Things-that-aMUsE-me-and-COnFuSe-me

Formula 1, Kimi Raikkonen; Mission Accomplished!

2012-11-20T06:23:00.000-08:00

My obsession with Formula one began aroun 9-10 years ago. One of my friend used to closely follow it. It is from there that I got addicted to this sport. I would describe my love for Forula one car racing some other time. But, I am a big fan of Formula one. Infact, I have hardly missed any races in last 9 years (Except for 2 seasons wherein my favorite driver did not participate). My favorite driver has been Kimi Raikkonen. He started his career with Sauber, and after 1st year itself, he got to drive wih Mclaren, which was one of the best teams that time. He replaced another F1 legend and fellow Finn, Mika Hakkinen. Thereafter, he drove for Ferrari in 2007. He fulfilled his long time wish of driving in Nascar, and came back to Formula one with Team Lotus in 2012. He has been my biggest influence to watch Formula one. I can say, I watched Formula one just for him! Family functions, exams, power outages, friends.. Nothing could stop me watching it!

I always dreamed of watching a formula one race live. Infact, when I was on a trip to Malaysia in 2006, I tried my best atleast to witness the grand Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately, could not. Even last year, when Formula one debuted in India, I was desperate to witness it, LIVE! Missing out last year too, I was determined not to give it a miss this year. As it is rightly said, when you really need something, entire universe conspires for you to get it. Situations happened in such a way that my dream was finally going to be a reality. The race was to happen on Sunday, 27th October 2012. I somehow completed my work and booked my tickets at 6.30pm on Saturday, 26th October. Some friends were supposed to join me, but could not make it. But, I was determined to watch it, come what may; and decided to go alone.I reached Delhi early in morning of Sunday, went to a friend's house and got ready for D day. As things turned out, my friend too got tickets and we along with his cousins set sail for the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida.

I collected my passes on the way from a mall in Noida, where a huge queue greeted me. After almost an hour in the queue, I finally managed to grab my passes after verification of my e-ticket. My happiness knew no bounds as I finally had the opportunity to see my hero, live!!We drove our way to the BIC facing some traffic enroute. I was already thrilled by the site of Mercs, Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs along the way driven by some enthusiastic and some not so enthusiastic fans. Hordes of Bollywood actors, celebrated sportsperson were an added attraction.

My happiness knew no bounds at the first sight of circuit. I located my stand.. it was North Picnic stand. I had my security check done and rushed to the stand. My friend who witnessed it last year had instructed to be there before time. I reached there an hour before the start up. I was finally in the company of Ferraris, Mclarens, Force Indias, Bernie Ecclestone, beautiful women always associated with F1, race stewards, Michael Schumacher (in his final few races) and most of all.. my hero, my demi God.. Kimi Raikkonen. The first sight of the beautiful Grand stand left me amazed at the architectural marvel. A grand circuit expanding across over 5 kms of race track. Eventually, a helicopter started encircling the circuit.
Sounds of engine began to grip the circuit, and people sensed a coming car. It was Mercedes Benz SLS AMG car which zoomed past. It was the safety car which had to ensure smooth proceedings of race. This car had my hearts racing in anticipation of the grand show that I was about to witness. Slowly time approached. The commentator started a count down, 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 and huge roar equipped the entire circuit. It was like the sound of normal car engine raised multifold times. And the cars started to flow in. It was formation lap. And the fastest car in qualifying of Sebastian Vettel passed through. The blaring engine sounds engulfed the entire arena. The sound was deafening, and I had to literally shut my ears to protect my ear drums. But, my adrenaline started and I started to get a high from that sound. And finally, the car of my hero passed through. I could not believe my eyes at the sight of Kimi Raikkonen passing through. I finally achieved my dream of seeing him in action! The cars lined up the grid, had a warm up lap and finally the race began. The cars started circling the circuit. The ultra fast cars, ultrafast pit stops, amazing over taking manoeouvres, wonderful fans, kept me glued to the race throughout. It is indeed amazing how a car has his 4 tyres changed in 3 seconds and complete the entire 5kms tipsy turvy track in about 90 seconds!!!!

I got some F1 facts online (Source: http://www.binscorner.com/pages/s/someamazingfactsabtf1technologyatitsbest.html):
à F1 car is made up of 80,000 components, if it were assembled 99.9% correctly, it would still start the race with 80 things wrong!
à When an F1 driver hits the brakes on his car he experiences retardation or deceleration comparable to a regular car driving through a BRICK wall at 300kmph!!!à F1 car can go from 0 to 160 kph AND back to 0 in FOUR seconds!!!!!!!
à F1 car engines last only for about 2 hours of racing mostly before blowing up on the other hand we expect our engines to last us for a decent 20yrs on an average and they quite faithfully DO....that's the extent to which the engines r pushed to perform...à An average F1 driver looses about 4kgs of weight after just one race due to the prolonged exposure to high G forces and temperatures for little over an hour (Yeah that's right!!!)
à At 550kg a F1 car is less than half the weight of a Mini.à To give you an idea of just how important aerodynamic design and added down force can be, small planes can take off at slower speeds than F1 cars travel on the track.
à Without aerodynamic down force, high-performance racing cars have sufficient power to produce wheel spin and loss of control at 160 kph. They usually race at over 300 kph.à In a street course race like the Monaco grand prix, the down force provides enough suction to lift manhole covers. Before the race all of the manhole covers on the streets have to be welded down to prevent this from happening!
à The refuelers used in F1 can supply 12 liters of fuel per second. This means it would take just 4 seconds to fill the tank of an average 50 liter family car. They use the same refueling rigs used on US military helicopters today.à TOP F1 pit crews can refuel and change tyres in around 3 seconds. It took me 8 sec to read above point
à During the race the tyres lose weight! Each tyre loses about 0.5 kg in weight due to wear.à Normal tyres last 60 000 - 100 000 km. Racing tyres are designed to last 90 - 120 km.
à A dry-weather F1 tyre reaches peak operating performance (best grip) when tread temperature is between 900C and 1200C.(Water boils boils at 100C remember) At top speed, F1 tyres rotate 50 times a second.And that's not Magic . Its only the Power of Human Imagination!

F1 is a truly amazing sport.

The race was amazing as always. One disappointment was the small screens, which made it difficult to track the drivers. We had to track them using a live F1 mobile app. Unfortunately, Schumacher had a tyre puncture in initial lap only and had to retire. Other then that, no major accidents happened. The sound of cars, sight of best drivers in world, speed of fastest cars in world, glam of the most glamorous sport in world, nobility of the most expensive sport in world, expertise of most technical & technological sport of the world made it a memorable event for me.

Formula one in a cricket crazy nation was bit disappointing. Some people still felt Michael Schumacher drives for Ferrari. Irrespective of driver, Ferrari was always cheered. People searched for Michael even though he had crashed out in first lap itself. During the race, some people asked, is India leading? I wondered if he's asking about Narain Karthikeyan or Sahara Force India? Either ways, they have never lead a race. Some people were found sleeping with their ear plugs on during the race, the people catching photos of speeding F1 car got tired and retreated after few laps. Some people kept wondering what is this sport.. no boundaries, no catches, no wickets. Some people enjoyed the exorbitantly priced beer and other cold drinks with chips, snacks.

I happened to meet some fans. To my great joy, Kimi Raikkonen had a strong support in the crowd. A group of Finland nationals were present in the crowd to cheer for their national hero Kimi. They were supported by some Indian fans too. Everytime Kimi passed through, he was cheered. There were some Schumi fans too, and so were the cheers for team Ferrari. Although Kimi did not have a podium finish, he managed a wonderful race, right upto my expectations and beyond.

I realized my dream of watching a Formula one race. I would now love to watch a Formula one race at Monte Carlo circuit in Monaco and watching Kimi Raikkonen drive at his favorite circuit of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

Kimi Raikkonen, Formula 1; Mission Accomplished. Dream Fulfilled!

The sport of Formula one, Kimi Raikkonen and my obsession with it is truly Amusing and Confusing!

Free & Quality Education for all.. A possibility!!!!

2012-03-22T00:47:00.000-07:00

Andhra Pradesh is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the south-eastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad. The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third among all states in India. The State has the second-longest coastline of 972 km (604 mi) among all the States in India. The primary official language of Andhra Pradesh is Telugu and Urdu is the secondary official language in some places, while other languages spoken in Andhra Pradesh are Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, and Oriya.

Andhra comprises of 23 districts or blocks. These districts cover over 1124 mandals. In all, there are 26,613 villages in Andhra Pradesh.

I happened to work in the education system in Andhra Pradesh thanks to an internship that I carried out with Society for elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), an independent society under the Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. Of Andhra Pradesh. I got an opportunity to visit a number of schools especially in tribal Andhra Pradesh. After visiting the schools and interactions with a number of households, parents, teachers, government officials, NGO’s etc.

Common Observations at most schools

Most of the schools visited lacked basic infrastructure like benches, tables, electricity, good buildings, toilets etc.
The teachers and Head Teacher at many places are hardly X^th or intermediate cleared makes many of the schools sub standard and incompetent.
Only one teacher is present for a school of 45- 120 students. Rest of the teacher positions is either vacant or the teacher is absent at many places
Students roamed around or kept playing even during the school hours
Parents at some places complain of being abused by the teachers when they raise voices against sub standard teaching
There is minimal accountability on the part of teachers
There is no evaluation mechanism for teachers
Herd rearing was the major reason for dropout of male child and wedding or handling family chores was prime reason for girl child dropouts.
Male children were given preference for education
There is no attendance at many places, or there is fake attendance.
Hygiene levels at school premises is extremely low
Some public schools are efficiently functioning and churning out great results
Some public schools have adopted private modes of school marketing like putting up hoardings, distributing pamphlets, holding seminars etc. They also provide career counseling to students and are extremely competent. This is in areas where private schools are quite prominent.
Private schools are highly preferred by the rural families
Private schools are beyond the financial capabilities of majority of tribal families
Most families aspire to send their wards to private schools
ICT infrastructure available in many private schools
Teacher accountability in private schools is very high
Parents are constantly updated of the progress of their children
Quality education is provided very cheaply at many private schools
Hoardings of private schools put up at prominent places
Special training targeting IIT’s carried out by some schools
Many private schools although do not have necessary recognitions
Community Resource Persons were substantially able to bring down the dropout rates

To overcome this, I propose an education model which can turn Andhra Pradesh in to a literate state with Best Quality education.

Few assumptions are:

· Schools are present in all the villages
· Mid day meal is served in all schools
· All schools receive the grant for books and scholarships, maintenance, teaching aids etc. earmarked for them
· There is atleast a teacher or proxy teacher in every school
· Government machinery provides full support to the program
· SERP promoted SHG network is prevalent or people are acquaint with the concept

There are 2 options. These can be carried out independently or simultaneously.

Education via DTH

Satellite based DTH is widely penetrated throughout Andhra Pradesh. The key players in DTH are SUN TV, Tata Sky, among others. 2 Televisions with DTH sets can be set up in every school in every village. Through DTH, sessions shall be delivered simultaneously to all schools. Timings for every class would be pre fixed. Or, Multi Grade Multi Learning form of education can be delivered wherein joint lectures of multiple classes can be simultaneously delivered. Multi grade multi learning system has proved to be very successful at many places. The lectures shall be highly standardized and formalized designed on state standards. Regular awareness movies can also be transmitted through DTH. The DTH sessions will be complemented with necessary activity worksheets, quiz papers, etc. Which the teacher will ensure gets completed on time. The teachers shall be provided with a toll free helpline number to clear her doubts. This mode will reduce the dependency on teachers, bring standardization and improve the overall quality of education in state by using the existing infrastructure. Also, the remotest villages could be accessible to quality education. The model could also lead to electrification of many schools. The above model could be made purely market driven by charging for advertisements which would be delivered through that channel straight to rural masses.

Education via DVD’s

This model will be very similar to education via DTH. But, the mode of delivery will be in form of DVD’s which shall be standardized. All the schools shall receive the DVD’s containing lectures at the beginning of the month/ year along with necessary activity sheets, worksheets, quiz papers etc. The advantage of this model over DTH could be that the lectures could be viewed repeatedly at comfortable timings. Advertisements can be displayed through these too to make a healthy source of income.

The cost heads for the above Project are:

Content Development & Helpline Creation: Content Development shall be one time expenditure. Content in local dialects can be prepared with the help of experts. New & innovative methods of learning can be employed. Content can be pre developed for all standards, and as per state standards. Content especially of higher classes shall be developed in such a way that even the students with minimal understanding for that level can cope up. Or additional sessions as remedial for that standard can be carried out before school starts.

An additional toll free helpline shall also be created wherein teachers or students with any doubts, questions, etc can get their solutions just by a simple phone call.The cost of Content Development along with Helpline Creation is estimated to be 2 crore rupees.
DTH with television or television with DVD player: 2 television sets with DTH and/ or DVD players need to be purchased for every village school. These units would be the chief mode of delivery of lectures. 2 units would be set up in every school. These units can be used for primary and secondary sections and at different times of the day. Cost of each television with DTH/ DVD is assumed to be Rs. 16,000.
Infrastructure Upgradation: Most government schools in Andhra Pradesh lack proper infrastructure like benches, electricity, water etc. This fund shall help in providing these basic amenities. This fund would be in addition to what government already spends. A fund of 1 lakh rupees for every school is earmarked for this purpose.
UPS with solar panel: Most schools in Andhra Pradesh lack electricity. The chief necessity for the success of this project is electricity. Hence, a solar PV cell charged inverter battery shall be installed at schools to produce enough electricity to run fans, lights and televisions. A fund of 25000 Rupees per school is earmarked for this purpose.
Teacher & Community Resource Person Training: A chief reason for substandard education is lack of efficient teachers. Teachers to undergo a vigorous short term training course to better handle the doubts of children ensure high learning of students with the proposed model and improve teaching standards.

SERP has an initiative wherein they appoint Community Resource Person (CRP). CRP is an educated person from the community. He looks after the education status, reduce the dropouts, and ascertain the causes of dropouts, community motivation etc... He can also be trained to run the school along with some more locals in absence of teacher. This is done because teachers in school have a huge backlog of government delegated work, which renders them incapable of running schools. These resource persons can run the DVD’s/ DTH at pre scheduled times to avoid loss of student hours due to unavailable teacher.A fund of 20,000 has been earmarked for this purpose.
Miscellaneous: There can be several other costs. Roughly Rs. 10000 are earmarked for every school anticipating unexpected expenses.

Additional Features:

Schools to be run by village level Self Help Groups. These groups ensure smooth functioning of school.
These SHG’s would also encourage fixed monthly savings from all the parents. These savings would be deposited in the bank in account name of the student. Students can use the fund, or use it as collateral to fund his/ her higher studies.
These SHG’s are run by women. Hence, it will encourage girl education.
Student already get Mid day meal, books, bags, uniform etc from government.
Additional schemes like a rupee a day incentive for every student attending the school can be laid out to attract and retain students
Child Labour abolishment rule should be implemented more strictly to avoid losing children to labour. This should also be complemented by providing of jobs under MGREGA or other employment schemes.
Parents should be equally involved in child education by way of regular Parents Teachers meetings, report cards to parents, etc. SHG and CRP can ensure this. This shall also make the parents more hopeful of bright future of children.
Extra sessions on demand can also be organised at nights for students who missed the earlier session or some session. Also, night schools can be run by SHG to teach the illiterate of the village of basic arithmetic to ensure that moneylenders and traders do not fool them. Basic sciences can be imparted to dispel myths and superstitions.
Community harmony video, movies promoting social cause, social awareness videos, children movies etc. can be screened at regular intervals.

Financials:

Heads	Per School	Schools in 26613 villages	Shared between 2 villages	Shared between 3 villages
DTH with television x 2	32,000	85,16,16,000	42,58,24,000	28,38,72,000
Teacher Training	20,000	53,22,60,000	26,61,40,000	17,74,20,000
UPS with solar panel	25,000	66,53,25,000	33,26,75,000	22,17,75,000
Infrastructure Upgradation	1,00,000	2,66,13,00,000	1,33,07,00,000	88,71,00,000
Miscellaneous	10,000	26,61,30,000	13,30,70,000	8,87,10,000
Total	1,87,000	4,97,66,31,000	2,48,84,09,000	1,65,88,77,000
Content and Hepline (One time)		2,00,00,000	2,00,00,000	2,00,00,000
Net		4,99,66,31,000	2,50,84,09,000	1,67,88,77,000

In effect, best quality education can be delivered to every student in less than 500 crore rupees. This includes upgradation of infrastructure, teacher training and Best quality education in local dialects for the students. Additional benefits include night schools, increased social awareness, etc.

The new infrastructure can be created in every villages, or can be shared between 2 or 3 villages.

The budget of Andhra Pradesh Government for the year 2010-11 is a staggering 3155 crores. The face of education in Andhra Pradesh can instead be changed forever at less than one sixth of annual state budget!

Further, I have few suggestions as to how to make the entire project free of cost to the state exchequer!

Major Heads of expenditure in the project are:

DTH/ DVD with television
Teacher training
UPS with solar panel
Infrastructure Upgradation

a. For DTH/ DVD with television

DTH/ DVD with television as well as UPS with solar panel can be provided to every school on loan. Loan amount can be payed by the schools in the following ways:
Savings of parents. Parents pay a minimum amount to school every year to ensure their interest in the school
Solar PV panels for electricity can save huge carbon emissions. CER’s or VER’s can be issued and encashed in the market to pay for the debt.
Subsidy schemes of central government on Solar panels can be utilized to bring down the costs
Advertisements can be broadcasted through DTH or DVD’s. These advertisements reaching to everyone at BoP can command huge premiums. The returns from these advertisements can be used to pay off the debt. After clearance of debt, the money generated through advertisements can be used in development of school.

b. For teacher Training

Just as pharma companies do, teacher trainings can be carried out by getting the entire event sponsored by one or many private education providers in Andhra Pradesh. These education providers in turn get wide scale publicity and acknowledgement for their contribution.

c. For Infrastructure Upgradation:

This is slightly difficult. But, donations from NGO’s, donor agencies, CSR’s etc can be called for. This can be further incentivised by selling the naming rights of schools for a fixed tenure recognizing the contribution of the donor. Donors can also be thanked by displaying their name on website, newspaper advertisment by state thanking them, etc. Besides, the upgradation can also be sponsored by the advertisement revenues generated by DTH/ DVD’s.

Only thing needed for making the entire state of Andhra Pradesh literate with high standards of uniform education is Government willingness, support from SERP and a good project management team!

Advantages in Brief:

Every village can have a well developed school with latest infrastruture
Uniform education provided to everyone
Universal Primary Education can be ensured by 2015
Entire project covering whole India can be done in 12000 crores, which further can be made free of cost by free market economics
It would be a one time investment. For all the following years, the schools shall generate its own revenues. This money can be used for maintenence and covering day to day costs of school
Schools can run even without a teacher, by a trained local; as local person has just to play the right session to the students
It can lay a foundation for secondary education also
Good quality primary education would further usher in private companies to invest heavily in schools and education. This would further boost the education system.

It is amazing and confusing how merely one time investment of Rs. 500 crores can be sufficient to educate an entire state and 12,000 crore to educate an entire nation with best quality education. But, government, over the years spending crores and crores of rupees every year have not been able to produce even a fraction of desired output!

Arpit H Shah.

Email: arpithshah99@gmail.com
Mob: +91-9821211381

Experiencing Adversity, Fighting Adversity and Living in Adversity... The Big Question???

2012-01-13T03:57:00.000-08:00

This is about a small fishermen settlement of about 35 families located on the outskirts of Kandla in Kutch district of Gujarat. The place is Paarth.

Paarth Settlement

I happened to visit this settlement as a part of my IRMA fieldwork study with Kutch Navnirman Abhiyaan. The study involved analysing the effects of industrialization in the coastal villages of Kutch, Gujarat. During the visit to this area, the car could be taken only upto a point, and after that, we had to walk some 300 meters in marshy sand to reach this settlement.

This isolated settlement of fishermen welcomed us as if we were their saviours. Most of the eyes were filled with anger of government apathy, despair, helplessness, worry and fear. There was also a small tinge of optimism and unwavering hope of an end to their woes; and to have a decent life. The fishermen of this settlement are mostly residents from nearby Khariror village. These fishermen usually migrate to the village during non fishing season, and come back during season for their livelihood.

The residents of this Bandar (Fishermen settlement) claim it to be one of the oldest Bandar of the region. Some 150 years ago, this place was supposed to loose its existence due to some private vested interests. Their ancestors had filed a case in their defence and won it too. Nobody had then dared to harm them since then. This incident is proudly narrated to every visitor. But, after inhabiting place for such a long time, now, they are told to vacate this place owing to expansions and security at the Kandla port located closeby.

The settlement has no light, no road, no medical facilities, and no close by transport facilities. The fishermen are mostly “Pagadiyas”, These Fishermen generally catch fishes at shore, going bare feet in the waters. Some fishermen of this settlement also go for fishing on boats. They go for fishing deep inside creeks and come back only after 2-3 days. The main catch of these fishermen includes small fishes, crabs and prawns.Fishing is their only livelihood. The day they get a good fish catch, they have a meal; otherwise, they go to rest on empty stomach. They are not taught nor given any opportunity for learning alternate livelihood condemning them to this difficult life. They carry out fishing since their childhood, and believe, it is the only thing that they are good at, only thing that they could do.

The fish catch has drastically gone down due to port activities and also of the dangerous effluents released from hundreds of industries dotting the shoreline. Also, salinity has drastically gone up due to hard water discharge from salt pans (Kutch produces 60% of India’s salt) and private & commercial utilization of fresh water that otherwise used to enter the sea.

This settlement virtually becomes an island during high tides, when tide water totally covers their high raised hutments. Apart from slightly raised wooden houses, they have almost nothing to protect themselves from the wrath of nature. They procure water from place some 3 kilometres away at variable exorbitant rates ranging from some 7 Rs per small drum upto Rs. 10 (In Oct’2009). A high prevalence of skin related diseases as well as deficiency diseases was also observed due to under nourished food consumption and living in unhygienic conditions.

Access to the settlement

Off the several disasters this place has witnessed, the last one during the cyclone of 1999. A tragedy of all 9 people of family dying in cyclone still haunts their memories. The family of all the deceased of this settlement were offered a meagre Rs. 5000 as compensation after cyclone, which was nowhere enough to fill the void of losing the bread earner.

People here are extremely poor. Literacy rate is almost zero. The families are large, with peculiarly high female to male ratio. Males here learn fishing at early age, get married early, and have a short life expectancy. Their short life expectancy is mainly due to environment factors of their livelihood and addictions mainly in form of tobacco.Females are mostly involved in household and fishing related allied activities.

As if this was not enough, families here marry amongst themselves. This has led to weakening of their gene pool. Every one of ten live births is marred by physical or mental handicap. All the difficulties that I expressed could explain only a decimal of what people actually faced there. In one word, I could explain their condition as "INHUMAN"!

“If you think your life is difficult, Think again.” This is the only thing I can comment after seeing this strong community almost staying inside sea, and facing ecological, social, political, environmental, biological, legal, livelihood, food, shelter, education, health, and every obstacle one could think of. Inspite of all these obstacles, although destroyed many times; sticking to their tradition, culture, livelihood, value system and production system; this settlement still stands tall and strong. They display the spirit of human endurance, tolerance and a never say die attitude.

It is amusing and confusing how government although spending crores of rupees; even a fraction of it never reaches the people who need it. This is just one of the many places in India that is facing such conditions, such horrific conditions. The fact that this place lies in one of the most industrially advanced & rich states of India; gives us an idea of what others in other states are facing. Some other amusing things are that this place is stone throw distance from Kandla port where multi million dollar transactions take place everyday, and still this condition. It is also amusing that India is trying to conquer moon, become a super power, manages to do scams of over 1,70,000 crore rupees but so many places in India still goes hungry. Another aspect which confuses me is their unwillingness to accept change, or to switch over to other livelihoods. Their unwavering spirit, never say die attitude and endurance to live such a difficult life is a question in itself. It is a question to themselves, government, civil society, development organisations and to life itself!

An encounter with my ideal: Dr. Verghese Kurien, The milkman of India.

2011-12-17T12:25:00.000-08:00

Dr. Verghese Kurien

One of the biggest excitement in the initial days after start of IRMA was the meeting with Dr. Verghese Kurien that was supposed to happen a week after the introductory lectures started. But, unfortunately, we did not get a chance to meet Dr. Ku (as he was fondly called) then since he was not keeping well. Till that time, I had known Dr. Verghese Kurien just as the Architect of white revolution in India and a chief force behind the formation of Amul. But slowly as my time at IRMA progressed, I got to know many more aspects in the life and times of Dr. Kurien.

The matter of meeting Dr. Kurien was almost forgotten since then. But, I always had a strong will to meet the great Dr. Kurien himself who I had started idolizing by that time. Everytime that I used to meet our institute Director, I used to request him to schedule a meeting with Dr. Ku. One day the finally came. We got a chance to meet the Hero himself, we got to hear his story from the Hero himself, we got a chance to pose with the Hero himself. Luckily, I carried a copy of his Biography, "I too had a Dream" and I got it personally signed by the King himself. Meeting Dr. Kurien, in Amul Dairy in midst of the beatiful green lawns which still sung the praises of Dr. Kurien's greatness; was an achievement for me. To add to it, the 3 huge rooms in the premises of Amul dairy filled with the medals, gifts, trophies, appreciations, certificates etc. all in name of Dr. Kurien flattered me. Everything forced me to think HOW CAN A PERSON ACHIEVE SO MUCH IN A SINGLE LIFETIME?? My determination to do contribute to the society now become all the more strong. Perhaps, this is why people say, "People fade, But Legacy stays on". All the minor remaining doubts on my decision to join IRMA were flushed away and replaced with thankfulness and gratitude for the Great Institute and the great Dr. Ku!

I always kept the signed copy of the book very dearly, and close to my heart. Whenever I felt short of inspiration, I just used to open the book and get awed by the person who transformed millions of lives. He had once quoted that I will make hundreds of Kuriens coming out of IRMA. I know Dr. Kurien can only be one, but his trust in the institute, in its participants, has motivated me to do atleast a miniscule fraction of Dr. Kurien did. I dont know if I ever live upto the expectations, but I shall always try to.Now, few months after the meeting, there was placement times at IRMA. All seniors suggested that you need to read Dr. Kuriens autobiography, "I too had a Dream" for Amul's placement interview. Reluctantly, I had to hand it over to my friend to read which subsequently went to other friend; and in the end became untraceable. I had lost my most priced possession. I kept no stone unturned to get it back but to no avail.

Few days from that, it was end of IRMA journey. Everyone had started to depart for home or trips to nearby places. I had my car with me, so had decided to leave a little late to complete some pending matters. I always wanted to meet Dr. Kurien in person, talk to him and thank him for the huge role he had played in transforming my life. We were under the impression that Dr. Kurien were in Chennai for health reasons. Still, one afternoon, I just went to Dr. Kurien's house and purely as an aimless arrow in air, I inquired for him. The person at the gate went to call for Molly madam, wife of Dr. Kurien. When she came, I requested her for a chance to meet Dr. Ku especially since our time at campus was over and we were not sure when we would be coming back again. After a lot of insistence, she agreed and called me at 5pm. I thanked her and went back to campus.

Now, I wanted a copy of his autobiography for me to get his autograph. The local bookstore was out of stock, and there was no other option. As it is said, where there is a will, there is a way. I was told that some professors had undergone a training wherein they were handed over new copies of book. I requested a professor, and he thankfully agreed to give me his copy, and I promised him a brand new copy to that prof at the earliest. And instantly, I ordered a copy of the book from online store.

India was playing Pakistan in a crucial world cup semifinal on 30th March. It was same day I was to meet Dr Kurien. I knew Dr. Kurien were very particular about time, so right at 5pm, I and my friend Ajay were at doors of Dr. Kurien. Molly madam welcomed us and requested us to be seated. I glanced through the large hall of his bunglow. One wall had a beautiful picture of Dr. Kurien himself. One wall had few certificates hanging. On close examination, I realised those were Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan- top 2nd, 3rd and 4th highest civilian awards in India. One wall had a huge life sized poster of Indira Gandhi with some other leaders across a table. On the back of my sofa, was a huge photo of Mt. Everest. Few moments later, Dr. Kurien arrived walking slowly helped by Molly madam. The eternal glow on his face was would leave anybody in awe. I thanked lord for fulfilling my dream of seeing Dr. Kurien in person, and I was soaking in the feeling of being one to one with the hero himself and the pride of long time dream getting accomplished. Molly madam explained him that we were on the brink of becoming alumnus of IRMA and were spending last few days there. He asked us about our time at IRMA. He even inquired about the food in the campus. He started telling us interesting parts of his life story. The talking went on for sometime. After few quite moments, he asked me if I saw what is hanging on the wall behind my back? I told him that it was Mt. Everest. Than he told me that it is personally signed by its first conquerors: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Sherpa. It left me awestruck! Considering Dr. Kurien had worked closely with Vallabhbhai Patel, Tribhuvandas Patel, Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Morarji Desai and host of other national and international leaders; I realized that I was indeed witness to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen! The feeling was out of the world.

I finally told Dr. Kurien the reason that I really wanted to meet him. I went on my knees and touched the feet of Dr. Kurien promising myself to contribute in my own way for the betterment of society. I strightened, touched his hand and told him Thank You very much. I expressed him gratitude from the bottom of my heart for transforming my life for the good. He acknowledged it. I stood up and went to Molly madam and touched her feet which had been through Dr. Kurien in thick and thin, And in this wee moments of his life where ill health has caught up with him, she stood strong acting as guide, interpreter and a perfect life long partner for the hero who transformed millions of life. I requested for a photograph with Dr. Kurien. After that, I committed an utterly selfish act which I do not regret. Dr. Kurien were going through very bad health, and his hands are swollen due to edema. He had problems in writing. Still, I requested him to sign me on my copy of his personal autobiography. He willingly signed it for me, and I have decided not to give it to anybody at any cost. I thanked Dr. Kurien once again, thanked Molly madam again and left the place with an immense sense of achievement, gratitude for IRMA and a content heart.

This video gives a brief glimpse of life of Dr. Ku!

He just celebrated his 90th birthday. I wish him the best for his birthday. I came across his pictures, memorable speeches, his videos and the memories of my best ever moments of my life flashed back.If somebody deserves Bharat Ratna more than anybody is Dr. Verghese Kurien. It is the only trophy missing in the cabinet of person conferred with Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, World Food Prize, Wateler Peace Prize, Indian of the year award, Ramon Magasway Award, Krishi Ratna, Godfrey Phillips Bravery Award and host of other national and international recognitions. Through his efforts, he has changed the lives of over 10 million farmers, in addition to other millions who make their living off Amul products, the lives of few hundred IRMAns that he transformed who are now transforming hundreds of lives themselves, NDDB who has transformed so many lives and is on the brink of another operation flood to transform many more lives, GCMMF for the tremendous marketing success making it the largest FMCG in India with a turnover of 10K crores, and the countless lives that he has transformed through his contributions in AKRSP, Anadalaya school, Tribhuvandas Foundation, KIIT School of Rural Management, Vikshit Bharat Foundation etc. and hundreds other through his indirect contributions via his students, inspirees & followers; He truly deserves a Bharat Ratna.

The prospect of someone achieving so much in a short lifetime, seeing happiness in lives of millions due to your efforts, fighting with the system by being in the system, getting done what is needed and leading the life by example is truly amusing. The thing that is confusing is that why do we have only 1 Kurien in a population of over 1 billion? And the thing that is both Amusing and Confusing is how the mere presence of a great Hero inspires you to emulate them, motivates you to work hard, challenge the unchallenged, gives you immense peace of mind, source of happiness, have some memorable moments and drives you to excel in your own field whichever it may be!

I would end by expressing my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Kurien for everything! Thank You Dr. Ku.

Mind-Boggling Real Estate of Mumbai!

2011-12-07T06:15:00.000-08:00

I am not sure if it was present from earlier, or I started closely analysing the market since then; but I feel that real estate atleast in Mumbai has boomed & blossomed in last few years. I dont remember people talking about home deals in crores of rupees than. But, nowadays, a house coming for less than a crore rupees is a very nice deal! It is quite amusing and confusing how did so much money come to people all of a sudden, and also real estate market outpacing all the conventions of standard markets. It has become synonymous with abnormal profits!

I was trying to figure out a rough value of simply houses in Mumbai. Here are the assumptions:

The total area of Mumbai is 603.4 km² (233 sq mi). Of this, the island city spans 67.79 km² (26 sq mi), while the suburban district spans 370 km² (143 sq mi), together accounting for 437.71 km² (169 sq mi) under the administration of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The remaining area belongs to Defence, Mumbai Port Trust, Atomic Energy Commission and Borivali National Park, which are out of the jurisdiction of the BMC.

So, around 437 sq. km or 169 sq miles of area comes under BMC. 169 sq. miles roughly equals to 4,711,449,600 sq. ft. We shall assume only 4,000,000,000 sq. ft for our calculations.

Further assuming, buildings (including residential and commercial) are built on 50% of area of Mumbai. Rest is covered by roads, highways, railways, parking areas, grounds, slums, waste lands, dumping rounds etc. This leaves us with an area of approximately 2,000,000,000 sq. ft. covered by buildings.

Now, length of buildings is variable. Not considering the under construction India tower of 125 floors the largest building in Mumbai is Imperial towers of 60 storeys. We shall take the average length of buildings as 3 floors. So, the total available land under buildings is 6,000,000,000 sq. ft.

Now, the price of real estate in Mumbai ranges from Rs. 6000/ sq. ft to as high as Rs. 65,000 psf. Although, it has become very difficult to find a home priced at Rs. 8000 psf., we might still consider that price as price to find out the total value of real estate in Mumbai.

Hold your breath!!!!

The total value of real estate in Mumbai comes to a STAGGERING

48,000,000,000,000 Indian Rupees!!

In words: 48 Trillion Indian Rupees.

In USD (@48Rs per 1 USD): 1,000,000,000,000

In words: 1 trillion US$

For some comparisons:

US GDP (as well as US debt) is 15 trillion $

India's 2010 GDP was 1.5 trillion US$

Australian GDP is 1.2 trillion

Pakistan GDP is 174 billion US$

If you remove the top 3 African countries, than the total GDP of remaining 50 African countries roughly equals to that of worth of Mumbai's real estate!

This is a VERY VERY conservative calculations. I could not get hand to actual data.

I know it would not be appropriate, still if you add the following facts:

• Mumbai accounts for 16% of income tax collections and 35% of corporate tax collection in the country.
• Mumbai accounts for 25% of the State's income at current prices.
• 66% of the sales tax revenue in Maharashtra originated in Mumbai.
• Mumbai is home to both the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange and dominated the turnover and total market capitalization of the Indian stock markets. The share of these two exchanges is about 92% with respect to the total turnover. They represent virtually the total market capitalization of India's corporate sector.
• Contributes 30% of customs duty.
• Mumbai handles 26% of the domestic air traffic cargo and an average of40%of the international air cargo traffic in country and about 25% of the domestic and 38% of the International air passenger traffic in the country.
• The number of telephone connection in Mumbai is estimated to be approximately 2.31 million. Of the approximately 7 million cellular subscribers in India, 10% of the subscribers are believed to be in Mumbai.
• 2.5 million tax assesses.
• Mumbai accounts for a significant share in deposits mobilization (14% of total deposits) and deployment of credit (21% of total credit) of scheduled commercial banks.
• Mumbai accounts for almost 30% of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the State.
• Handles over 35% of cheque clearances in number and 60% in value, more than 10 times that of any other metro.

I dont know how sustainable are these numbers, whether it is overpriced, under-priced, actual or virtual (like Facebook).

^{All I can say is.... THIS IS MIND BOGGLING!!!! For me, It is Amusing and Confusing :)}

KBC5: A Perfect Example of Perfect Marketing Strategy!

2011-11-09T02:03:00.000-08:00

Ever since the 5th season of Kaun Banega Crorepati started, I have tried to watch its episodes whenever possible. I did not get amazed by the questions asked, the contestants, persona of Shri Bachchan, the glitz & glamour etc. The one thing which startled me was the general theme on which almost all the episodes of KBC are based.

Starting with the newly found tagline of Panch Koti Mahamani Kaun Banega Crorepati. This is why marketing is such a fascinating subject. Finding the right combination of words, in right language, which can appeal to a large crowd is a huge challenge in itself. I feel the show publicity managers have struck the right chord with the tagline.

The common theme that all the current episodes of KBC deals with is the Power of Common Man. It becomes slightly amazing when almost all the contestants that appear for KBC have their own story of struggles. Almost every contestant weeps on the hot seat, Mr Bachchan invariably asks about the salary earned till now, past struggles, outstanding loans, children education, exploitation, social struggles, family issues, isolation.

Thanks to my time at Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), I was fortunate enough to visit a number of remote villages in Indian states. I got to interact with the people there. I find a uncanny resemblance of the problems faced by those people with the problems expressed by the contestants on the hot seat. This, along with the fact that almost every contestant hails from remote villages, surprisingly less contestants from cities and this is combined by the general iterations of Big B remarking the struggles and problems faced by the contestants.It makes me difficult to believe that the stark resemblance is merely a coincidence.

In my opinion, Kaun Banega Crorepati has turned from a show of random contestants to a motivational show which inspires people to break the shackles of conventional thoughts and instill a self belief in them. In AB's words, it has become a show that demonstrates the Power of Common man and the Triumph of Human Will. The heart touching videos depicting the lives of contestants has made large number of Indians connect with each other with a common feeling of sufferings, pain, poverty, debt, anticipation of a good future, safety of their children, educaation of their children, happy parents etc. In the process, KBC 5 has recorded the highest TRP's for a non fictitious show and propelled Sony Television to number 2 spot in channel ranking in India. This has undoubtedly given hope to lakhs of Indians. Additionally, the Ghar Baithe Jeeto Jackpot Prize makes you a lakhpati with just a phone call. An additional way that KBC makes big money and also gives hopes to lakhs of people who wish to become rich overnight!

Mr. Sushil Kumar, who being a computer operator and teacher did not know about the Intel processors, wearing shoes only for 2nd time in his life, from a remote village in India knew that Dane invaders ended their colonial powers in India in 1868 that too in Port Blair is an absolute achievement. He has changed the way every Indian will look to himself.

At the end of the day, KBC is a game as well as a business. It has led to increased participation from all strata & from all the parts of country. It has added to the wisdom of millions of Indians and is overall a win-win situation for everyone involved. It is a winning proposition for me, you, the show organizers/ producers, Big B and the contestants whose life got transformed, contestants whose life will be transformed, television watchers and the millions whose life get transformed by watching emotional counterparts emerge through the miseries as theirs.

It is really amusing that KBC5 has been successful in what I feel to become the biggest example for Rural Marketing in recent times which has struck resemblance even with the never say die attitude of people across all generations, ages, sexes, races, castes, religions, poor, rich, cities, villages, towns... EVERYWHERE, EVERYONE! Most people in India consider themself as A Common Man with High Aspirations and a determination to break the shackles of their difficult life to ensure better life for themself, family and most importantly their progeny. This show Exactly depicts that attitude & belief. Perhaps, this is a type of marketing strategy targetting the psychography of people. The attitudes, value systems and beliefs of people that are exhibited in the targeting strategy opted by them has helped them to position KBC5 strongly across all market segments. This combined with the exhuberence of Mr. Bachchan and a fine blend of noted celebrities, real life heroes, real life sufferers, real life fighters, real life Common Man has provided all the ingredients of a Perfect Example of Perfect Marketing Strategy and in effect an extremely successful show. And so it was!

Long Live the marketing team of KBC. Long live KBC. Long Live Mr. Bachchan. Long Live the Power of Common man!

Is Karma really a b*tch?

2011-11-08T12:09:00.000-08:00

Indian texts frquently say that you are a product of your karma. is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect (cycle of life) originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies. Whatever you do, howsoever you behave, you will get back in return. It is frequently told, Good begets good and bad begets bad. In you life, if something good happens to you, then it is due to your good karma. And every bad that happens in your life is repayment of your karmic debt. Once you end your cycle of karma, you attain moksha/ nirvana(or liberation of soul)

I shall try to evaluate karma through different lenses and than decide if Karma is really a b*itch.

Origin of karma?

If all I am experiencing is an effect of karma, than where and when did it all start?I think, it must be a continuous process. Actions generate new karma. If those are good actions, than it would be karmic credit, otherwise karmic debt. General tendency of humans would be leading to a huge karmic debt. Whatever good we do must be reducing the debt. Any bad would be adding to it. Thats why we generally hear karmic debt and not about credit. Infact, it is said that if you clear off your debt, than you attain nirvaana.

Science

Newton says that to every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This law has stood the test of time. The general law of physics are very much applicable to real life too. If we believe that, the karmic effects perfectly fit. If I do any action (karma), than I get equal reaction (karmic effect) back to me. If it is good karma, than one gets good in opposite direction. If bad, same back to u.

Besides, laws of thermodynamics says that energy can never be created nor destroyed, it can be converted from one form to another. If we consider karma to be energy, Whatever good thought (thought has a frequency, so energy) or action is converted in to positive energy (or karma). Negative thoughts would result in negative energy. That is why perhaps we tend to increase in energy (or karma). If we want to move to a state of lower energy (reduce karma), we need to go against the convention (thats why perhaps sufferings reduce karmic debts).

Karma as per thermodynamics can also be correlated to entropy (or disorderness of system or randomness of system of karma of system). Entropy of system always increases, so does the karmic debts. Entropy is negative so is karmic debts. Also, thermodynamics clearly states that entropy of a system at absolute zero is exactly zero in other words, a system ceases to exist when its entropy is zero. Perhaps that is the state of nirvaana, or moksha, or liberation. When there is no disorderness,no entropy, no randomness, no karmic debts you cease to exist and your soul attains liberation.

Ancient texts

Karma has found its presence in ancient Indian texts including the Upanishads. It has got prominent mention in the poems of Bhagwad Gita. It is also of prominent importance in the religious texts of Hinduism, Jainism, Budhism and Sikhism. Its mention in all those places signify its importance, and make it hard to ignore.

Karma and Rebirth

A non believer of karma would find it irrelevant. But, in the hindsight, if we see, what wrong would a new born baby have done which dies within moments after birth, or someone who is disabled at birth or becomes disabled later in life. There must something of the past life be definitely involved in it. That perfectly explains the phenomenon mentioned in hindu texts of births and rebirths till you nullify your karmic debts. I don see any other reason for which a new born should die, or someone who is born on a street side or someone who is born in a palace. Someone get opportunity and make use of that, some do get opportunity but do not utilize it, someone fail to spot an opprtunity ir someone dont get opportunity at all. There has to be a reason behind all this. Karma is the most logical reason i can conceive of.

Karma as an excuse.

Karma is frequently used as an excuse to cover up the bad. Even if it arises out of someone's deliberate cognitive action, it is branded as karma and used as a cover up. Though it may be right, but it is wrong to attribute any bad to karma. It inappropriately takes away the responsibility and the blame of the doer of the action. It can also make the sufferer passive and defenseless; and in the process, all the more vulnerable. It is wrong for a sufferer to continuously tolerate the injustice of the suppressor in the pretext of karmic effects. One cannot let the bad events occupy ones life, and not trying to change, labelling the events as karmic events. It is wrong for a man suffering from disease not to take medicine thinking that karma is taking its course through the sufferings. Looking through this lens, karma is something which people use as an excuse, use to make oneself feel better, a shinning star in otherwise dark and gloomy life, something to pacify people by the oppressors. It is something which has been attached with religious significance to validate it and fool people; which otherwise is the dark side of human beings!

Non believers of karma
For those who do not believe in karma, it is life as usual. Except for some unanswered questions, they can have comfortable life, take everyday as it comes without worrying of the past or future, keep working continuously in expectations of justice and a fair life. It would be good for them as they would be solely blamed for failures or appreciated for their success. They themselves can enjoy the credits of their life rather than getting it attributed to something that happened many years back or many lives back. They will enjoy their life the way they want and not worry about the future. As it is, no body has actually proved the existence of karma. As long as it is not theoretically or practically proved (proofs of ancient stories thousands of years back is not enough), there is an equal chance that Karma is non- existent.

Suffering depletes karma

If this is true, than someone suffering from cancer, arthritis etc will get very close to nirvana. If it is true, than what of the sufferings acquired by the lifestyle like sufferings of diabetes, hypertension etc., do they reduce bad karma or increase it? Can there be any link between one born with disability and high karmic debt.

Karma and Fate

If karma decides your fate, than what is the role of human free will. I feel a man chooses his own fate. The decisions you make, the opportunities you seize, the path you tread are all conscious decisions taken by a free and open human mind. There are stories of rag to riches, riches to rags, stagnancy; all these are free human minds and human will to do or not to do. It is difficult to attribute karma to free will. Through this lens, the role of karma in fate is rudimentary. Its role can be explained only if karma (as energy) clouds and affects decision making of a person.

Karma and Animals and Microorganisms

If karma is like any other law of nature like gravity, than it should be equally applicable to all the humans, animals, birds, microorganisms, plants etc. If we take the example of a tiger, its dharma (duty) is to eat up domestic animals, just as the duty of domestic animals is to eat up grass. In effect, tiger is taking a life to satiate his hunger. From the karmic view, his should be under immense debt, but from the dharma (duty) view, a tiger is an ideal. Lord Krishna had advocated both karma and dharma in his poem to Arjun. Than will the effects of karma affect them in lives to come? What about plants? Going by the universal law of karma, they should be very close to salvation. Poor microorganisms, they are so small that it would be difficult to attribute karma to their actions even if they cause you food poisoning, inflammations, allergies or untreatable diseases!

God and Karma

It is known that praying is known to reduce the effects of bad karma. Infact, many believe that divine intervention is needed to attain nirvana. But God is supposed to be just and impartial. How can he just favor someone who sings his praises or talks to him? If it is just limited to the positive energy that arises within one when praying, than it is acceptable, but praying God reducing karma is slightly unacceptable. If I killed someone, than I should be aptly punished and no amount of praying should reduce the punishment. This is the only just course of action, this is the course of action that God should be taking coz he is just and fair. If what I just mentioned is wrong, than what exactly is the role of God in a person's life. God would be left with no role to play except for fulfilling everyones desires and needs.

Unfair life and continuity
I would like to quote few lines by PV Vaidyanathan featured in "The Speaking Tree".
He says,
" However, existence does not work according to our needs, desires, wants, ideas or beliefs. In fact, no one really knows for sure how existence works, why life unfolds for each of us the way it does. While some might call it fate, others believe in past life karma, luck or chance. Still others say it is the law of cause and effect playing out. You might feel that the person who is having some benefits today must have done some good in the past, and is reaping the rewards of his past good deeds. And so we advise our children that they must be good, honest, humble, giving, fair and forgiving. Despite many of us living good, honest lives, existence does not seem to shower its blessings on us. It is then that we wonder if life is unfair.

In reality, life or existence is neither fair nor unfair. Existence just is; life flows as it is meant to. Is there a master blueprint somewhere which has the details of how life should proceed every second on earth for each of us? There is no concrete evidence or proof of this. In reality, existence does not favor anyone more than the other. Swami Vivekananda would say, “Not even an atom in this universe can be different than how it is, for that would destroy the balance of the universe and the entire system would collapse.”

For the universe to run smoothly, events and occurrences have to be in a certain way, and life moves not in a straight line, but in infinite cycles. This much we know by looking at life, where rich and poor, good and bad, happiness and sorrow, life and death – all come in cycles.

While life may seem unfair, if things changed as per every individual’s desires and wishes, imagine the chaos and confusion that would result. In a matter of a few days, the world would come to an end. The apparent unfairness that we see is needed for continuity."

Conclusion
After seeing through the above lenses, Karma can be discarded as a modern day gimmick to fool people of their sufferings or justified with a much deeper meaning. Karma and its role is both amusing and confusing. For me if karma really exists, its aim is to fear the bad of past, so that it is not repeated and be good in the present. If this happens, future automatically becomes good. The larger underlying reason in for non believers would be pointless, for believers of material life could be to make this world a better place to live; and spiritually, it has role in liberation of soul.

Is karma really a b*tch?

I am not really sure.

(P.S. This post is my response to a very close friend who is a staunch non believer in Karma)

Mystery of Life

2011-11-07T01:43:00.000-08:00

People said, ‘Life is a mYSTERY to be solved!'

I took it as a challenge & tried to solve it!

I took it as a puzzle & tried to crack it.

On my way, I tried to find all the clues,

That may help me to solve this mystery!

I walked through a crowd,

To feel the deafening silence within myself!

I walked through the shore,

To feel the waves rise and fall!

I walked on a riverbank,

To feel the shimmering river!

I trudged past a jungle,

To feel the bliss of nature!

I flew through the sky,

To feel the feeling of flying.

I wandered alone in darkness,

To feel the sound of silence!

I went down the sea,

To feel the life of water.

I strolled through a Desert,

To feel what is it to be sand!

I climbed up a mountain,

To feel the top of the world.

I left no stone unturned,

I left no work undone.

Just to solve the puzzle called LIFE!

I tried to find signs everywhere,

I tied to decode codes everywhere

Just to solve an enigma called LIVING!

Then I realized, I was wrong.

Many people took LIFE as a puzzle,

And tried to solve it; everybody failing!

I have known that,

Life is a mystery...

It is not to be solved,

It has to be lived! It has to be enjoyed,

It has to be cherished and relished.

And that day, I got answers to all my questions,

Answers to my joys, sorrows, pains and happiness!

Answers to all the puzzles, trials and tribulations.

And I solved the mystery of LIFE,

By living It, Enjoying It, Cherishing It and relishing it!!

My love affair with Liverpoool FC

2011-11-07T01:28:00.000-08:00

I was quite naive to football back then. Had no idea about football, its players, clubs, teams apart from the general ones like David Beckham, Arsenal, Manchester United, Brazil, Ronaldo, Zidane to name a few. I met a few people who were football fanatics, use to see the crowds, the craziness they exhibited over football, religion called football, largest fan base, brawls over clubs etc. and started watching some random football games. Than there was one such random match I was watching. It was Champions League. I had known that the best teams in Europe play in Champions League. Those were late night matches. The match was between an English Club Liverpool and Italian Club AC Milan. Due to the general popularity of English Clubs in India, I supported Liverpool. The match started, and within the first minute, AC Milan scored a goal. And within the half time, the pre match favorites and the reigning Italian champions were 3-0 up against Liverpool. Liverpool showed moments of brilliance, but the solid defense of AC Milan did not let through any goals. But, there was something in the club Liverpool, that still made me support them, in a near impossible match to win.The second half started and the Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard scored a goal and it was madly cheered by the crowd. The match went on.. and all of sudden, Liverpool bravely fought back to score 2 more goals, and in a span of merely 7 minutes, they were on par with the mighty Milan! I was so happy, cant describe. Though I was no way acquainted with the team, still I felt a feeling of belongingness to the team. It was after tha I started knowing more about Liverpool FC and football in general. I saw almost every match that was telecasted of Liverpool as well as other teams.

I did not realize, over a period of time, my acquaintance with Liverpool turned into love, gradually passion and now it has become more of an obsession. I still wonder how this affair grew. I guess there is something in the club that is very powerful. Apart from the Champions League in 2005 and a FA cup in 2006, Liverpool has not won any major trophy over the years. Still, it is one of the most followed club in the world. When the club had been to Malaysia tour in a pre season friendlies, the stadium was jam packed just to watch the team practice! it was mad during the actual match there. Liverpool fans are also voted as the loudest fans in the world, Liverpool fans are also known to be very dedicated, supportive and loyal.

Another thing that I simply love bout Liverpool is the club song which is almost become synonymous with Liverpool and a matchday tradition... "You'll never walk alone".Here is the song:

You'll Never Walk Alone

Here is fans singing You'll never walk alone during a match:

Another aspect that I like about Liverpool is its tradition. It was established in 1892. It has seen so many ups and downs, so many great players have donned Liverpool jersey as a player or manager including Shankly, Rush, Dalglish, Fowler, Owen, Garcia, Baros, Callaghan, Wheelan, Alonso, Rafa, Lidell, Gerrard , Carragher... endless list. 18 league titles, record 5 European cups and dozens of achievements. Liverpool is also closely associated with the Beatles band, Former Tennis no1 donned the famous red shirt on the court.

One of the biggest factor for my love of Liverpool is the great Bill Shankly, the famous Liverpool manager. One of the greatest person who you will come across, one of the biggest contributor to the heritage of Liverpool FC as well as big reason of the success and stature of Liverpool FC. His famous quotes include:

"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."

"My idea was to build Liverpool into a bastion of invincibility. Napoleon had that idea. He wanted to conquer the bloody world. I wanted Liverpool to be untouchable. My idea was to build Liverpool up and up until eventually everyone would have to submit and give in."

"First is first. Second is nothing."

I seldom miss any Liverpool match. I dance with joy when Liverpool wins, get frustrated & highly irritable when we loose or draw, I bought the famous Red jersey for myself as well as gifted it to one my very close friend (and a Liverpool devotee) from my first salary after internship, have a Liverpool scarf, a huge Liverpool FC poster with "This is Anfield" (the Liverpool home ground) and Liver bird Liverpool logo, annual Liverpool calendar (gifted to me by my friend) and few Liverpool badges. I spend watching Liverpool FC club site and dozens of other related sites hundreds of times daily looking out for all possible updates. The affair never ceases. It is only as if my affair has just started. These are merely words. I still feel that I have hardly expressed anything of my love for LFC. Infact, that feeling is indescribable. I am left curious how and when did this happen. I feel that the affair has turned in to a commitment that whatever I do, there would be only 1 love for me, one religion, one club.... one Liverpool FC!

"You'll Never Walk Alone."

Introduction

2011-11-06T23:34:00.000-08:00

This is an attempt to express myself. I always wanted to write, but kept procrastinating. I guess it is the time. The opinions are largely based on my own logical conclusions based on some own theories and my observations and my discussions. Special thanks to Satwick Reddy Thumu for I am using his photograph in my blog. Please feel free to express your views, opinions, criticisms, appreciations.