sure that I am tormented for the near future with just one simple thought, what would have happened if I had chosen the other way.

Whatever happens now, it is a new beginning in life. Hope I make the most of it.

(After reading this blog post, I feel it seems too much of self flattery. But as Google Analytics has informed me, no one visits this website. So it is more of a personal diary, and I have every right to brag here)

Who Am I?

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 15:34:00 +0000

As an informal assignment the seniors from the B-School that I'd probably be joining shortly, asked us to create a fish-bone diagram or an Ishikawa diagram to answer the question 'Who Am I?'. Though I never submitted an assignment during my graduation, I decided to turn over a new leaf this time around.

An Ishikawa or a fish-bone diagram for 'Who Am I?'

I love it when a plan comes together

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:06:00 +0000

It has been a roller coaster ride since I got my CAT result on 9 January. In this period, I have been to about a dozen of B-school and job interviews where I usually feel nervous, to the dozen of B-school Group Discussion where I feel quite at ease. Interviewed about 50 odd students myself in the recruitment for my Drams club. Organized the Annual fest of my college. And experienced betrayals, success, loneliness, bankruptcy and whatnot.

After three months of doing stuff that I did because 'a man gotta do what a man gotta do' I was finally jobless again on April 15th. I had been busy, but something that was more important than all of this had been put on the back-burner. My final year project. Something that I'd talk about when I'm old and lose all my teeth. The glorious feeling of creating a software system. It took me 6 months to zero down to a topic. I wanted it to be something new, a project which had never been made before. My quest for a novel idea, was unfruitful. So decided to go on an adventure ride on a topic I had no idea about. I have decided to create the replica of Skydrive or the Googledrive. Though it has already been invented, I decided to create a cloud file storage system of my own, which I thought was sufficiently difficult.

I planned it in modules and started working on each of them. First the database part which holds the entire file system of the project. The file system that the user would experience on the CloudDrive (thats what I named it for the time being) is actually as abstraction as the user doesn't have any corresponding folders present on the physical drive storage, its just in the tables. This database can only be accessed from a web-service which rests on the cloud. The tables hold the link to the encrypted files stored on the server which are fetched by the service on requests with valid credentials and access permissions.

The service can be consumed by a host of applications on a browser or native desktop applications and mobile applications.

With this is vague plan of action, I started coding the various modules simultaneously thinking about solution various issues that I came across with as I progressed, like cleaning all the child nodes of a parent directory when it gets deleted. Confirming whether the user has access permissions of a file by traversing the entire file tree until reaching a node where he had been assigned the permissions.

After all the brainstorming and coding today I finally had the system running like any real file system you can come across. Ecstasy was the feeling. The feeling that I'm sure people would get when they invented something. Though this was not an actual invention rather a reinvention or a research

I really love it when a plan comes together.

The file system schema.

The First Battle: down but not defeated

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 19:50:00 +0000

My life has been an easy one. I never had to try hard to get anything. You can say that I have been cruising through these years. Most of this comfort is due to the fact that nobody expected much from me. I've been better than average all through my life, but never the best.

After some odd 20 years of same life, one is bound to get bored. I also fell prey to the same fate. A dormant trait, ambition, activated itself. Now I was wondering how to pull myself out of the stream, in which I had been flowing along for all these years, and which definitely was leading me to a life of mediocre. So I started planning, with my graduation underway, there were two options. A better job or a better education. From my profile I could only land myself a software job, which isn't very hard to get in the current IT boom. Everyone has one. So it was better education that I needed. This path forked out into technical or managerial education. Here it was an obvious choice, management education. High return on investment and a degree that makes you fit for working in almost every field.

So it began, the war for MBA.

I had my hopes high. Great expectations. I wanted to be one of the best. This was the first ever challenge that I took seriously (relatively).

First thing to do. Look for a coaching. I didn't have an idea, with the inflated claims that all of them make, so I consulted a couple of my seniors and went head on into what they suggested.

It was cool for the first three months, had nothing to do actually, you just had to go to the center solve some sheets and do everything that they told you not to. I never solved a question at home. Then came the end semester examinations, here I took an extended break of a month, and didn't go to the center as I was 'busy' with exams.

After exams, I would have carried on with my leisure routing had it not been to an All India Mock, conducted by another reputed coaching where I actually realized that I was on a course of failure. It was too late to mend my ways, it was already July-August, you don't start your preparations two months before the D-Day. So I decided instead of learning the concepts from now on, I'd rather take a couple of Mocks every week and analyze my weaknesses.

The strategy was kinda good, as I didn't have to go through the boring books and prep material, I loved the every new challenge of those 60 questions in two hours twenty minutes and would analyze my performance in every test. Maintained a spreadsheet to track my performance, which peaked in September, I was on fire, I couldn't get any Verbal Ability, Logical Reasoning question wrong, though Quants was a major concern as the performance here fluctuated like an AC Current. In DI the situation was graver, I couldn't attempt all of its questions in any mock.

Still my percentiles were getting rather good, while my raw score also started touching the 95-100 range. I gave CMAT to further analyze my preparation with respect to the competition across the country, and got AIR 660, which was quite encouraging. Now I had high hope for CAT, and I was quite confident that in next session I'll be in an IIM attending some boring Finance Lecture.

Last Month of the Preparation (30 Days to CAT). Here its kinda weird. I took a sabbatical from the entire MBA thing I don't know why, I went to the Cultural Fest of IIML, enjoyed there, then went ahead to a Kanpur trip for IIT's annual fest. My obligations for my dramatics club seemed bigger that anything else at that point, while everyone else was giving finishing touches to their preparation, I was doing plays and mimes.

15 Days Left. After returning from Kanpur, TCS notified that it will be recruiting from our college in the coming week. Of-course CAT was looming on the horizon but, job was the most important priority. So I didn't burden my brain with MBA and related headaches, and coolly went ahead with the placement.

5 Days to CAT. I realized that I had made a mistake all the way through, CAT should have been a priority, vision was clouded with afterthoughts about everything, I took a couple of mocks, and scored a very disappointing percentile. Appeared in NMAT and performed stupidly.

The D-Day arrives. The test went smoothly, I had not prepared for Geometry and Algebra, and left them on chance, if I got sitters there, I'd attempt them or leave. But during the exams, mere sight of a Geometry or Algebra made me skip the question, as the stakes were too high and my appetite for risk disappeared. The DI which was a bane of existence, didn't harass me though, and I did twenty question out of 30 in QA Section. VA & LR section was a sitter compared to the mocks, and I attempted all of the questions. The total of 50 questions that I attempted was the highest total that I had ever did, in all the mocks that I had taken. I didn't know whether my test went good or bad, but I was satisfied with myself in the end.

After CAT the feeling of satisfaction made sure that I went for the IIFT and XAT exam with absolutely no idea, even about the format of the test. (A grave mistake, and a stupidity of my part, both of them were quite easy as I could see.)

At the day of CAT result, I was confident that I'll get more that 95 percentile, even though this was my first attempt. (This knowledge owing to the large number of All India Mocks that I took.) But I wasn't so sure about scoring 98+% or 99+% which would get me to an IIM, the place that I coveted for the last 12 months.

The results were declared at last, after battling again with my fellow competitors for a couple of hours over the CAT server's scarce computing resources I finally saw my scorecard at 5 a.m. on 9th January. I scored Overall 96.28% with 91.00 in Quantitative Ability and 96.91 in Verbal Ability.

All my hopes for an MBA from IIM shattered this time around. I have learnt a lot of lessons from this test.

Before this test I believed there were only two type of people who succeed in this world. Best explained with analogy to Tolkien's Middle Earth:

The smart and intelligent Men who conquer the world with their sharp swords.
The hard working and diligent Dwarfs who achieve their goals with the sheer strength of their blunt axes.

But after CAT when I analyzed the performance of others, especially of people who outscored me, I realized that neither of the two actually achieve glory, for it has been reserved another race of people. The fair Elves, who possess both the intelligence of men, and the strength of dwarfs. They aim for their goals and forget about the world, and with a single arrow, hit the bulls eye, every-time. Out of the 10, 100 percentilers of CAT 2012, 8 were from the famed IIT's. They not only cracked the JEE but also skinned the CAT.

I have a new respect for hard work.

The point has been registered, one experience is enough for life. The last mile is always the most difficult.

Coming next cat I'll be back, with a wiser preparation, which would also have the hard work that a test like CAT demands and deserves. I'm down now, but not defeated.

An unintended revolution

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 10:33:00 +0000

When Anna Hazare sat down for his anshan at Jantar Mantar, on 5 April 2011, he had an agenda on his mind. He wanted to uproot corruption from India. A nearly impossible task, corruption has mingled so beautifully into our social fabric that, that we all have a blind eye for it. When an officer gets a bundle of crisp new currency notes, it is termed as a gift for the family and children. It is never for him. When one has to cough up more money than what is legitimately payable for any government service, one never feels extorted or bribed, it is more likely to be considered as 'Suvidha Shulk' - (Convenience Fee) a small amount of money which one can afford and others cannot. It must really feel good to stamp their financial superiority on others as people cruise up the long line, get their work done while others sweat there for hours. Same goes with our administrators, politicians, representatives and other elected people of authority. When they cut their commission from the public budget, they feel it is morally justified. It is a small compensation for the years of public service, even the people running NGOs draw their livelihood from the donations don't they?

In such social atmosphere how could a person with no organizational support? How could he fight a crusade against corruption? Will people turn against themselves? Was the 'society' mature enough to introspect and clean itself from sins that the members of the society loved to commit?

Anyone with a sane mind would know that this was not even a possibility. Even Hazare must have known, because instead of aiming at corruption in society in general with a cannon, he targeted corruption in politicians and ministers with an sniper rifle.

The rifle that I'm talking about was, the Jan Lokpal Bill, he stated that, 'I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed'. Now people wouldn't have heard this statement had it not been for our sensational media, which love to blow things out of proportion. A quick background check revealed that Anna Hazare was the man, the true underdog, the real David, who was challenging the Goliath (The Central Government of India, the Parliament and all of the political class as a whole). And he also seemed to have a spot clean past with achievements worthy of note (maybe our media was too busy covering the paid news that they forgot to mention Anna Hazare for a decade, while he was encouraging and organizing the grassroots in his village). But here he was now, in New Delhi, openly challenging the most powerful of Indians. Media reacted quickly and Hazare was in the Breaking News tickers, Headlines and everywhere. Public was surely moved. This was the moment of revenge against politicians, an old man forcing the 'kids' of Congress and BJP playschool to drink a bitter tonic. His ways of fast and anshan surely reminded some of Mahatma Gandhi, within few hours, the anshan had turned into an andolan. The andolan transformed into a battle for Jan Lokpal and then into the second struggle of Independence.

When I look back, it seems like a spur of the moment thing, but in the four days that followed, every city of note in India was having protests, dharnas and marches by citizens to rally their support for Hazare. A large number of social workers and reputed personalities came openly in support for Anna and his andolan. India Against Corruption, the NGO became immensely popular.

Interestingly our Government took proactive actions that surprised everyone. They gave in to Anna's demands and formed a joint drafting committee for the bill, which included IAC's representatives. This was a huge endorsement for the entire moment and its cause.

After a few months of deliberations and discussions, the Team Anna and group of ministers fell out and couldn't find any common ground regarding the powers and purview of the proposed ombudsmen. Anna Hazare declared protests from 16 August at Jantar Mantar, government responded by not allowing any protests at that location. Anna was arrested and sent to Tihar Jail of 16th August. This was the moment which completed the plot, and infuriated the whole nation - an oppressive government, a selfless revolutionary, a team of non-violent protesters. Such instances have been too few to count after independence.

The revolution that this movement produced was not the one which its originators expected, the team broke up, a new political party has been formed and it has been about an year since Anna Hazare was in headlines. Media were quick to declare the demise of anti-corruption movement, Arvind Kejriwal, Anna's aide, tried with blitzkrieg style exposures of scam to capture popular support again but the nation has moved on. The 2014 general elections wouldn't be won or lost on the issue of corruption, because the public memory is always limited only to 1-2 years, major issues will again be reservation, caste, religion and other similar topics. The Anna Hazare movement failed to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed, and turn the society at large, against corruption.

Protesters in Hazare Movement

Protesters demanding Anna's release from Tihar Jail.

But even in its failure it achieved something of worth for us and our democracy. Since independence, a new middle class has been created, which lives in relative peace and prosperity, which never experiences oppression, famine or poverty. This class was so content with what it had, that people belonging to middle class didn't even bother to vote in elections. The percentage of turnout in elections in urban areas was so low in recent elections that even politicians stopped giving much attention to this chunk of population. They didn't figure in any agenda or manifesto of any political party. The young generation of this class was busy in social networking, flirting on facebook that they hardly cared to listed to news. I am also a part of this generation. I personally didn't give a damn to the protests, dharna and gherao happening all the time, it seemed like an unfruitful activity carried out by unemployed and jobless people, hired by the political parties just to be in the news. Anna's movement changed this perception. He was asking people to come out for their country, he didn't belong to any political party and didn't claim about any particular religions benefit.

Any person joining him, could feel himself as a fighter, fighting for making his country better. It was a time when the people who were more interested in movies and cricket tuned to hear more about their country. National Flags were in short supply. Gandhi Ashrams the shops that sell khadi, were getting customers who all wanted to buy something that will make them look more Indian when the go out to protest. I talked to a flag-seller who has a permanent shop near the state legislative assembly in Lucknow. He had never sold so many flags in his life. Republic Days, Independence Days came and went and there was hardly any sale, but in this particular period after 16th August, his shop was buzzing with customers. Most of them college going students. Anna has awakened a new generation, which were content to be awake in night, working in call centers and wouldn't have given a damn about who our next prime minister was.

A friend of mine an apolitical person, told me that he didn't care at all. It was a Sunday, while we were arguing, I challenged him to walk with me to the Gandhi park about 10 kilometers away. After an hour of tiresome journey when we reached Gandhi park at the heart of Lucknow city, he was astounded to see the hoards of common, apolitical people who were chanting slogans. Ten minutes later, the guy is busy lighting candles that had fallen or were blown out by the wind.

Protesters comprising of Students and Youth, who came out to express their anger against the gang-rape.

After the recent gang-rape in New Delhi, people were no longer content with updating their profile pictures and status to show solidarity with the victim. A mass protest broke-out in capital which wasn't organized by any leader, any party or any NGO. It was just the middle class and the youth, venting their anger over the issue.

This is a positive change. People now care about how they are governed. Anna Hazare did something which had never happened in 21st century India. Educated people are on the streets. Protesters are no longer the trade union members or peasants. They include graduates, post graduates and professionals. News channels and media may support them for TRP, but surely it is better to watch a new generation demanding for change than to watch Digvijay Singh and Raj Thackeray making nonsensical comments which were then 'debated' and 'analyzed' in the prime time shows.

In the words of a knowledgeable person - 'Middle Class has emerged into being a new pressure group in Indian politics.'

India after Gandhi - Ramachandra Guha

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:05:00 +0000

Cover of the Indian Edition

India after Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy written by Ramachandra Guha. I would just like to thank the author for this great piece of Literature. It has given immense faith to me in Indian Democracy and its eccentric ways. It is a must read for everyone.

I've read books since I was a kid, a journey from Enid Blyton, Hardy Boys to the Classic Fiction of Jules Verne & H.G. Wells, to the fantasy of J.K Rowling and Tolkien, but India after Gandhi was my first venture into the uncharted waters of non-fiction. If it were to normal circumstances I wouldn't have ever come across this book. A lot of credit goes to PurpleLeap, a foe to the student fraternity of BBDGEI, who organized a Blogmaster contest and awarded me with a Gift Voucher of Flipkart to buy an Apple Ipod.

Uninterested in music I browsed through the site and decided to buy books, and bought all the box-sets and collections, and with them I also carelessly bought this book. I wondered if I would ever read whole of this book, which seems an epic of 900 pages.

As I started reading the Prologue of this book, it was literally a moment of awakening. In the opening few pages Guha explains why India is a peculiar nation, why it is an exception to most of the notions of a country. The ideas and facts presented are known to nearly every aware Indian, but when you observe them in the light of comparisons with Europe, America, Africa and other Asian countries, it really makes you feel proud about India. Every page of this books fills the mind with nostalgia.

Guha brings about the best in everyone from the society in this book, the freedom fighter turned politicians are depicted as the founding fathers of the nation. The ICS servicemen who were the perpetrators in the crime of helping an Imperial power enslave their own motherland are also glorified for their services after freedom, which was necessary to bind the different states, with their own culture, language, and glorious history into a single Union of India. He really turns the post-independence India into some adventurous world, just like the Middle Earth. The first general elections after Independence is termed as the biggest gamble in the history of the world. He celebrates the democracy throughout the book, not only in India, but also in Indian National Congress, the largest political party.

The most important thing to note is that even though the writer has researched so much about the entire subject, covering every library, archive and second bookshop from Allahabad to Alabama, from Calcutta to Cambridge, he never seems to present his own point of views in his book, rather every statement of the book is cited with a number of reliable sources, to guarantee that none of it is a figment his own imagination.

Guha presents everything in a manner that makes you become excited as you continue reading about the particular topic. He captivates the reader with such fine details, that things about India, which people hardly notice today, seem like a testimony to its principles of Secularism, Unity in Diversity. The steel plant of Bhilai, where Russians, befriended Indians. More importantly, Gujaratis, Andhras and Biharis worked together and experienced the feeling of what it means to belong to a country, that is India.

The books covers nearly everything, from the greatness of Nehru, to his demise with the failure of his foreign policy with the India-China war. How Indira Gandhi, tried all her in might to breakdown the democracy to turn into a one leader worship state, but finally understood the values and morals that his father had defended all through his life. It also covers the history of various secessionist movements which are also seen in positive light, how they were also representing the aspirations of millions and slowly merged with the Indian state to consolidate its unity.

The book is a treat to everyone who wants to find more about India. A must read for anyone who has political aspirations. It describes all the political ideologies that were tried and tested in our country, whether its communism or socialism, or politics based on Hinduism, caste, language, division etc. Every aspect of politics in Indian history is covered, the history of Maoists, Naxalites.

I guess this book has been acknowledged more in the west, than in our own country, but I don't think any attempt to pen-down the post-Independence history of our country could be more successful in its task.

The Paradox of Indian Politics

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 20:54:00 +0000

'There are two ways of making politics one’s vocation: Either one lives “for” politics or one lives “off” it' - the great German sociologist Max Weber once remarked.

In our case, we are today dominated by the later case. Our political leaders would face massive unemployment if they stopped being political leaders. Firstly most of them have businesses which would not be profitable if they do not control the state machinery. The ventures in real estate, infrastructure and liquor licenses do not require skills of entrepreneurship as much as they require favors from public administration. In order to get land allocated at dirt cheap rates or to get licenses and tenders within weeks, you have to be a relative of an MLA or an MP. To bring such prosperity in ones family, people do have to overlook interests of general public.

After independence, the old guard of Congress that ruled India for a decade, was one which lived for politics, they weren't in it for personal interests. Their ideology was defined by the examples of Tilak, Nehru and Gandhi. Austerity was a habit. Pandit Nehru didn't win every general election of his time by rigging elections or by spending more on his election campaign that his rivals. He was successful because of his moral authority. A leader of his stature would still debate with his opposition, accept their better suggestions over his own ideas, listen to his own party's leaders who, though lesser than him, still had their opinions. The famous Kamaraj plan, in which the chief ministers and cabinet ministers of Congress resigned to dispel the lure of power and work for their organization could only have been possible in that era.

After Indira Gandhi's authoritarian regime, in which Congress organization was dissected, mutilated and divided; the era of one Leader, one Family began, which slowly engrossed all political parties. No one would like to part with this lucrative business and would never like to see the control going to someone outside their family. Mulayam Singh Yadav could not look for a better socialist leader in his party except for his own son Akhilesh. When Lalu had to go to jail and give up his chair of Chief Minister, farthest he could look for, was his own spouse, whose only experience before becoming the Chief Minister of Bihar was in home and kitchen. When Bal Thackeray was asked to nominate a heir, he couldn't find anyone other than his son Udbhav. Indira Gandhi made sure that Sanjay would succeed her to carry on her 'legacy', when things didn't go the right way, it was accidentally inherited by Rajeev Gandhi, and dynasty was continues with Sonia Gandhi, while Rahul Gandhi is the undisputed heir to the throne of prime minister and would be crowned whenever he thinks is the right moment. Mr. Manmohan Singh keeps the seat warm until that time comes. India has not seen a statesman, a true leader for more than a decade now.

Indian democracy is now a slave to the whims of just a few families. The leadership skills flow in their blood. The only genuine nationalist party which stood for true democracy and unity, was itself split to serve the personal interests of just one person, and since then it has been a slave to their family.

When one party comes into power, the party going in opposition, swaps its agenda and ideology with them. The Congress party which originally started the liberalization of economy and disinvestment of public owned enterprises, took to the street during the period of 1998 to 2004, forgetting its own recent history when it has itself opened up the markets for private investment. When BJP was voted out of power, the paradox continued, they now opposed any new proposal of rolling back subsidies or new foreign investment in country, both in the Parliament as well as in the streets. Economic policy has remained more or less unchanged since 1991, but the shameful hypocrisy with which the political parties themselves forget their own policies when in Opposition is the reason why reforms are slow, and a majority of Indian population is living below the poverty line. They oppose each and every policy and reform, just for the sake of opposing it. The debates in Parliament aren't intended at shaping country's policy or laws, because ruling party has its ears plugged. Bark all you like, we will do what we will do.

The opposition makes a big hue and cry over ruling party's corruption during the run up to the election, but there is a sense of honor among these thieves. They do not pursue cases of previous regime's corruption believing that they will receive same honorable treatment when they have to sit in the opposition.

'I know that most members of Parliament see the constitution for the first time when they take an oath on it. ' - Pramod Mahajan

This scenario of politics and politicians doesn't leave with much of a choice for the voters. They don't have much to choose, 'Saare neta chor hain', people have stopped expecting much change from change of governments, elections have become more of a ritual to redeem your legitimacy of being an India citizen for the educated middle class. As every option available leads to the same result... in India you do not cast your vote; you vote your caste.

The first scam of Independent India.

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 23:07:00 +0000

Today corruption is probably the most debated topic in India. It has its roots so deep, it seems impossible to imagine a nation which would be corruption free, an honest state working for the betterment of its people, a paradise where rulers may seek power, but do not seek wealth. A government that is uninterested in profit.

I always believed in goodness of our folks, it always intrigued me, how a country which was united against the British just 50 years back, overthrowing one of the greatest powers of history by practicing non-violence, degrade to such lowly state, where people who are supposed to be our brothers and sisters, exhort bribes from their own countrymen, steal the money for medicines of poor, sell-out their motherland's security for the love of Gandhi (printed on notes).

In the beginning of the great adventure of building a new country from the numerous identities of diverse princely states, linguistic identities, tribes and religions, the people involved were those who were real nationalists, who has loved this country more that their lives, people who had sacrificed their youth for freedom, people who had been lathicharged, assaulted, abused and massacred everyday, for centuries oppressed and enslaved, this soul of India had finally found utterance. For a decade everyone evolved in governance had been a freedom fighter, though now very good in administration, economics, management or statistics, they were guided by the love for their nation. Pandit Jawarhar Lal Nehru, guided us through the troubled waters of partition, the Kashmir issue, the tribal trouble, the communists, the right wing opportunists and other divisors. But after a decade there finally arrived peace.

But as they rightly say, with greater peace, comes greater prosperity. A country ruled for a decade by a single party which was virtually unopposed, meant that the entire government was running with full accelerator and no-brakes. No opposition brings great evils. And short-sighted communal opposition brings greater evils. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Hindu Mahasabha and similar parties had just one agenda, Hindutva, such communal forces had to be thwarted at all costs, but a progressive modern opposition was the need of the hour, sadly though our country still doesn't have one.

In 1957, the situation was not like today, netas were seen with a Gandhian aura, and well the Damaads weren't like Damaads of today. recently the news about Robert Vadra, being benefit by his mother-in-laws government was quite disgracing for a party of Congress' stature. Ironically the first reported major scam of our country also involved a Congress son-in-law, though in this he was the whistle-blower, he stood up against his own party, his own family, his father-in-laws government, to expose a conspiracy to beguile the stated owned Life Insurance Corporation of India of is funds. Investments were made by LIC in a private firm in owned by an industrialist Haridas Mundhra. Mr. Feroze Gandhi claimed that the shares had been bought by to boost their price well above their true market value, and fool other investors.

Feroze Gandhi raised the Mundhra question on the floor of the parliament. Standing from the treasury benches, he asked the government whether the newly formed Life Insurance Corporation had used premiums from 5.5 million life-insurance policyholders to buy up shares at above-market prices in companies controlled by the notorious stock speculator named Haridas Mundhra. Thus the prime minister was confronted by his own son-in-law. The fiery Finance minister, himself a noted industrialist, initially snapped "That is not the fact," but had to admit later that this was the case.

The LIC had a publicly stated ‘blue-chip’ policy, which committed it to investing money only in firms of high reputation and sound management. The Mundhra companies were neither; yet the Corporation had seen fit to make its largest ever investment in its stock. After meeting strict dissent from within its own party the Government set up a Commission of Inquiry, which found the fraud has costed Rs. 1.25 crore (a very large sum at that point of time). The scandal was subjected to a judicial probe, in which Mr Haridas Mundhra was sentenced to an imprisonment of 22 years, and the Finance Minister T. T. Krishnamachari, and his principal secretary had to resign.

The Bane of today's India

The lesson to be learnt from this historical incident is not for the citizen but for our lawmakers. Sincerely you're not elected by the people to bow to some family, some dynasty with rich legacy or to some corrupt party high command, or a group of maniacs with agenda of dividing the country on the name of religion and castes. You represent the voices of millions of people of your constituencies to the parliament. Please stop following the party whips like some dumb driven cattle and take your stand. Its time to speak out against your supremos and promoters, Indian voters aren't the same old simpleton iliterate folks, who could only recognize a symbol and would vote blindly for it, without even knowing the name of the candidate they were voting for. We desperately need new leaders, we'll take a stand for a leader who truly stands up for us. We do not want a prime minister who is made a prime minister just because his grand father was a great leader.

Peace out.

The World of Tolkien

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 20:57:00 +0000

J.R.R. Tolkien's monogram.

As I watched The Hobbit today, I was intrigued by the level of grandeur and the expansive of the plot. It was quite different from what I had read in the book by Tolkien. I started googling stuff that I thought wasn't sure was a part of the original story, like the sequence about Thorin Oakenshield & Azog is depicted, it was not in the book. I didn't think that these padding could have been invented by Peter Jackson, just to stretch the movie series into a trilogy. On further research I found the there more to the children's tale of the Hobbit than what meets the eye.

Those who have seen the The Lord of the Rings trilogy must have been impressed with imagination of the parallel world created in the movies. The adaptation of the books has been done quite intelligently in contrast to what is usually seen when movies are based on novels, they usually leave the fans begging for more. But with this particular trilogy it is like watching imagination come to life. (I experienced this in reverse though, watched the movies and then read the books.) It is still a mystery to me though, that why didn't the fantasy fiction of Tolkien get the popularity and hype that it deserved. I presume that it is just because he never wrote for the sake of writing novels. Most of his books and literature has been salvaged from his letters to friends, and his notes, by his son Christopher. The father of modern fantasy fiction only published the Hobbit and TLOTR. But in fact he had created a whole new universe. The Middle Earth.

Like any world, this world also has a tale of its creation. Eru Ilúvatar, the Father of All creates invokes the Valar, like the Hindu gods & goddesses for you and me, who create Arda, the Middle Earth. One of the Valar, Melkor is corrupted by evil thoughts and jealousy, he's named Morgoth. Several wars and battles are fought between the Valar and Melkor to bring peace to Middle Earth and make habitable for the children of Eru, namely the Elves, the Men, & later the Dwarfs. The parallel world has its own concept of sun and the moon, which are depicted as trees. When these trees are destroyed by Morgoth, the Arda is engulfed in a shadow. The last fruits of these trees are then placed on two vessel which would slowly move across the Arda's sky and were named the sun and the moon. The Eru sends Maiar to aid the Valar. Some join Melkor and are known as Balrogs, strongest of them all is Sauran. While of the other Maiar, the wisest and the most powerful would be, yes ofcourse our own Mr. Gandalf. You can spend rest your lives finding more about this world.

There are so many legendary tales in the entire history of Middle Earth, one could become a scientist I guess if they'd set out researching the universe that Tolkien created.

I couldn't imagine how he could have imagined so much out of his own mind. If it were not released as fiction by the author but instead declared to be coming from a divine source, I'm sure that it is strong enough to even have challenged the Bible. He invented so much. For very explanation that religion gives us about anything, has an alternate in Tolkien's world. Why is the Earth round? Tolkien had his answers.

I just wanted to write something in the honor of him. The treasure trove of literature that he has left behind has been a treat for me, an escape into the mythologies of Middle Earth. The tales of courage, mystery and battles. I guess I'm in love with the swords & shields. The names of characters, swords, and the lands in the entire work is I guess the best part of it.

The Middle-Earth

Links: Middle Earth, The LOTR Wikia, Middle Earth Portal

When everyone's a super, no one is.

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 20:01:00 +0000

Nowadays you could just throw a rock, and you're bound to hit a Software Engineer. I myself am one of them. So this is some kind of a confession as I am completing my graduation.

Today, a majority of Computer Engineers in our country don't even have a clue about what is happening inside a computer. The toughest computer problem that they know how to solve successfully is, finding the factorial of a number, or checking whether a number is prime or not. I could do them when I was at school, so I threw away all my college time, thinking I was way ahead of others, but now I realize, though its a bit late, that I never was even a peeling of a real Bachelor of Technology.

The flaw is inherently in the perception that Computer Science or Information Technology is quite an easy stream, well its not the fact. If you were to code the solution of the Tower of Hanoi problem, or were asked to implement a Fibonacci Heap you'd get to know about it. Our generation of Engineers, were misled into believing that designing a Website, which can fetch a couple of records from a database, and insert a few in it, is the greatest feat that you could achieve in your academic life. All the final year projects are about some kind of system. .NET or Java, that is really what matters, just make this one important choice and feel like its the career defining moment of your life. Really it just takes 3 months for an average person to learn any of these platforms, and start doing stuff. Even a 12th Standard student, I'm sure would be able to intuitively create stuff on Visual Studio or Netbeans, it really isn't rocket science. So if all this is that easy, what is tough in the curriculum? the Software Development Life Cycle or the various types of Software Testing? No, tough is the Data Structures, Design and Analysis of Algorithms, Cryptography, the Operating Systems. We just need to go beyond the theories and look into their practical implementation to know of their importance, but bless the University, all they want to test of is whether the students know about the advantages of R-B Tree over the binary search tree.

The times of mass recruiters are done now, those companies which would just take a bloke of any stream for a software developer, have already got their benches full now. And with global austerity setting in, the IT Services Sector wouldn't be booming out of proportions like it used to.

Anyone who'd like to learn from my experience should check out what other undergraduates in other countries are upto at the moment, and also gauge the level of Computer Science before you label it as easy and theory oriented.

Interviewstreet, Facebook's Online Recruitment, Codechef.com, Google's Codejam etc.

Solve some of the problems on these sites, and you'd get to know the real depth of shallow sea :P

Memorable slogans of Indian politics

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 18:48:00 +0000

Even in times when the Bollywood has been accused of getting 'inspired' from foreign works quite frequently, there has been a plenty of room for authentic creativity in the Indian political sphere. The nameless poets of these witty, simple and memorable slogans popularized their causes using these catchy lines.
I've listed some quite famous and witty ones that I've come across.

Any story about Indian Democracy would be incomplete without these.

"Chini hamla hote hain,

Menon sahab sote hain

Sona hai to sone do,

Kriplani ji to aane do."

चीनी हमला होते हैं ,
मेनन साहब सोते हैं
सोना है तो सोने दो
कृपलानी जी तो आने दो !

Against Defence Minister V. K. Menon for complacency during the War in 1962

"Jana Sangh ko vote do,

Bidi peena chhod do,

Bidi me tambaaku hai,

Congress waale daaku hain."

जन संघ को वोट दो,

बीडी पीना छोर दो,

बीडी में तम्बाकू है,

कांग्रेस वाले डाकू हैं!

By Jana Sangh in the General Elections of 1967

"Janata ka dil bol raha hai,
Indira ka singhasan dol raha hai"

जनता का दिल बोल रहा है
इंदिरा का सिंघासन दोल रहा है !

In JP's Revolution of 1975

"Ek sherni, sau langoor,
Chikmangloor. Chikmangloor"

एक शेरनी , सौ लंगूर ,
चिकमंगलूर चिकमंगलूर!

During Indira Gandhi's By-election of 1978


"Is Deepak me tel nahi, sarkaar chalana khel nahi"	इस दीपक में तेल नहीं, सरकार चलाना खेल नहीं!
A taunt by Congress on the Election Symbol of Jana Sangh

"Jab tak rahega samose me aalu,
tab tak rahega Bihar me Lalu"

जब तक रहेगा समोसे में आलू ,
तब तक रहेगा बिहार में लालू!

A RJD slogan for Laloo Prasad Yadav

"Chalega haanthi, udegi dhool,
Na rahega panja na rahega phool"

चलेगा हांथी उड़ेगी धुल ,
ना रहेगा पंजा , ना रहेगा फूल!

A slogan by BSP against Congress and BJP.

"UP me dum hai, jurm yahan kam hai!"

"UP me tha dum, kahan pahuch gaye hum?

यूपी में दम है, जुर्म यहाँ कम है !

यूपी में था दम, कहाँ पहुँच गए हम?

Former by SP, and its reply by Congress.

"Tel laga lo Dabar ka,
Naam mita do Babar ka"

तेल लगा लो डाबर का
नाम मिटा दो बाबर का !

By Hindu extremists in Ayodhya

"Dekho Indira ka ye khel
Kha gayi chini pee gayi tel"

देखो इंदिरा का ये खेल,
खा गयी राशन पी गयी तेल !

By Opposition on Corruption in Indira Gandhi regime

India & Indians

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 16:50:00 +0000

Every morning, he comes to our home, rings the bell and calls out, "auntie koodaaa, auntie koodaaa de dijiye...". Someone comes out, still sleepy, "Arey chhotu jhaadu to laga de, gobar saaf kar de sadak ka, theek se kar sab ganda pada hai".

The kids gets just Rs. 30 from every home for a month. How can people be so apathetic?

Aren't we hypocrites? In restaurants, in shops, everywhere around us, childhood is being murdered, and all we have to say is how the f*cking government is a big failure. It failed to implement the Right to Education, the Midday meal, ban child labor... stop playing the blame game friends, we are the reason of our collective failure.

I've have heard so many times from so many people that government schools are a waste, they are of no good. Please visit the nearest Government primary school today, you'll find hope, media loves to put forward the darkest side for its viewers, see with your own eyes, there are over 200 millions kids in our country today, who wouldn't have access to any kind of education, if these schools weren't there. Kids here get free textbooks, free midday meals, free school dresses. Only improvement required need is to improve the quality of education that is being imparted, everyone can play a part in it. We just need visit these places and see if there is anything we can do about it. Its our responsibility not government's, all it can do is provide the resources, we have to ensure that they are used nicely.

We have to stop criticizing the current system, it is robust and strong, all we need to do is to ensure that the system works a bit more efficiently. This ain't a movie, where a man can change the whole system, we have to be our life's hero and start helping the society with our own small efforts.

Prologue

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:20:00 +0000

I'm a new to this blogging business. I've read a few, but writing one myself was never my plan. I wondered how people could waste their time writing such stuff as blogs, and yet there was an even more unimaginable class of men - those who'd waste even greater reading them. Yet here I am, with a blog of my own. This blog is in fact only to put in my ideas, before I forget them (I generally do), and also to straighten up my ideology, which is quite shaky (imagine a bin pendi ka lota xD). I get inspired too easily, sometimes a bit carried away, I have this feeling, that I always tend to have strong feelings; I feel too strongly about something or else, I don't feel about it at all.

Now you'd be wondering why does it matter what I feel about, there are a hell lot people, feeling strongly about a hell lot of things. Why should I be of such importance? Buddy, because I'm a professional inspirer (wonder if such word even exists) but I ain't boasting. When I feel strongly about something, I make sure that every around also shares my views, anyone within the reach of my tiny influence zone, has to bear with me about arguments, ideas and stuff until they agree (my friends would surely say aye to that). So you see its quite important that I be an unwavering, stoic, robust, remorseless... whatever, who clearly knows what his stand is about something. But this isn't the case I shift so much, take U turns, and then contradict anybody who'd point out to my previous ideologies as something that I could never ever have imagined. (This is the reason why I started writing this blog, because you desperately need some proofs against me :P)

I love debates, I can debate about anything, take either of the sides and still win.

You and I know its not true, but if someone would say it to you confidently and coolly, I'm sure most of us will believe him, and maybe shy away from a potential discussion, this is one of the first lessons that I learned in college, and that's the trick of this decade, especially in India, you can achieve so much with this trick believe me.

Oh well, we are getting offtrack and well guess you're starting to get influenced by me. lol. Anyways as I was saying that I tend to have strong feelings about stuff and I love taking stands but the problem my North and South poles keep swapping so frequently that, even I get frustrated. You'd be wondering what is the stimulus of the sudden change of hearts? Well, even a professional inspirer like me has a few inspirers. I read. By that I mean I read a lot. Yes, keep scrolling my mobile, browsing BBC, TOI, Telegraph, CNN, WaPo, PC World whole whole day (bless the Opera Mini 4.4) So when I read about the heads more, I stand up for the heads, make sure every one knows that I'm from one of the die-hard supporter of heads, but then gradually I start getting curious about who the hell is Tails, why does he oppose Heads? Then I read all about the Tails, and yeah sure, in ninety percent cases, Mr. Tails gets a new die-hard man! 8)

Lets have an example about I then, shall we? because I love explaining with examples.

When I was a kid, about 15, I had no access to computers, well really, so one fine day, some how I managed to fool my dad into buying me a new Laptop. I get this machine and I'm excited, but I've nothing much to do with it, I could already watch DVDs and play games, what to do with it? (I had no internet connection :|, for those who're raising their brows about why I didn't explore the pword :P)

So I started reading the help files of Windows, I read it all about Windows Vista Home Basic help, I Vista met with its strongest fan ever. I couldn't believe how people could criticize Vista? Vista was the ultimate operating system. I could defend Vista against a dozen XP supporters, withstand their siege for months. And then this bright day dawns, I get the internet, I read about XP, and I'm one of the most ardent ally of XP. No issues eh, not really, I'm made half of those dozen Xp'ian install Vista :P When I took the U-Turn, I vehemently denied ever siding up with Vista, the most useless piece of software ever released by MS. Though there were several many obvious reasons why Vista was once my favorite, take Windows Aero for instance, but as I've already mentioned I forgot most of them.

So you see this happens all the time, and that is why I'm gonna start to blog. So that I'd get to know more about me when I read my own older posts, so that one day may be this wont happen again. I'd be a person of as sturdy ideology as the glorious history of Manchester United!

Now I've slowly realized that you should consider both sides of the coin, before you take a stand. Though this hasn't helped me much. :( Bill Gates was the man who transformed the computing world for me until Steve Jobs dies, that was when I learned about the Macs and Apples, though now this crown rests with Mr. Dennis Ritchie. Well, though you guys should say that these all guys together 'helped shape the digital era' if you can suppress the urge of having strong feelings for one of them, which I can't.

I believe if you're still reading this, you've already wasted a lot of you precious time reading about a nobody, man you surely are jobless :P but wait, in conclusion I'd like to set down a few facts about things, that I really really do feel strong about. And well consider them as the pathar pe lakir kind of.

Mahatma Gandhi was one of greatest man ever to walk on the face of earth. The man had more mettle in him than all of the our current world leaders combined. And this is a universal truth mate, it wont change with time!
To achieve something, you need to work hard, forget all that shit about being smart, it happens only in movies, this is life.
Eminem's shit is inspirational, just try to perceive your life through those lyrics.
Good governance can't be achieved by blaming the government. Be the change that you want to see.
Association Football is the most beautiful game on earth, I'm talking about the video-game, the sport and anything that you can imagine.
Some of you must have seen this coming but yes, Manchester United is the greatest ever football club, and I have reasons for it.

I learnt all that with experience, and as far as I believe they are undeniable facts.

I'd save more for later then.

Thanks for being patient, forget what you read ASAP, don't have that look in your eyes when you meet me next time. (You know the look that you give when you wanna show that you know something about something that others don't. Yeah that look.)

Buzz off, I'm tired of typing now.

What do you expect after ^^^ that? -.-

I know its kind of lame.

But I'm enjoying this.

Because I love to irritate people.

BYE for now, really :P

Peace Out!

noreply@blogger.com (PT) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:20:00 +0000

So atlast I have a blog!

Its been a long time since I've been reading blogs of my friends and celebs, but I never thought I would create one myself.. but here I am!

Though, I created this blog just to get a blog URL that I needed to fill in a registration form, but now I might post here once in while, because it will help me to do some soul-searching to pour out my reflections in the form of words. A task which seems so simple that, even its simplicity appears to be complex!

Three Cheers for my new blog!!

Hip Hip Hurray!