ABHISHEK

Please Wake Up!

2010-04-01T22:00:00.003+05:30

It is disgusting to note that Bangalore recorded dismal voting percentage yet again. This time it was the BBMP elections and the voting percentage was less than 45%. Even more disgusting is the fact that it is mainly the educated lot which didn't vote. Such performance even after many NGO, RWAs and even the government trying their best to encourage voting! I know a personal friend who has dedicated so much time and energy in encouraging people to vote and I can gauge his disappointment and frustration.

Do these people who don't vote understand how much hard work goes on behind the scenes to ensure that polling is peaceful and successful. My mother in law is a lecturer and she often goes for poll duty. She rued the fact that it took her 2 hours to reach her designated booth last Sunday and to her dismay the turnout was miserable. Her effort has meaning only when people turn up to vote.

Or do these educated, yet ignorant people understand the consequence of not voting? The other section which votes regularly doesn't always vote for the right reasons. Consequently, the wrong people (often thugs, rowdies, caste leaders, rich businessmen with self interests, etc) get elected.

I am at a loss trying to understand why people dont vote. It cant be lack of time. I hardly spent 5 minutes at the voting booth. The election commission has done a remarkable job to ensure that there are enough polling booths so that we dont have to wait in long queues.

Is it the lack of interest? Or simply apathy? In either of these cases, I ask - What do we lose by voting? At the max, 30 minutes of our weekend. We can surely afford to forgo this time for a noble cause once in a while. Also, the person who doesn't vote, loses the moral right to speak anything against this city, state or country and its elected representatives.

I think it is high time we make voting a fundamental part of our life, just like eating or breathing. The elders in the house, I feel, play an important role here. They must educate the younger generation about the importance of voting.

Each of us should understand that every vote counts and even one vote (or the lack of it), can make a huge difference.

Its high time we wake up!

My Friend Raj - A short story

2010-01-21T22:45:00.007+05:30

I recently met my dear friend Raj after quite sometime. He had requested the meeting and when we met, I could clearly see that he was troubled.

After few minutes of niceties, I asked Raj why he looked worried. He twitched for a moment. With a sad face, Raj started telling his problem.

"Last week, I had a performance review in my office. My manager told that I was a good performer. Naturally, I asked him why I was not rated excellent even after a superior performance.

My manager simply asked me whether I was passionate about my work. I was angered. I rattled out all my achievements. I eloquently described how I bettered others.

My manager repeated his question. I tried to tell something, but kept quite. After a while, he agreed that I had performed exceedingly well for the current year. But then, he asked me about the future and if I had the passion and the vision to take me to the next level? He told that if I was given a task, I could perform it well. However, I have never ever tried to do something on my own. He claimed that these are the things necessary for getting an excellent rating."

"Oh, work related." I exclaimed, relieved that it was nothing major. "Its terrible maga. I am worried", Raj said somberly.

I egged him to continue.

Raj started again - "While returning home, I asked the same questions to myself. Am I passionate about my work? Instant answer is a loud No.

Next question - So, what are you passionate about which you can turn into a career? Answer - Umm, not sure. Rather, don't know!

The corollary, therefore, is I can never excel or succeed! All of what my manager had said was true!"

I was amused at Raj's naivety. I said "Wow sisya!! How could you get convinced so easily? You know, managers are paid to utter stuff like this."

Raj disagreed. He said that he concurred with his manager's assessment. I then asked pointedly, "Raj, why then did you take up CS? Weren't you aware of this before?"

Raj sighed. "I wish I knew. Though I cant claim that I was pushed into computer engineering, it was not my choice. My uncle was by far the most well read and refined person in our household. Invariably, I regarded him as my role model from childhood. I was an above average student and hence, my uncle also showed keen interest in my studies.

In school and pre degree, my interests were literature and sports (especially cricket). I topped in both Kannada and English and had excellent command over the language. In addition, I was highly influenced by my physics teacher in pre degree and developed a keen interest in astrophysics.

I told my uncle that I wanted to study physics. However, he discouraged me. He said that science graduates were struggling to get jobs and that computer engineering was the hot thing. It would ensure that I get a decent job. He reminded me of my lower middle class background and my dependent parents. I understood that there was no use talking about my other interest - literature. That was no money spinner either.

I wrote the entrance exam, got a good rank and got admitted to a top engineering college. In college, I was obviously an average student. However, due to the extreme demand for software engineers, I landed a job.

But the question which lurks at me like a giant ghost is - Can I survive here for all of my work life? Our product VP once warned that software engineers have just 10 more years of fun. After that, we will in no way be cost effective and only competence matters.", he uttered. His last few words were barely audible as he was trying to control his emotion.

I knew half of what Raj told since I was his engineering classmate. However, I didn't want to interrupt him. I also concurred with Raj that the fun days for computer professionals were numbered. Reality would dawn upon us, sooner or later. But I thought it was a natural transformation in any industry. Raj, for one, believed he couldn't adjust.

I tried in vain to talk him up. It was as if he had concluded that he was in the wrong place. Clearly, my friend was struggling. I finally asked him - "So Raj, what do you have in mind for the future?"

Raj looked lost. He gazed at the evening sun for a long while. Then he said "I am not sure Abhi. I cant afford to lose the money I am making here. You know that I am the only bread winner in my house. At the same time, I am dying of suffocation each day. I don't know what I am good at. I don't know what my passion is. I have forgotten my interests due to tremendous amount of apathy over a long time. Man, life in middle class is cruel!"

I didn't know how to console Raj. Though initially I wished his role model was someone who knew better, later I felt that the person had Raj's larger interests in mind. We were silent for a long time.

"Cheer up buddy! Start making a conscious effort to renew your passion. If not as a career, at least as a hobby. It will help relieve your stress.", was all I managed.

Raj got up to leave. He said "I really hope I can start something before I go mad."

I hugged him warmly and wished him good luck. As I rode back home, I prayed God to show Raj the way. He desperately needed it.

Ending 2009 on a sad note

2009-12-30T16:42:00.011+05:30

The last week of 2009 (and of this decade) is proving to be an extremely painful week for Kannadigas.

First, we lost C. Ashwath, a great singer and music composer who made "Sugama Sangeetha" a household name. Ashwath ensured that hundreds of poems written by various poets reaches the common man which otherwise would have remained only in books. C. Ashwath is most famous for composing music for Santha Shishunala Sharif's poems. Ashwath's high energy singing was very very contagious. My wife, who was lucky to have attended one of his concerts, remembered that when Ashwath sang, everyone had goosebumps. Some of his best ever compositions include - "Subba bhattara magale", "Badavanaadarenu Priye", "Kodagana Koli Nungitha", "Gupthagaamini", "Bangaara Teera kadalaache", "Shravana banthu naadige" and many, many more. Ashwath's versatile singing was evident in the song "Kechalo Machalo" from the movie Kariya which is one of the most youthful songs in Kannada.

I am sure that C. Ashwath's amazing rendition of "Taravalla Tegi Ninna Tamboori Swara" will remain with us forever. May the great soul rest in peace.

Just when we were all recovering from one big jolt, Kannadigas were hit by a lightening -- Sahasa Simha Dr Vishnuvardhan's untimely and tragic demise. Vishnuvardhan stormed the kannada film industry with a stunning performance as the protagonist in "Nagara Haavu". He won the best actor award for that movie. After this, Vishnu never looked back. Delivering hit after hit, Vishnu reached a stature next only to Dr. Rajkumar. In fact, Dr. Raj and Vishnu were regarded as the two shining stars of the Kannada film industry. It is unfortunate that the two acted together in just one movie - "Gandada Gudi".

Some of the star's hits were "Nagara Haavu", "Bhoothayana Maga Ayyu", "Guru Sishyaru", "Sahasa Simha", "Jayasimha", "Hombisilu", "Malaya Marutha", "Mathe Hadithu Kogile", "Veerappa Nayaka" and many more. In fact, the two biggest hits came pretty late in his sparkling career of over 3 decades. Both "Yajamaana" and "Aptha Mitra" smashed all records for collection prevailing during that time.

Can anyone forget "Bandhana" where Vishnu portrays a heart broken lover? Or "Muthina Haara" where he excelled as an army major? Or the action flick "Kotigobba" where he is a don in disguise? Or the thriller "Nishkarsha" where he leads an operation against deadly terrorists who have held a bank hostage? Or his heart rending performance in "Karna" where the hero donates his kidney in order to raise money for his sister's marriage? Or the freedom fighter's role in "Veerappa Nayaka"? Or "Maathaad Maathaad Mallige" in which Dr. Vishnu fights the bad forces through Gandhian style satyagraha?

These performances ensure that Dr. Vishnu will live with us forever. His last released movie was "Bellary Naaga". Everyone was keenly anticipating his next film "Aptha Rakshaka" which is dubbed to be the sequel of the super hit "Aptha Mithra". Vishnuvardhan was also keenly hoping that "Aaptha Rakshaka" would provide him the commercial success which had eluded him of late.

Even though Dr. Vishnuvardhan reached super stardom, he remained an extremely humble and a very friendly person. He always had a smile on his face. He had keen interest in philosophy and spirituality.

One of his songs instantly comes to my mind - "Ee Bhoomi Bannada buguri, aa shivane chaati kano; ee baalu sundara nagari, neenidara meti kano; ninthaaga buguriya aata, ellaru onde ota; kaala kshanika kano". The song is from the not so successful movie "Maha Kshatriya". It translates into something like this - "This world is a coloured top and the lord is the spinner; This life is a beautiful town, you are the architect; when the top stops spinning, its just one race..."

Truely, Dr. Vishnuvardhan is a "Kotigobba" (One in a million). May his soul rest in peace.

In search of topics to blog...

2009-12-16T18:34:00.002+05:30

Its been a month since I wrote something. So, my mind was always on the prowl in search of blog matter :-)

There are so many things happening around the world. However, none of it is anything new.

Take the Copenhagen climate summit for example - The hype given to it by the media was unprecedented. However, as usual, the talks are heading nowhere. The rich countries don't want to pay for their earlier misdeeds while the rest of the world is hell bent on committing the same mistakes. The bottom line - Global warming and climate change deserves only lip sympathy.

Next on my list is the Telengana issue. I have lost count of the number of times the Congress Party has hit the khuladi on its own leg (Apne hi paav par khuladi maarna). This time, its on the brink of losing its government in Andhra Pradesh. Poor Mr Rossiah.

Next is Tiger Woods. Looks like he is a serious competition to Bill Clinton. Poor fellow was enjoying the best of all worlds till a few days back. Unfortunately, his luck ran out. But if everything written about him is true, he was living a dream life :D

There you go. Hopefully, I will have something meaningful to write next time around :-)

Austerity - A mere buzz word

2009-11-14T18:22:00.001+05:30

Of late, "Austerity" has been the buzz word in government circles. Our central government, the Finance Minister in particular, has been trying to introduce various measures which cut unnecessary government expenditure. These steps include - ministers flying economy class, staying in official residences, etc.

Even with all these in place, the FM must realise that the government is doing precious little to save costs. The money which elected representatives make would envy any businessman/CEO in the world. In addition, they enjoy many perks including exorbitant DA, TA, telephone allowance, etc etc. Add to this, the yearly MPLAD and MLALAD funds which the representatives must ideally use for development works in their constituency. How much of this reaches the people who faithfully elected them is a million dollar question.

All of this is legal money. One can only wonder what is the illegal wealth which each one has amassed.

The latest slap on the face of austerity is by our Karnataka's ministers. Not surprisingly, our CM is leading from the fore front. He has spent 2 crores to renovate his official bungalow and a mind blowing 35 lacs to renovate just one bedroom!! Other ministers have spent anywhere between 10 lac and 80 lacs for their house renovation. And mind you, all these are official bungalows which they need to vacate when they lose power. The next person will redo everything according to his whims by spending an even higher amount of money. I feel sick when I realise that the money these people spend belongs to tax payers like us, who struggle all our life to have a decent livable house.

I can only wonder about the audacity of our politicians who are spending crores on frivolous reasons when lakhs of people are suffering due to floods in north karnataka. No wonder politics is the profession of choice for many people, today.

Indian cricket team selection - The joke never ends!

2009-10-15T22:29:00.003+05:30

Today, the selection committee announced Indian cricket team for the forth coming seven match ODI series against Australia. As has been the tradition, the selectors have again made a joke of themselves. This time and not for the 1st time, the scapegoat is Rahul Dravid.

Just a couple of months back, the K. Srikkanth led selection committee had recalled Dravid into the ODI fold for Champions trophy after nearly 2 years in oblivion. The explanation given at that time was that Dravid's technique and temperament was essential in South Africa against a battery of fast bowlers. He was to be the linchpin of a floundering middle order. At that time everyone in the echelons of power in BCCI were waxing eloquent about Dravid's excellent batting ability and class. Its another matter that the same BCCI had done the grave mistake of ignoring Dravid for almost 2 years.

Dravid justified his selection. He scored 180 runs in the 6 matches that he played (Compaq Cup and CT) at an average of 36. He was in fact the top scorer for India in the champions trophy. It was not an extraordinary performance, but what else can be expected from a person coming out of a 2 year rut.

Now when Dravid was looking good for a couple more years of ODI cricket, he has been sacked. The explanation being offered now is that youngsters should be given a chance. One really cannot understand the logic behind this move. The very reason of including Dravid was to improve our middle order against fast bowling. Has our batting become so strong in just 2 months that we will be able to face the Australian fast bowlers. Agreed, we are playing at home. But there are a zillion instances of our team struggling against fast bowling even at home.

Its really a shame that a legend like Rahul Dravid has been subjected to such humility by the BCCI. No one can question Dravid's contribution and commitment to Indian cricket. He has scored more than 10000 runs in both forms of the game and has been the mainstay of our batting for more than a decade. He has been an excellent and a dignified sportsman - a great ambassador for Indian cricket.

I fully acknowledge the fact that we need to groom youngsters. Obviously the seniors cannot go on for ever and we need to nourish our bench strength. However, that doesn't explain the now on and now off stand taken by the BCCI. The BCCI will have to understand that it cannot treat the senior cricketers in such a shabby manner.

I really hope that the BCCI corrects its mistake and take back Dravid into the ODI side as soon as possible. He is still hungry for runs and his fans like me are hungry to watch him in action. After all, we are not playing many test matches, are we.

An Appeal to our Chief Minister Mr B.S Yeddyurappa

2009-10-07T11:35:00.003+05:30

Its strange how the climate changes so fast. Till a few days back, Karnataka (and our entire country, for that matter) was in drought. Now, North Karnataka and Andhra are ravaged by floods!

North Karnataka has the distinction of bearing the brunt of nature's fury on either extreme.

The situation is very grim. Hundreds of lives have been lost. Lakhs of people have been rendered homeless. Infrastructure - bridges, buildings, roads - worth crores of rupees - has been washed away.

The state government has started the relief and rehabilitation work in the right earnest. Displaced people have been accommodated in various shelters. Food and medical relief is being provided to them. The chief minister himself is on the ground coordinating relief work. However, the disaster is of such great magnitude that it has affected 1.8 crore people in almost 1500 villages. Rebuilding the lives of so many people is not a small task and the money needed is enormous.

Naturally, the state government has appealed to the centre for aid. Knowing the fact that central aid will take its own sweet time, our Chief Minister has also appealed to the general public to donate liberally to the CM's relief fund.

In fact, the CM will kick off a rally in Bangalore to collect funds. He has also specifically appealed to the industrialists to donate liberally. He has also ordered all state government employees to contribute one day's pay towards flood relief. I am personally glad that the state government is so proactive in ensuring that the relief work doesn't get hampered due to lack of funds. However, our chief minister must understand that money collected is only half work done.

There are enough kind hearted people, philanthropists, noble organisations in our country who readily donate in such times of crisis. However, they all have second thoughts for only one reason. The money they donate with such good intentions should reach the final beneficiary in totality. It should not be siphoned off by middlemen, local politicians and corrupt government officials.

So, Mr CM, here is my appeal. While appealing for donations, assure people that the collected funds will reach the beneficiary without any pilferage. Follow up this assurance with results on the ground - Account for every rupee collected. Spend the collected money to bring succor to the millions of flood affected victims.

When this is ensured, Mr CM, donations will flood your relief fund. Also, you would have earned the people's goodwill which will take you a long way.

Mr. X, Mayawati and statues

2009-09-22T09:15:00.004+05:30

My lunches are usually uneventful. I go with a few friends, talk some crap over food and come back to my workplace. However, a few days back, I overheard a person in the next table speaking thus - "When the Gandhi's/Nehru's can do it, why cant she"? We got instantly hooked into the conversation.

A very polished young person (lets call him Mr X) was vehemently arguing with his friends that Uttar Pradesh's chief minister Mayawati's statue construction craze is justified and she should not be stopped. We were all shell shocked. If a well educated engineer is supporting such a brazen act, where is our country heading towards?

The supporting claims that Mr X was making were also equally bizarre -

1. He claimed that when there were Gandhi's statue in every nook and corner of the country, why cant UP have Mayawati's statue?

Mahatma Gandhi is the father of our nation whose contribution to India's freedom movement is unquestionable. Gandhi is a person whom India worships and his virtues are taught to children in school. In comparison what has Mayawati done which is worth noting? In her tenure as CM, corruption has reached its peak. She has amassed crores of wealth in a remarkably short period of time. She is charged in the Taj corridor corruption case. There are umpteen reports about her lavish birthday celebrations and the related forceful fund raising activities by her goondas.

Given all this and more, how can Mr X compare Mayawati to Mahatma Gandhi? I felt Mr X was out of his senses.

2. Mr X claimed that Mayawati was the tallest dalit political leader in the country today and she ought to celebrate her success to motivate other underprivileged dalits.

Again Mr.X's thoughts are miserably misplaced. Dalits want an icon, no doubt. But they want an icon who is tirelessly working for their upliftment. Not an icon made of stone and which stands still. Mayawati would do good if she concentrates on good governance. The government's primary responsibility is development, infrastructure, upliftment of poor, providing jobs, to name a few. The government's responsibility does not include spending thousands of crores in building statues of chief minister and her kith and kin.

Finally, MR. X, the state of Uttar Pradesh is one of the most backward states of our country. It is currently under severe drought with more than 20 districts declared drought hit. Millions of people are affected due to this. Common sense (I hope you have at least a bit) tells that using money for drought relief make more sense than splurging on all kinds of statues. Instead, Mayawati spends state's money on statues and asks money from the centre for drought relief. I am sure our Mr. X appreciates this complex money management!!

Wake up Mr. X, before its too late! People are going to trash your leader in the next elections if things continue this way.

Started, at last

2009-09-06T16:15:00.001+05:30

There are days when I have felt that I am simply wasting my life and whiling away my time. I have always had the urge to do something on my own. But my mind goes blank whenever I think about what I should do. When such days became more and more frequent, I told it to a couple of my close friends. They said that I was not alone. Even they felt the same way.

There are striking similarities between them and me. We are stuck in a job which we dont particularly love for various reasons. We want to do something different - something on our own. We want to give back to our society and our country in a big way. We, like everyone, want to make a name for ourselves. Finally, we, like most people, dont know how to acheive the above :-)

This became the hot topic of discussion whenever we met. However, the discussions were not translating into any sort of action. Our desperation was increasing. One fine day, we decided - enough of talking, its time we act. We gave ourselves a few months time to think and generate ideas. Later each of these ideas would be discussed threadbare and the shortlisted ideas would move to the next round of deliberation.

I can now proudly tell that after several meetings and deliberations, we have shortlisted one idea which we are taking up for implementation. We have started the ground work and you will hopefully hear about our progress soon.

I am really excited and plan to give my everything to make this small venture of ours, successful. I hope your best wishes and support are with us.

BJP - Bharatiya Jagada Party

2009-08-25T20:27:00.004+05:30

There was a time when the BJP proudly boasted that it was a party with a difference. It proclaimed that it was a highly disciplined political party. Even the people of India believed that the BJP deserved a chance and gave them a mandate to rule. They did a commendable job for the 6 years they were in power. That was when it was led by arguably the best politician this country has ever seen - Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, our former PM. He was a leader par excellence. Mr. Vajpayee was the liberal face of the BJP. He had a great vision to take this country forward.

It was probably the best decade for the BJP. Then, it lost power. That was the beginning of the decline. It simply lost the charisma it enjoyed during the Vajpayee era. It has now lost back to back general elections and with it, the stomach to digest and learn from defeats.

As a result, the BJP today has become a party of diffidence. The only other leader who has national appeal - Mr. LK Advani, is being undermined by his own party colleagues. The 2nd rung leaders like Modi, Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh etc are capable but except a couple, lack a mass base. They are always trying outdo each other and harming the party as a result. The BJP national president Mr. Rajnath Singh, a typical UP satrap, and is pitting one leader against another in a bid to stay on the top.

The principal opposition party in the country today, is totally confused and directionless. Every other day, the party is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Immediately after the 2004 election debacle, Advani realised that Vajpayee's liberal way was the only way to power. So, when he went to Pakistan and called Jinnah secular, he had a bigger picture and 2009 elections in mind. Unfortunately, his colleagues were not so shrewd and made a big hue and cry. Advani had to resign from the party President's post. It's a different matter that Advani was then again acknowledged as the BJP's best bet and he was projected as the BJP's PM in waiting.

However, Advani's dream remained just that - dream. BJP's leaders and strategists committed so many crucial blunders in the run-up to the elections - Arun Jaitely getting miffed at a crucial time; Narendra Modi being projected as bigger than Advani; losing crucial allies like BJD; and to top it, Varun Gandhi's communal comments - All these were nails in the coffin for Advani's hopes of his entry to 7, Race Course Road.

Unfortunately for BJP, the trouble simply doesn't seem to end. The party is going downhill at a furious pace. After the elections, when some top leaders like Jaswant Singh, Arun Shourie etc tried to pin the reasons for the defeat, they were silenced. The party President started acting like an autocrat just to save his skin and due to this, other top leaders started expressing their feelings in the public. This lead to chaos and widespread criticism.

The latest in this BJP saga is the unceremonious sacking of Jaswant Singh. It is quite ridiculous that one of the founding members of the party -- one who held such crucial responsibilities both in the NDA government and in the party -- was dumped in such disrespectful manner just for writing a book.

Clearly, the BJP is doldrums. Party workers and rank and file are disillusioned and have started deserting it. However, it is very important that BJP remains a potent political force in our country to avoid a one party show. It should get itself out of the rut and perform the role of a responsible opposition. Else, it won't even be the main opposition party in the next election and will go into oblivion.

There are a few steps which the BJP must immediately take to avoid sliding further. They are -

1. Sack Rajnath Singh and his cronies immediately and declare Advani as the interim President.

2. Stop infighting.

3. Take back Jaswant Singh.

4. Disown Varun Gandhi.

5. Draw a line between the roles played by RSS and BJP.

6. Groom young leaders who have the capability to take the party forward.

7. Listen to leaders' views in party fora and act on them so that they don't vent it out publicly.

I pray that the political party which I once respected and even considered joining, regains its glory and does justice to Mr. Vajpayee and his vision.

Rain Rain come today...

2009-08-15T20:00:00.002+05:30

When we were kids we learnt a rhyme which went like -- Rain, rain go away, come back another day... Essentially, it was a hope that our day wasn't wasted indoors.

Today the situation has drastically changed, at least in India. The finance minister has just announced that around 161 districts of our country are facing drought.

It is amazing how one phenomenon can affect a billion people.

Almost 60% of our population, which depends on agriculture, is drastically affected due to this drought. Irrigated land comprises of just around 35% of the entire agrarian land in India (558,080 sq km of the total 15,34,166 sq km). So, most of our farmers are still dependent on rain for their crops. Those who have sowed are devastated since their crop is failing. Others who havent sowed are worried since they cant pay back the loans they have taken in anticipation of the sowing season.

The common man, is the next worst affected. Though inflation is negative and still going down, food prices are sky rocketting. My mother tells me that her grocery budget has more than doubled (thank god, i dont need to manage that one!). Due to the sky high prices, people have started changing their eating habbits and moving over to less costly food items and vegetables.

The rural India, which was fast becoming a major spender, will no more be so since their income is adversely impacted. The urban people will have less disposable income since their cost of living has gone up considerably. So, the industry will suffer due to less demand and sales growth.

The political class is by and large immune to any problems in our country. However that's not the case this time around -- Every politician worth his salt will be worried since his vote bank is directly affected. Its interesting to see how people in places where elections are due next will react.

Given all of these facts, it is not so surprising that we hear one or the other minister speak about the steps being taken by the government to improve the situation. It remains to be seen whether these steps will be effective in easing the pain endured by the common man.

The panacea however, are rains and its time we all start praying.

Lai - Story of a cancer fighter

2009-08-09T19:51:00.003+05:30

Anyone feeling low in life, read this blog about a man who is down but surely not out. He is my best buddy Kiran's friend. He is suffering from nose cancer (I was not even aware that such a thing exists!!). We are doing our bit in spreading the word about this brave man. He is doing a wonderful job motivating other people who have suffered in life. Here hoping that he continues to blog for a long - very long time.

Back!!

2009-08-09T19:24:00.003+05:30

This is my first post in almost an year. I used to love blogosphere once upon a time. Then, I just lost the motivation to write, though I am unable to comprehend why.

However, what I am sure about, is that this sudden loss of creativity affected me in more ways than one. My life turned very routine. I had become more like a machine doing the same stuff day in and day out. Though I knew what was happening, I didn't have the will to come out of it.

And then, I read this book -- "the five people you meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom. Its about a man who does the same routine job for decades and dies at the age of 83 while saving a little girl. He then goes to heaven and understands the meaning of his life.

Well, more about that book later. But what it did is to spur me back into life. So, I am here after an year -- Hopefully for a long time.

Happy Independence Day!

2008-08-15T14:18:00.003+05:30

I don't know the reason, but somehow this day each year spurs me to write something. I feel the strong urge to let my beloved friends know of my dreams and thoughts about our great country.

Before I go any further - Wish you all a very happy Independence Day! India turns 61 today.

Today, we get a chance to bow in reverence to the thousands of freedom fighters who put their homeland before everything else and fought the British oppressors. Their struggle finally bore fruit and we got our Independence 61 years back on this day.

Today, we also get a chance to look back and evaluate ourselves. Have we fulfilled the dreams and visions of our freedom fighters? Would our freedom fighters feel proud about the state of our country today? Or would they feel sad that their supreme sacrifice went in vain?

It is but natural to say that the feeling would be mixed.

They would be extremely happy and proud of a number of things that our country has achieved. India has become an economic superpower. Our business houses are expanding their footprint all over the globe. We have several great people who have made a mark on the global front. Our forex reserves are overflowing. India has become the global technology hub which engages in cutting edge R&D activities. We will shortly have the world's biggest refinery for crude oil. We also got a major break at the Olympics - Abhinav Bindra won India's 1st ever individual gold medal at Olympics. Yes, one gold for a billion people may still be bad - However, a beginning has been made and hopefully this will have a cascading effect to produce more medals.

Sadly, the story does not end here - Our freedom fighters would feel extremely sad and ashamed to know that their country is still suffering from a number of ills.

Poverty is the biggest problem facing our nation today. About 30% of the people in the country earn less than Rs 10 per day. These people are in a dire situation. Many of them are homeless. They don't have even one proper meal a day. Their health is fragile and the conditions they live in is pathetic.

Education is the next big problem. India is projected to be a country with the most number of youth by 2020. This is a huge advantage which will be squandered if we dont educate this large pool of young people. Though the situation is improving, India still has one of the highest number of illiterate people. We also have a high number of school dropouts. There are several reasons behind this - The most important one is the poverty at home which forces parents to look for additional income.

Corruption is something which we should all be ashamed of. Transparency International ranks India at a paltry 72 out of 180 countries. Our politicians are one of the most corrupt in the whole world. Each one of us is to be blamed for the pathetic state of affairs. We always seek the easy way out of any government work by paying bribe. This emboldens the corrupt officials who don't do any work without taking a bribe. Corruption has the potential to bring the progress of our country to a stand still. We have taken a few good steps towards eradication corruption - Like the RTI act. However, more needs to be done. Most importantly, we need to empower our Lok Ayuktha to prosecute corrupt officials.

I have deliberately omitted terrorism out of the list above. I strongly believe that if we eradicate poverty and educate people, terrorism will automatically disappear from our country.

All this makes me wonder how we - the citizens of this country - can contribute to make the dreams our great freedom fighters come true. There are a number of little things which we are capable of doing -

Firstly, we all should vote without fail. Voting is the most powerful way to influence our country's future. By consciously voting for good candidates we can ensure that this country is run by those who really care for it.

We (by we, I mean the people who are lucky enough to read/write this post), are the beneficiaries of the economic growth of our country. Yes, we are very talented people who made our own destiny by working hard. However, I would urge each one of us to spare a thought for the rest of our society. Economic inclusiveness is extremely important for a society to exist in harmony. The communal tension, crime and violence all around us is because all the sections of the society have not benefited from development.

No, I am not telling that we must donate our salary or our car to someone poor - Instead, I am asking us to empower the poorer sections of our society to raise their standard of living. Each one of us can ensure that our maid servant's children are attending school. We can also make sure that she has an investment plan for the future. We can ensure that the security guard at our apartment is adequatly insured so that his family does not suffer in case something untoward happens to him. We can spare some time to serve at an NGO and make a difference to some people.

I have little doubt that if at least some of us come together for this noble endeavour, our country would be able to overcome most its problems. We owe at least this much to the brave hearts of our Independence struggle.

Jai Hind.

Esperanto – The Universal Language

2008-02-23T23:50:00.003+05:30

Esperanto is the first universally accepted neutral language. It was developed by an ophthalmologist Dr. L. L. Zamenhof in the year 1887. Esperanto is a language designed to facilitate communication between people of different lands and cultures.

The word esperanto means 'one who hopes'. Zamenhof's goal was to create an easy and flexible language that would serve as a universal second language to foster peace and international understanding. Although no country has adopted the language officially, it has enjoyed continuous usage by a community estimated at between 100,000 and 2 million speakers for over a century.

Esperanto is considerably easier to learn than national languages, since its design is far simpler and more structural. Also, unlike national languages, Esperanto allows communication on an equal footing between people, with neither having the usual cultural advantage favoring a native speaker. Esperanto's purpose is not to replace any other language, but to supplement them.

Esperanto’s properties are derived from a host of languages including Sanskrit, Latin and French. Esperanto is pronounced as it is spelt and hence there is very less confusion when compared to English. Also, there are no exceptions in Esperanto, unlike English (where there are 100’s of them). Esperanto has 22 consonants, 5 vowels, and two semivowels. The words are derived by stringing together prefixes, roots, and suffixes. This process is regular, so that people can create new words as they speak and be understood.

The different parts of speech are marked by their own suffixes: all common nouns end in -o, all adjectives in -a, all derived adverbs in -e, and all verbs in one of six tense and mood suffixes, such as present tense -as. Plural nouns end in -oj (pronounced "oy"), whereas direct objects end in -on. Plural direct objects end with the combination -ojn (pronounced to rhyme with "coin"): That is, -o for a noun, plus -j for plural, plus -n for direct object. Adjectives agree with their nouns; their endings are plural -aj (pronounced "eye"), direct-object -an, and plural direct-object -ajn (pronounced to rhyme with "fine").

The core vocabulary of Esperanto was defined by Lingvo internacia, published by Zamenhof in 1887. It comprised 900 roots, which could be expanded into the tens of thousands of words with prefixes, suffixes, and compounding. In 1894, Zamenhof published the first Esperanto dictionary, Universala Vortaro, with a larger set of roots.

Today there are more than 2 million Esperantists world wide. In India, the number is close to 10000. Esperanto has caught the fancy of the youth world over due to its appeal for brotherhood and extreme ease of learning.

More information on Esperanto can be found on the following web sites –

http://www.uea.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto

http://www.esperanto-usa.org/node/3

There are plenty of online tutorials to learn Esperanto. Here are a few of them –

http://en.lernu.net/

http://www.esperanto.ca/kurso/home.htm

http://www.esperanto-chicago.org/key.htm

Here are a few online Esperanto dictionaries –

http://www.kisa.ca/vortaro/

http://www.websters-dictionary-online.org/definition/Esperanto-english/

People in Bangalore who are interested to learn Esperanto can contact –

Mr. S.S Pradhan

Ph. No. – 9448083629

sspradhan01@gmail.com

Things holding India back from being a developed nation - 2

2007-09-25T14:20:00.000+05:30

Before I continue with my next post, I must apologize for making you wait for such a long time. The problem is that my computer has conked off and I am yet to get replacement for the parts which have gone bad.

Today, I continue my effort to explain my take on why India has not yet crossed the line, though it is standing on it for years.

My next grievance is - Poverty and Illiteracy.

Yes, both are mammoth problems. But I feel they are interlinked. If illiteracy is eliminated, I feel poverty will be eliminated automatically. Even after 60 years of independence, there are more than a third of uneducated people in India. This is a shame - given the amount of (supposed) interest every government shows to this sector. Crores of rupees are allocated every year for education - both primary and higher. However, this money is not always translated to results on the ground. We still have schools functioning under trees, without benches and tables, without toilets and with only one teacher for the entire school

Given these facts, it is not surprising that the drop out rate is very high. Parents who see that such schools don’t add any value to their living, often put their children to work. What is going wrong? Why are we not able to convince parents that education is the only panacea for eliminating poverty? The government, which is in the best possible position to help, is least interested. It's ministries are busy passing the buck - you ask the education minister and he tells that there is a lack of funds; you ask the finance minister and he tells that he is ready to release more funds only when he is satisfied that the money already given is put to good use and so on. Ultimately, the grand schemes announced just remain on paper with no one taking the onus of taking it forward. The best these politicians can do is divide us among the lines we don’t want them to (read - reservations based on castes in education) for their votes.

With this being the reality, expecting our children to compete on the global scene in this globalised world is just out of question. This is the primary reason why we often keep hearing that there is a demand-supply gap for skilled workers in all professions. Unless we achieve significant levels of literacy, it will be impossible for us to become a developed nation. All the gains we have made so far, say in science, IT or telecom domains will dwindle and go to our competitors if we don’t have a steady supply of talented professionals.

I feel that we citizens can make a huge difference in this particular aspect. There are hundreds of schools which are in need of teachers, infrastructure, books etc. It would be great if we can help these schools, and it doesn’t take much - some amount of time and maybe a small amount of money. We must know that every drop counts.

The next one in my list is Poverty - arguably the biggest pain for most of the people in this country. Even after 60 years of independence, it is a shame that more than a third of our population is living below the poverty line. Lakhs of people don’t have enough food, clothing and absolutely nothing to make a living. Their lives are filled with miseries; lack of education and large families have made them so. Often they suffer from some or the other disease and with little medical help, their life expectancy is low. True, India's life expectancy as a whole has increased - but when we break it down, we see that for BPL (Below Poverty Line) people, there is hardly any change.

Here again, the government has done a pathetic job. Most of the schemes it announces remain on paper. No one knows the whereabouts of the crores of rupees allocated to these schemes. Best example was the recent Vidharba episode. The PM himself visited the area after a spate of farmer suicides and announced a 2000+ crore package. He later toured it again only to find that there was absolutely no change in their lives!! As a result, the suicides continue. There is no one to help these poor farmers.

The people who suffers the most from poverty are the children. The parents, who cannot support themselves, let alone their children, often use their kids for some additional income. Hence, for the child, education is a distant dream.

I am hard pressed for a solution in this aspect - the investment needed is enormous. The change has to be sweeping and radical. Only the government with its massive reach and money can make the difference.

God knows when the people ruling us will wake up! Right now, they remember the poor only when there is some election round the corner - And even during these times, they don’t contribute anything concrete. They lure them by giving money (which they don’t know how to manage) and liquor (which ruins them even more). So, until these politicians do something concrete, you will find many people like me who keep cribbing :)

However, I have a request to make - recently, I met a person (in fact, he is a software engineer) who is doing a lot of social work and is running an initiative called Youth for Seva. Please visit their web site - youthforseva.org. I leave it to you, as to how you can contribute.

Things holding India back from being a developed nation

2007-09-02T12:28:00.000+05:30

In a series of posts, I intend to present my take on why India is unable to take the next big step and announce its entry into the world's elitest nations; Why are we in a situation which is very alike to "So near, yet So far"; Your comments, criticism, encouragement are most welcome!!

1. Corruption - Corruption is, by far the biggest ill that our country faces. From a college peon to a minister, only money makes them sing. Taking bribe has become a part of a government official's duty. There are instances where bribe was taken and deadly criminals were let off; Crores of rupees worth of items are illegally siphoned off after paying bribes; Drugs which are intended to be given freely to the poor are being sold in open markets; The food grains which are intended to be rationed among the BPL people is being sold in open markets; And not paying bribes resulted in gross neglect and inaction in hospitals which have taken poor peoples' lives.

These and hundreds of other instances show that corruption is our biggest enemy.

My heart bleeds. It asks, Why is corruption such a big menace? Cant something be done about it? Isnt there someone who can put in some basic moral values into these people?

The answer is a flat NO. Noone has the courage to do it. The mafia behind them is so strong that no person who has the power to punish is ready to take the risk. This was evident when Justice Venkatachala was the Lok Ayuktha of Karnataka. He caught hundreds of corrupt officers red handed. Unfortunately not even 1% of them were punished. The government was clearly unwilling to play ball and invite the ire of govt officials who form an important vote bank. Justice Venkatachala was promised suo moto powers to prosecute by 3 CM's. But the promise remained on paper. They knew they had made a mistake by placing a man who wanted to bring a change at the top. This was evident when they didnt want to give him a second term.

Most of us must have realised by now that we can take the next big step towards being a developed nation only when this ill called corruption is nipped from the root. My eyes are eager to see someone come in - one who is not afraid to do the right things; One who doesnt care to lose his position by doing the right thing; One who takes stern action against those who hold this country at ransom and are preventing it from becoming a true superpower.

(This series will continue; Please stay tuned for my following posts)

I have applied for the TOI's lead India campaign. I urge my readers to apply also. We should want to be this someone. For long, we have waited to witness change. Now that it is not happening, we must take the lead. The future is in our hands.

Farewell, Dr Kalam

2007-07-25T16:43:00.000+05:30

Dr Kalam resigned as President of India yesterday. Its time for us to get up in unison and bow in front of the great man. His 5 years at office as President were the best 5 years for presidency atleast since I was born.

Dr Kalam dedicated his entire term for the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden. He traveled widely (all Presidents do, but to foriegn locations) to remote areas and smallest of villages. His strength lies in understanding problems. He has great visions and dreams. But what is special about him is that he also has clear cut ideas to solve specific problems. He knows what exactly is coming in the way of India being a developed nation. And he has ways to resolve them. As an example, I quote PURA (Providing urban amnities to Rural Areas).

Unfortunately, the office which he held didnt have much powers to implement his ideas. However, Mr President was relentless and did his best to implement them. His farewell speech (Read here - http://www.ibnlive.com/news/i-will-always-be-with-you-dear-citizens-says-kalam

/45527-3.html) mentions a fewof the initiatives taken at his behest. More importantly, if you had watched the speech, you would have come to know what an unassuming and kind person Kalam is. There is no pomp or attitude. He is as gentle as a baby.

The recent election for President's post was the murkiest of all. People went to all possible extremes to win. There was also some talk by some opportunist people (Read UNPA - the big joke!!) to give Dr Kalam a second term. Maybe for once in their life they were trying something good. But as expected, Madam Sonia would have none of it. She was determined to install a puppet - in which she finally succeeded.

However, Dr Kalam is not perturbed. He has decided to pursue his goal - even if he is not the President any more. He plans to take up teaching. Isn't it the best way to impart his dreams? Lets wish him all the best and help him in whatever way possible.

Pirates Of Caribbean: At World's End

2007-06-07T14:10:00.000+05:30

I feel sad for Jack Sparrow. Not because the third part of Pirates of the Caribbean is dull, uninteresting and confusing. I feel sad because, Johnny Depp is wasted in the movie. If only he had more screen time, things would have been drastically different.

Frankly, I was looking forward to the 3rd edition of the Pirates (At World's End) with a lot of curiosity and eagerness. After an awesome 2nd part (Dead Man's Chest), who wouldn't?

Unfortunately, At World's End does not live up to the expectation. Yes, it is breaking all records in terms of collection. But the movie in itself is totally confusing from the word go. A new character is added every ten minutes and this contributes a lot to the chaos.

The movie starts from where the 2nd part ended. The party (Gibbs, William, his love Swann, Calypso and the crew) goes in search of Jack (who has been killed and imprisoned by Davy Jones, the captain of the Dutchmen) in the leadership of captain Barbosa. For this, they seek the help of another Pirate Lord (I don't remember his name).

After rescuing Jack, it is time to face both the enemies. The East India Trading Company with Beckett as its commander and Davy Jones. Now, Beckett is in possession of Davy Jones' heart and he holds the latter at ransom.

The movie interspersed with some utterly unrelated sequences of the ship wreck code. The 9 pirate lords meet to discuss what the next course of action is. In a bizzare turn of events, Elizabeth Swann is elected as the 'King' of the pirates and she decides that they must fight the East India Company.

Captain Barbosa in the meantime frees Calypso, she disappears after that. The war is one of the few saving graces in the movie. It is really a rib tickler and also the action sequences are quite breathtaking. One of the few moments where Depp shows what he is capable of. You would, however, be reminded of some bollywood movie when William and Elizabeth exchange marriage vows even when they are wielding the sword.

At the end, Jack manages to get Davy Jones' heart. Jones, unafraid, stabs William. Jack in turn makes William pierce Jones' heart. Jones dies and William becomes the next captain of the flying Dutchmen. Swann gives him company. Jack sets off on a new voyage in search of the most desirable thing.

Camera work and Depp are the only attractions, though Depp gets a little fraction of the 2 hour long screen time. The sequences where he talks to himself; asks Gibbs to throw his hat upon winning the war, only asking to get it back are just amazing.

The trilogy has finally come to an end. Sad that it doesn't get a fitting tribute.

Auto Menace

2007-06-05T15:11:00.000+05:30

I don't travel much in autos. And predictably, the few times I have used them as means of transport have left me in rather bitter taste.

I know, there are enough people who have already ranted about autos. But I wanted to put in my views and experiences (I see many of my readers giving a wry smile :D. I give up- I have nothing else to write).

Firstly, the arrogance with which they refuse to come to your destination hits you like a slap on the cheek. A popular saying has it that the auto driver is willing to go to any location except your destination!!

No, your troubles don't vanish when an auto guy agrees to pick you; It is highly probable that he will ask excess fare. Don't be astounded if the auto wallah asks you to cough up one and a half (Sick way of putting it) even when you are the only traveler and it is in broad daylight. You try to reason, he says that he needs to come back empty (Though you are going to some busy area). You try to fight, you will lose the hard earned auto. You agree to pay up.

As you start the journey, you see that the auto and its meter runs at rocket speed. I have experienced strange cases where the different autos over same distances always show different meter readings. Moreover, none of them will be correct. One guy would have cheated less and the other more; No meter is accurate. The sad part is that even after you agree to cough up so much money, the ride is very very unsafe. The only thing on the driver's mind is to dump us ASAP and to catch the next bakra.

I have had some funny albeit bad experiences during my auto travels...

Once I found out to my shock that the meter ran even when the auto was stationary at a signal light or a traffic jam!! When I demanded an explanation the auto driver coolly said that it was waiting charges!! I almost fainted. Upon threatening that I will take him to the police, he reduced some amount.

In another instance, I clearly made a fool of myself. I generally avoid autos with the old kind of meters in the belief that they will be manipulated to run faster. In this particular case, there were 4-5 autos in the stand and I chose not to board the first 3 as they were fitted with old meters. Upon questioning, I told the same and I boared the 1 with the new meter. Soon I realised why the drivers were all giving wry smiles. This meter was no better and I had chosen the driver by whom I would get cheated!!

All such experiences make me stay away from autos as much as possible. However, there are times when they become unavoidable. God knows when the government will wake up (will it ever?) and take some strict measures to control this auto menace.

So, why don't you share your bad experiences (I bet you have 1) with autos?

Quotes

2007-04-15T21:57:00.000+05:30

"You will remain mediocre if you keep solving problems which someone else asks you to. The greats are the ones who find the problems themselves and then set out to solve them".

"You are going back if you are not moving forward".

"The only constant thing in this world, is change. Be receptive to change and achieve success".

"You don’t have to do good things everyday. But you need to do it at least once in a while!!"

Analysis !!

2007-04-15T21:52:00.000+05:30

Why am I doing such a pathetic job at writing? This was the question for which I set out to find an answer; and here are my findings:

1. The heat: Yes it may be surprising, but I felt that the mercury is getting to me... Even at the eleventh hour, the atmosphere is so hot and humid. It melts all the ideas and thoughts which I want to blog about. The proof is my current post- as the temperature fell (due to some unexpected, but most wanted showers in Bangalore) I am back at my writing pad.

2. Work: Not the quantity, but the quality; if you get to do some quality work, you can do quality things in other walks of life as well. But when you do crap stuff, it makes you get away from everything else...

3. No Reading: Directly relates to point 1 above. Someone wisely said ‘If you read a 100 books, you may just be able to write a page'. And, I haven’t read 100 pages :(. Given the heat, I just don’t know how I can sit at one place for more than a few mins.

4. Too much of sleep: Yes, I have been sleeping 10 to 12 hours everyday!! And that leaves very little room for anything else. I found out that the reason for me sleeping so much (Till now, I was a regular at the lack of sleep discussions) is the lack of motivation to do anything else.

So, there you go; Reasons for the long absence. Now, I want to start solving them 1 by 1. So that I can get back to my most favorite hobby asap :)

Any help in this regard is welcome.

PS: Guys howling that Sachin and NRN are unpatriotic, cut the crap!! Get a lesson on patriotism. Sachin was ready to wear the tricolour on his helmet day in and day out; Regarding NRN, read Sudha Murthy's books and you'll know that he is more patriotic than most of the people accusing him.

Defining Moment: Tata acquires Corus.

2007-02-10T15:23:00.000+05:30

India has finally arrived on the global scene. And this was signified in a big way. Last week, Tata Steel acquired Corus- a British company, almost thrice as big as itself- in a bidding war with Brazil's CSN. The money that the Tatas will pay for the deal is a mind boggling $11.5 bil, making it by far the biggest acquisition by an Indian company ever.

What is note worthy here is the confidence and gumption which the Tatas and all the bankers backing them showed in the bidding war. Though many feel that the price paid is much more than what Corus deserved, the Tatas feel that their bet will pay off in the long run.

This acquisition, one of the many feathers in Tata group chairman Ratan Tata's cap, makes Tata Steel the 5th largest steel company in the world and 2nd largest in Europe. A remarkable achievement for a company which made an extremely humble beginning more than 100 years ago.

We must however not forget that the Indian attack on global companies started some time back itself. Just to name a few big ones-- Suzlon acquired Hansen Transmissions to become a global player in wind energy; Pharma major Ranbaxy took over Terapia; ONGC picked up several oil fields abroad. These are just to mention a few. Many more took place and many are in the pipeline.

We Indians can now proudly declare that our business lives up to the best in the world. Everyone believes that the best is still yet to come- what with the economy booming, more and more investors are coming forward to fund our companies. Add to this, the confidence of our business leaders is at an all time high and they are now more eager to leap forward than ever before.

World, beware - Here we come!!

The curse of being a Software Engineer

2007-02-08T19:16:00.000+05:30

Last weekend, there was an occasion at a relative's place which I had to attend. I say, I 'had to' cos I normally avoid get togethers and not without reason. I believe they are just a platform for people to waste time gossiping about others. However, due to parental pressure, I had to attend this one.

As soon as I set foot at my relative's place, one of my mother's cousins smiled at me. Instantly, I knew that trouble was round the corner. She rushed towards me with a few people behind her. Then she started introducing me to the people around her.

Now, I don't have any problem with people introducing me; Just with the way it is done. They mention my name and immediately start off saying that I am a software engineer in such and such a company (which would naturally mean that I am an extraordinarily intelligent guy!) and the person who introduces me also drops a hint or two regarding my salary!!

I have also observed a common pattern in the people who are asked to undergo the misery of knowing me. If the person is middle aged, he sees me as a villain. He thinks that I am one of those criminals who installs computers at every possible place and hence cause job cuts for people like him!! Alternately, if the person is in his teens, he sees some Nobel prize winner in me and starts dreaming about himself in my position!!

In the days when I had just started working, all this made me proud. It made me feel really important. But as days passed by, this attitude of my relatives started irritating me to no end. Nowadays, whenever someone introduces me, I yearn to hear my father's name, or to know how the person is related to me. But alas, people are more worried about the future of IT companies! Interestingly, people talk of marrying off their daughter to me just on the basis of I working in a software company. To my misery though, the girls don't even give me a second look. Your daughter wants much more, my dear prospective father-in-law!!

Nowadays, I have observed one more interesting feature, given that there is at least 1 software engineer per family. People are now aware of the names of a few software companies. And they compare us depending on the company for which we work!

This is precisely the reason why given a chance I would skip any gathering, specially of my relatives. God knows when these people will understand that software engineers are also normal people who work for a living; In fact, we would work much more than most of the others and accomplish much less. I can take a bet that given a chance, most of the software engineers would opt for an alternate career. And, the so called big pay (which is not so big, after all)- well, it is the only take away for doing such continuous mindless work and inviting so many health problems due to our couch potato life style...

Looking back at 2006... And looking ahead.

2007-01-14T00:12:00.000+05:30

The last year, for me, was a testing one in many ways. It was a very happening year with more failures than successes. Not that I expected it to be different. After a disastrous 2005, arguably the worst of my life, in which there were questions raised about me by my closest of friends, I could not expect the moon. So, in 06, the challenge was to overcome the debacle of 05 and regain the confidence of all people who had doubts about me. To a large extent, I must say I have succeeded in doing it.

On personal front, the 1st half was a disaster. I lost a person whom I had believed that I would not live to lose. However, after months of despair, I finally managed to come out of it to an extent in the 2nd half. Though I lost the friend, I realised I learnt a lot from the episode. I hope to carry these valuable lessons throughout my life. Things dramatically improved in the 2nd half of last year. This was mainly because I started studying very seriously for B-school entrance exams. Though the exams themselves didn't go entirely as expected, I am still satisfied. Studying for the exams reignited my enthu and helped in the other aspects of my life as well. I made many new friends and got closer to existing ones. Another very pleasant development was, I started to teach. I am thoroughly enjoying my new role as a teacher.

The professional front last year was a sea of changes. I had 3 manager changes-- does not mean no one likes to keep me. Just that people moved on, one of them a great manager. Add to this, my mentor and team lead also moved on. All this put a lot of pressure and responsibility on my shoulders. Still, I feel that I have managed to keep my head above water, though barely. Another very good development was, my friendships at office improved. To be precise, two of my colleagues, became really close to me. We share a great rapport and have very similar thoughts and interests. They have become my de facto guides at office.

There were plenty of disappointments too-- I regret that I could not read more. I read less than half a dozen books the whole year. Also, I could not write as much as I wished. I could have done my exams and managed many situations a lot better...

All in all, an average but an important year. Simply because I could have sunk into deeper shit. But, the turn around has happened and I am happy for it. I hope to carry the same momentum into 2007. There are several things I want to do this year... A few of them are:

--Take some time out for some social contribution. I really want to this.
--Learn a music instrument, preferably the piano (This has been on the list for more than 5 years now!)
--Read, read and read!!
--Write more often.
--Continue to teach.

--And many more...