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Book Review: "Frontline Pakistan" by Zahid Hussain

2009-02-10T22:41:00.001+05:30

Zahid Hussain is a veteran Pakistani journalist. He is the Pakistani correspondent for The Times (London), The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek. His book "Frontline Pakistan - The struggle with militant Islam" was published in 2007; and covers events up to 2006. It does not mention the end of Pervez Musharraf's rule and the restoration of democracy in Pakistan, nor does it mention the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. It goes without saying that the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai had not taken place at the time this book was published.

You must be wondering why this book review is preceded by this Prologue! Well, because although Frontline Pakistan does not relate directly to 26/11, it gives the reader an astonishingly detailed insight into the history of militancy in Pakistan, the unwillingness of authority to keep it in check; and thereby goes a long way in explaining the current response of Pakistan to the 26/11 attacks.

In its 11 chapters, Frontline Pakistan takes the reader through various turning points in the history of the region, including (not in any particular order)

1947 and Partition
The political history and turmoil that Pakistan went through in its early years
General Ayub Khan and his decade-long rule
Pakistan's 3 wars with India (1948, 1965 and 1971 - the last one resulting in formation of Bangladesh)
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's rule followed by the bloodless coup by Zia-ul-Haq
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan followed by a long Jihad against the Soviets
The withdrawal of Soviets from Afghanistan; followed by rise of religious extremism in Pakistan
The Kashmir deadlock
Pakistan's nuclear program
9/11; followed by Pakistan's alliance in the US War on terror.

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After reading the book, I have come up with my conclusions on the prime reasons for the instability in the region. These are the opinions that I have formulated and are not necessarily stated per se in the book.

Prime Reason #1: The US-Russia cold war

When the Soviets arrived in Afghanistan in the fag end of 1970's, the CIA jumped in to "help" Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. Of course, the help extended probably had more to do with USA's eagerness to show its one-upmanship in the cold war rather than any genuine concern for Afghanistan. Help it did, but the means were questionable to say the least. USA lifted some of the sanctions which had been imposed on Pakistan when the latter had started its nuclear program in the 70's. CIA teamed up with Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI to help counter the Soviet occupation by Afghanistan. ISI, in turn, whipped up strong religious sentiments amid calls for Jihad. Weaponry was provided in abundance, tribals in the lawless region along Pak's border with Afghanistan were trained and given arms, and thus there were a huge number of volunteers to fight for Afghanistan against the Russians.

This generosity in supplying arms to religious fanatics backfired badly on USA. With the exit of Soviets from Afghanistan came the Taliban rule. For one, the Taliban was right-wing to the extreme. Secondly, the thousands of youth who had answered the call for Jihad had now become trained in arms and ammunition, even in explosives and such. The Taliban sheltered, even sowed the seeds of, terrorist groups in Afghanistan (al-Qaeda for example). The stage had been set for religious fanaticism which had nothing to do with the religion it was supposedly glorifying. This was the beginning of the perversion of the term "Jihad".

Prime Reason #2: Extremist ideology originated from, and financed by, the Arab world

A large number of mujahids who fought in the Afghan war were from the Arab world. Also, petro-dollars had made some elements in the Arab world extremely rich. The fact that some of these "extremely rich elements" also happened to be conservative extremists did not help the cause of stability in the region.

Even after the defeat of Soviets in the Afghan war, the right-wing religious ideology was kept alive by scores of Arab-funded madrasas all over Pakistan. This extremist ideology kept the Jihad flame burning for decades to come. The madrasas became breeding grounds for future mujahids.

Prime Reason #3: Kashmir

After the partition in 1947, the Maharaja of Kashmir requested Indian assistance to ward off attack by armed tribesmen from Pak's NFWP (North-West Frontier Province). A year-long war later, UN had intervened and both India and Pakistan had agreed to hold a referendum in the state of Kashmir. Pakistan's official contention is that this referendum was never held and thus Pakistan disputes India's claim to Kashmir. Two decades later, in 1972, the Shimla agreement was signed which created a Line of Control in Kashmir - thus was born Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK - which is referred to as "Azad Kashmir" in Pakistan).

This still did not seem to satisfy Pakistan - nor the extremists. There were allegations of ill-treatment of Muslims in Kashmir by Indians. In late 1980's and early 1990's, terrorism reared its ugly head in the "paradise on earth" Kashmir valley. Fodder was easily available in form of war-hardened fighters returning from Afghanistan.

The key factor in the Kashmir issue was that the Pakistani administrations (whether during military rule or democratic rule) were openly supportive of the "cause" of Kashmir. This only spelled doom for any effort at peace in the region.

Prime Reason #4: Authoritarian/Administrative failure to contain terrorist acitvities on Pakistani soil (often deliberate)

The rulers in Pakistan have time and again turned a blind eye to the rise of militancy within the country in all its forms - home-grown in the madrasas, armed activities in the lawless tribal belt, or imported militancy in the form of al-Qaeda and others. The reasons have varied.

Ideological - The Paksitani army and ISI have always had several extremist-oriented members among their ranks.
Political - Zahid Hussain points out that Musharraf could have contained terrorism in Pak by casting a net on the activities of various terrorist groups. However, most of Musharraf's actions in the war on terror have been half-hearted - under international pressure. The real agenda was survival. Musharraf feared backlash from within the army and from the Pakistan's citizens had he gone ahead dismantling the terror network. That is the reason that although several top al-Qaeda "leaders" had been captured and handed over to US during Musharraf's rule, he had stopped short of completely wiping out these terrorist groups. In essence, Musharraf failed the world in favor of his self-interest. This, notwithstanding the fact that he had risked his life by supporting the US war on terror (several assassination attempts on him stand testament to this).

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Frontline Pakistan is a must-read for anyone intending to understand the complex dynamics of the volatility in the SE Asia region; and the so-called "Islamic Terrorism". The author has conducted interviews with several prominent personalities - right from Pervez Musharraf, to several radical leaders (even leaders of groups which were later designated as terrorist groups). This lends the all-important element of credibility to the book.

I must warn the reader that even though the book looks "small" (at 190 pages), it can turn out to be a fairly demanding read - since it takes lot of concentration to grasp the enormity of some of the statements/events which Zahid describes.

The book does refer to religious extremism and Islamic militancy every so often - however, I am disappointed that there is absolutely no attempt to show the reader the moderate or liberal faces of Islam or those of Pakistan. Agreed that this is not at all the objective of the book (after all, the caption says "The struggle with militant Islam"). But, to an uninitiated reader, it might give the wrong impression of the religion as a whole. The book would have been more balanced, had the author described or even referred to in passing mention, the role of moderate or liberal Pakistanis in the fight against terror.

It is for this single lapse that I deduct one star; I rate Frontline Pakistan at 4 stars out of 5 - and of course, designate it as a must-read.

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The Prime Reason #4 which I have detailed above, explains Pakistan's refusal (or rather, inability) to meet India's demands of eradication of terrorism from Pakistani soil post-26/11. While Musharraf and the military Government had considerable sway over the extremist religious parties, the same cannot be said of the present Government. Any attempt by the current Gilani Government in Pakistan to dig deeper into 26/11 and bring the perpetrators to book, will only meet with vociferous, internal opposition. We can continue to hand over dossiers and Pakistan will continue to deny the involvement of any Pakistani national, in spite of Pakistan being well aware of the attacks having been orchestrated from Pakistani soil by Pakistanis.

Feed(s) For Thought

2008-12-17T18:26:00.007+05:30

Do any of the following lines ring a bell?

"Oh! {xyz} had written up on ____ (fill-in-the-blanks-with-a-topic-of-your-choice) ?? Damn, I missed it. I haven't visited his blog in the past 3 months you know?"
"These days I'm going a bit slow on blogsurfing. I've been wasting lot of time visiting all my favorite blogs every morning .. just to find out there have been no updates."
"Whoa! The list of blogs I follow is bloating. Its gonna be difficult to manage!"

Then Feed-Reader is the magic wand which will solve all your problems.

Web feeds have been around for quite some time (i've been using feed readers for three-plus years now). But it seems that the technology has not been publicized properly - a majority of my friends are not aware of such a thing. Whats more surprising is that most of them are techies themselves! Reason enough for me to write up a post on the topic.

So, how does this feed technology work?

Pretty simple actually:
1. You subscribe to a particular blog/forum/what-have-you - basically any website which provides a feed. You do this using a feed reader.
2. Your feed reader periodically checks whether there has been any new activity on that site. Of course, your feed reader does this automatically, without your intervention.
3. If there has been any new activity (for example a new blog post), then your feed reader fetches only this "new content" and stores it.
4. Next time you login to your feed reader, you have that new blog post ready for you to read!

The easiest way to see this in action is to use Google Reader. All you need is a Google account. Go Ahead. Try it out. It only takes a couple of minutes.

As an example, follow these steps:
1. Go to Google Reader and log in using your Google account.
2. Click on "Add a subscription".
3. Type a feed URL to which you want to subscribe. The feed URL can be found on the site to which you want to subscribe. It is normally marked by the Orange "Feed" Icon -. For this example, enter the following feed url in the text box: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Blogsarovar
4. Click on "Add".

Thats it! Next time a new post is added on BlogSarovar, it will show up in your Google Reader.

So, what did I gain by using a feed reader?

Well, to start with - suppose there are a dozen websites you follow regularly. If you subscribe to all of them using a feed reader; all you need to do is login to your feed-reader to know who's updating what. You do not need to open one dozen websites every morning!

There are other advantages. If you are behind a firewall and do not have access to certain news/blog sites; but you do have access to Google Reader. Then you get the updates from the sites without having access to them!

What Next?

Start using web feeds NOW and save time and energy; not to mention preserve your patience :D. The list of feeds one has subscribed to can be exchanged between various users, so one does not need to start from scratch and manually subscribe to each and every feed! In Google Reader; this can be done under Settings-> Import/Export

Advanced Topics

There are various forms feed readers take. Google Reader is a web-based one. The advantage of this is that you can read your feeds from anywhere - all you need is a computer with an internet connection.

Then there are desktop feed-readers. An example of this is Omea Reader. The advantage of desktop readers is that they can access feeds within the corporate firewalls. For example, if you want to subscribe to a blog hosted on your company intranet; then Google Reader might not be a good choice - How will the Google Reader server access your company intranet? The other advantage of desktop feed-readers is that you do not need to be online to read your feeds. Many desktop readers pull the data and store it offline for you to read whenever you are free. (Semi-connected technologies like Google Gears are blurring this line between web-based and offline readers).

Other than this, feed readers could also be integrated into your other day-to-day applications - your email client, IM client, Office suite, browser, media player ... the list goes on ...

One point to remember is that the authors of the feeds have control over the amount of information published as a feed. For example, Blogger allows you to specify whether the entire post should be included in the feed, or only a summary. If the author chooses to publish only a summary, then you would still need to visit the original site to read the full post. However, your feed-reader is still useful in the sense that it still informs you when a new post has been published on the blog. You do not need to keep "polling" to find if a new post has been added.

One final consideration while using feed-readers is that of authentication. Some feeds might not be public - an example is feeds from a private blog on Blogger. Reading posts on this blog would require you to login with a username/password. The same applies to feeds from such a site. Feed-readers have a feature wherein you can save the credentials for a particular feed - so that the reader automatically signs in and fetches the feed for you.

I'l conclude by saying that I hope to see you on the Feed bandwagon!

The debsoc experience

2008-08-31T22:40:00.003+05:30

There is something called as debsoc. For people who don’t know, this sophisticated abbreviation stands for-debate society. There had been meets in our college during the 2nd sem. But it lasted only for sometime, because we had our end sem exams coming up.
Anyway, it resumed in the holidays and I missed a few meets. I wanted to join debsoc, cause I thought I had a flair for it. I had done some debates in school before--- but then they were pathetic kind of debates---unlike the ones in professional colleges.

Anyway, coming back to the meet, I decided on a Friday that I would attend it. I went there just in time. I saw many new faces, acquaintances and also two of my friends whom I knew very well. We all started arranging benches, desks…..on the top floor of our LHC-lecture hall complex, and people were randomly deciding on who would be what, and stuff like that….
I was confused…
Finally someone in some corner of the room declared that I would be the “ADJUDICATOR”.
I was shocked. I wasn’t prepared for it… I was only mentally prepared to speak either for,
“FOR” or, for “AGAINST”, like I did in school…
I just knew, that, an adjudicator gives judgments, based on the evidences-- technically speaking.
After all this, I realized that they had decided on doing a PD- parliamentary debate and that’s why I became an adjudicator…
Some three members sat on one side, and three other members, ran right across the hall to decide on a topic.
After some 20- odd minutes, they made a grand appearance and took their seats.
One girl came and told “THIS HOUSE WILL GAG YOU” …..
Something which made absolutely no sense to me..
I was even more confused. Have I been sleeping too much, or all what she had said, just made any sense?????
Moving on………………
She gave another statement which sounded rhetoric-“THE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS”……..BLAH….BLAH….. “U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS”……
Honestly this is all what I heard…
Trying to make sense out of it……..hmmm……lemme see……………………………...
It didn’t make any sense at all!!!!
How on earth, are university students, related to the u.s. presidential elections???
Even if it had a relation ……..what has it got to do with “THIS HOUSE WILL GAG YOU”????? It was becoming more and more convoluted. And I didn't have the faintest idea of what she was talking about.
She gave some, 7-8 minutes of long speech……..of which I could understand very little..
The other three members, were busy cramming some notes, into a sheet of paper…….fighting over a pen to write…….Honestly, don’t these people get all their accessories???
All of a sudden, a member from the other team, stands up in front of us and tells something….
He made some sense to me, because, he and his team, also hadn’t understood what the girl spoke…as in…. what the girl spoke, was not very clear to them…
AH!! WHAT A RELIEF!!! I wasn’t alone in this dire situation…
But still, they did continue to debate –although I felt, there was nothing more left to debate on.
Alternately, members from each team, made an appearance and told the same things over and over again---just to kill time---I suppose.
I felt like, I was amidst a fleet of BMW’s……… and there I was sitting ……………
like a CRAMMY OLD STATION WAGON.
Amidst this wilderness, I heard some loud banging noises on the benches and desks.
HEY PEOPLE, CAN U KEEP IT DOWN?? I AM TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE FINER NUANCES…
When I thought, that a person was making sense, and that, the next sentence, he would speak , would make things a little clearer- people thumped on those benches as loudly as possible-I still don’t know, in appreciation or otherwise.- and I lost it again. Things came back to square one, and I was as confused as ever...
All six members finished their turn alternately, and it was the turn, of the adjudicators to give in their final decision.
In such chaos…….I had forgotten to do one thing….
TURNING TO MY RIGHT, where my co-adjudicators were sitting. I saw that they had their notes ready, scribbled in some illegible writing ---god knows what. And they were ready with a decision.
I then realized, I had to make some notes too---just scribbled the last few words, the last member had said.
And in the whilst of making my notes, I heard my co-adjudicator saying “ IN MY OPINION, THE PROPOSITION TEAM SHOULD WIN, BY A FAIRLY LARGE MARGIN………” BLAH…BLAH…
DAMN!! I didn’t even know, that the team was called the “proposition”. I had named them
team -1 and team-2, according to my convenience.
Before I could realize, it was my turn. And I heard myself saying,
“THIS TEAM SHOULD WIN”,
pointing my finger, at team-2, whom I thought should win…
And THAT’S IT!! . THAT IS ALL, WHAT I SAID.
I ended up, making a fool out of myself. And I had sunk into an abyss of embarrassment.

After all this, one thing I realized, is that, even if you think, you are good at something, there will always be a person, better than you, in the same job...
But you should never be intimidated by them…
There is always a time, when, you will have to exorcise your daemons.

Secondly, a commendable job by the debaters –who made me realize, that, they were capable of debating on anything and everything---no matter how abstract or ridiculous it may sound.

Thirdly, I learnt that, just by listening to them speak, I had gained so much knowledge…
I realized, how people can think, in so many different ways—their views, their whole new perspective…….
I got a panoramic view of what a PD actually is…

I might have learnt all this from this experience…

But what I know better is……….. It gave me something to write in my blog……….. which I had abandoned for quite sometime…….and I regret having done that………
CHEERS!!!

Happy independence Day!

2008-08-15T14:25:00.001+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.

N(orth)-E(ast)-glected

2008-08-09T12:19:00.005+05:30

Update: This post been cross-posted at YouthKiAwaaz

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This is something which I have been thinking about for quite some time now. How much do we Indians really know and care about the North-East? I personally feel that the seven sisters and Sikkim (maybe with the exception of Assam), have been a neglected lot in our country. This goes not only from development point of view, but from other aspects as well like sports, culture, entertainment – Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh – are pretty much obscure as far as the rest of the country is concerned.

Lets start with the example of Television. All movies, serials, news channels concentrate on “mainland” India. Its all set in Delhi, Mumbai or Punjab. These days even South India is figuring in movies and television. But, what about the north-east? The consequence of this is not limited to entertainment alone. Thanks to TV, your average Indian aam admi in the Rest Of India (ROI - I call it that for a want of a better term – no intention of “dividing” NE from the ROI) has a fair idea of what life might be in Mumbai, Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat etc. This is true even if that average Indian has never been to any of these places. But, do we have even a remote idea of what its like in the NE? The only TV program where I have seen extensive coverage of the NE is the travel show called Exotica, on StarOne.

Now come to sports. Other then Baichung Bhutia, the football star of India who hails from Sikkim, there's hardly any mainstream sportsperson from the NE. I cannot recall any cricketer or tennis player or even hockey player from NE (again, that might be due to my ignorance too). I suppose there are a few names from NE in the athletic and sports meets who get us medals at SAARC games etc (for example in sports like archery) – but hey don't u know that in India, “sports” equals “CRICKET+Tennis+hockey+f1” ?? The rest of them dont qualify – their achievements are not counted. Anyways – that's not the topic of this post!

I am unaware about how ROI is perceived in NE. Is the influence of Bollywood present in NE? Does the aam aadmi in NE have a fair idea about life in ROI? Do they follow cricket and national politics just as we in ROI do?

Successive governments at the Centre have been announcing special economic packages for the development of NE. I am not aware of how much of this has really translated to results. Maybe the one aspect that stands out in this regard would be the road infrastructure development projects (NHDP) – these seem to have made a positive impact during the last few years.

The encouraging trend is the good representation of NE in reality shows. Remember Amit Paul from Meghalaya who was the runner up in Indian Idol 3? Remember the host of singers from Assam (Debojit, Kalpana, Prakriti to name a few)?

The reasons for the negligence about NE in ROI could be many. For one, the North-Eastern states are geographically isolated from ROI. They are “connected” with ROI through a narrow strip which is just 20-odd kms wide (this is called the chicken's neck and is situated in Siliguri in West Bengal with Nepal in the North and Bangladesh in the South). Secondly, the NE states are culturally very different from the ROI – the culture here has elements of South-East Asia and China (Tibet in particular).

Nevertheless, the NE states are part of India; NE contributes to a sizable chunk of the India - area-wise, population-wise and culturally. Thus it is imperative for ROI to start viewing NE as they would Rajasthan or Punjab or Tamil Nadu. And also for people in NE to get a feel of what life is like in ROI. Only then would it be possible to foster a sense of unity and oneness. And, in my opinion, the media plays the most important role in increasing awareness .

ROI needs to know that just like elsewhere in India, NE too has a diverse culture. That there are several languages spoken here. That the climate, vegetation, topography, flora and fauna are as varied here as in ROI.

ROI needs to know about Assam's natural beauty, the tea gardebns, about Kazhiranga and the rhinos, about the ULFA's, about the political scenario and about the issues facing the nation along its border with Bangladesh.

ROI needs to know about the Chinese Government's claim to Arunachal Pradesh and about how the Army is on its toes there to prevent China from making mischief. About the sixth Dalai Lama being born here in AP. That there exist places in India where your constitutional “right to freedom of movement anywhere within the country” is restricted – that one needs a permit to enter some places in AP.

ROI needs to know about the mostly Himalayan state of Sikkim, the second smallest State in India by size and the least populated. ROI needs to know the history of the Nathula pass, the flourishing trade route which passed through here, and not to forget the Kanchenjunga, the third-highest peak in the world.

ROI needs to know about the WW-II battles fought in Manipur which stalled Japan's progress and which had a major impact on the outcome of the war. About the history of the princely state of Manipur (just like many more in ROI) before it was integrated into the republic of India. About the UNLF, its demands and its activities in Manipur. About the troubles along the border with Myanmar.

ROI needs to know about the history of the mountainous state of Nagaland, about the Naga tribe, about how Nagaland was part of Assam and underwent lot of unrest before being declared a state in early '60s. About the present-day culture which still revolves around the tribes and their shawl-weaving tradition. About the 90+% Christian population. About the Nagamese language – which is not the mother tongue of any of the tribes in Nagaland, but is the common language spoken everywhere in the state.

ROI needs to know about the plateau of Meghalaya, the Garo and Khasi hills. About the matriarch system followed by many of the more populous tribes in the state. About Cherrapunji, which was once the wettest spot in the world.

ROI needs to know about Tripura, the second-most populous among the NE states (even though it is relatively small in area). About the Bengali-dominant culture of the state (Tripura is surrounded on three sides by Bangladesh and is around the same latitude as West Bengal); about its festivals, indigenous dance forms and music. About its millenia-old history (Tripura is said to have had mention in Mahabharata).

ROI needs to know about Mizoram, the Indian state with the highest literacy rate. About the events which led to the formation of the state (famine, insurgency, bombing by the Indian Air Force to quell this insurgency); about the largely unexplored bamboo forests which covers about one-third of the state.

I think that Indians need to take a keener interest in the North-East. Probably if a few people from NE broke into the scene in some mainstream field, then that would function as a catalyst to increase the visibility of the NE states among ROI. This does not mean that they have to deviate from their culture and adopt cricket as a religion or get Bollywood-crazy. The NE is rich in dance and music. It would help if the media and entertainment industry took the initiative to showcase this cultural diversity to the rest of the world.

With the spurt in domestic tourism, more Indians are exploring “far-flung” regions within the country, including the NE. So also more people from the NE states are flocking to the mainland, be it for tourism, education, business or jobs. This exchange will only be for the benefit of either side.

I am hopeful that there will be more cultural, economic exchange between the NE and the ROI in the near future. Looking forward to an India where there is tighter bond between North-East and the Rest of India. JAI BHARATH.

The Call of Duty

2008-01-28T10:06:00.000+05:30

Cross-posted from Kiran's blog.

This is a very interesting (and disturbing) story. It is a true life story about a guy I know. We are talking about a professional who has spent the most of the last five months abroad on business. He occasionally comes home and one would be forgiven for mistaking him for a guest at his home! Read on ….

In the past five months, his father has been doing all his “official work” for him – right from paying phone bills to doing paperwork for their property. At an age when he should be serving his father; his father is serving him!!! But, he says his hands are bound – “Duty Beckons”, he says.

In the past five months, he has never taken his mother shopping. “I don’t have time to go shopping with you – why don’t you go on your own? I will give you my card”, he says. Upon being told that it’s not his money that his mom wants; but his company; he retorts saying he’s “busy” – The Call of Duty is his excuse.

He has not visited his village for more than a year now. Why should he? After all, he’s this big shot who’s flying around the world, living out of a suitcase. Don’t you know his profession, his Duty, demands more of his time? Village and relatives can wait.

In the past five months, he has missed every single important occasion in his dearest friends’ lives – weddings, engagements – everything, without the slightest hint of guilt. He has never been there when his friends needed him. “Sorry buddy, I’m too busy with my profession.”

In the recent past, he has completely ignored his resolution of doing something for under privileged children. The last time he did anything for them was more than eight months ago. He has all but forgotten about his responsibility towards his motherland, his country. Why would he? He’s touring the world on the pretext of his professional Duty. Country, society, underprivileged children – they all are not as important as his Duty, are they?

In the past few months, he has put his hobbies on the backburner. He has not posted a blog in the past 4 months; and he hasn’t done any serious photography for as long as he can remember. But hey, who’s got time for some dumb hobbies? He’s a professional. His Duty takes precedence over all these irrelevant things.

Well, well. Our professional sure does sound like a villain doesn’t he? I think I need to admonish this guy – or at the very least, ask him a question or two.

Mr. Professional, here are some questions for you.

Isn’t taking care of your parents and keeping them happy your first and foremost duty?
Don’t you know your business, profession is temporary, but your relatives will be there forever?
Don’t you think it is your duty as a friend to be with your friends on the most important days of their lives? Don't you know the only way to have true friends is BE ONE?
How can you forget your responsibility towards your country? You, the youth of the country, MUST play an important role in shaping its future. What happened to all the commitment you made towards the children who are the future of the country?
Is it not your duty, too, to set aside time for your hobbies, interests and passions? Especially since some of your passions have the potential to make a difference in others’ lives?

Mr. Professional, it is high time you get your priorities right. You have to decide which duty comes first – the duty that pays, feeds and clothes you; or your duty and responsibility towards family, friends, country and society. Signing off with the hope that you choose sensibly.

Trek above the clouds at Kodachadri

2008-01-06T22:41:00.000+05:30

We finally embarked on our long-aspired & planned-for, but never-materializing trip to Kodachadri hills - a peak in the Western Ghats ranges standing tall at a height of 1813 metres above sea level near the famed Mookambika Temple at Kollur. Me (Rakshith), Mithun, Gaurav, Sushruth and Safwan boarded a bus to Udupi at around 12.30 on the 5th of Jan 2008. We were joined at Udupi by experienced trekkers - Dr Sachin Pai and Dr Ananth Pai. From Udupi, we boarded a bus to Kundapur and took another bus to Kollur from there, finally reaching Kollur at 5.15pm. This delay of more than an hour from our scheduled time meant that we would not make it in time to catch the magnificent view of the sun setting from the peaks. For your information, there are a few 'direct' buses to Kollur from Mangalore at various times of the day, but, we couldn't take them cos of our plan to meet up with the Docs at Udupi.

We continued on our journey on a hired jeep which taking the route leading to Shimoga from Kollur. After picking up a few necessary items at a town called Nittur, we finally took the right-turn to Kodachadri. (This takes about 45 mins from Kollur). This turn took us into what seemed like unmotorable roads - unmotorable, except for our very own All-Terrain Vehicles, ie Mahindra Jeeps & also few bikes, under the hands of an experienced and daring rider. I say unmotorable cos there are huge crevices running in between the roads at some parts & it is dotted with huge boulders over which the jeep jumps along. This must give you an idea about the ride comfort of the occupants & that too in a jeep. We went through a highly Topsy-turvy ride that would have loosened quite a few of our dental fillings!!! After motoring along on this hairpin curve infested narrow "road" for close to 14 km & passing through a no of valleys, catching glimpses of the neighbouring hills, we finally reached the "Bhattra mane", ie (the pooja pundit's house) & the Government-run Inspection Bungalows at 7.30 pm.

Both the above mentioned places were pretty crowded with other groups of people preparing to spend their night there. Having said that, the pundit will usually try and make arrangements for the people at neighbouring houses also, in case of capacity crowd. We, however, weren't thinking of using that privilege, as we were planning to spend our night at the peak, battling the darkness, cold & loneliness which were to be expected there. When we told the Bhatta this, they asked us to be cautious, cos not many groups do so, but assured that we can stay up there, if we were ready to face the challenges that the place had to offer. We were game to it, cos our leaders - Dr Sachin & Ananth had both braved the night at the peak during their last visit here.

So, our proper trek to Kodachadri began at 7.45 pm in the pitch darkness. For most of us, it was a first experience of trekking at night. And to add to it, we were a little short of torchlights, having to make do with only a couple of torches & the brilliant flashlight of 2 Sony Ericcson phones, used economically, so as to last us the night. We just walked on on the used-path which our lights showed us, hoping that it would take us to the peak. At certain areas, the light shed outside the cleared area failed to hit any solid object, cautioning us never to even dare venture outside that path!!! After one such heart-stopping incident, we finally reached our desired destination at around 8.30 pm after trekking for about 3 km.

The Saint Adi Shankaracharya is said to have meditated at the Kodachadri peak & the Sarvajna Peeta established by him can be seen here, housing an idol of the revered saint. After offering our prayers at the Peeta, we spread out in search of wood, twigs, shoots, grass & any other material which would help us to set up & maintain the campfire-which was our main hope for cooked food, light and warmth.

The peak is a cleared area, where many inflammable articles cannot be found. We had to trek down along unknown routes around the peak to fetch wood. Having started a small fire, we cooked noodles in the utensil which we carried, which was very tasty. The eggeterians feasted on the egg-bhurgie, while everyone played their part in finishing off the other eateries.

All this time, the weather was turning cooler & the air windier. As time passed, the winds started posing too much of a problem for us, chilling us down & making us draw closer to the Campfire. But we were in a dilemma because of the challenges the campfire had to offer. Our eyes started stinging badly because of the smoke, while our noses started 'running'. The pitch darkness allowed us to treat our eyes to the splendor of the starry sky. Many of us were off the opinion that we hadn't seen so many stars & planets in the sky & so clearly ever before. After star-gazing, photo-clicking & playing detectives in an analytical game by Dr Sachin, we started humming some of our favourite songs around the campfire. Not only did we enjoy spending time this way, we might have inadvertently ensured that any uninvited animal would run away from us!!!

We finally got down to taking a short 1-hr nap in two shifts at 4 am. On waking up, not only did we find that the added dew had further chilled the region, but, the much-awaited colourful sky caused by the rising sun was taking shape brilliantly, with a small, crescent-shaped moon showing up for a couple of hrs. The sky was at its photogenic best between 5.45 & 6.45 when finally the sun made itself visible in a royal manner. The view from the peak with the fogs & clouds below you, is to be seen to be believed.

We next set out to go to an area of Kodachadri which not many are aware of. The route is steep, with inclinations of upto 70-80 degrees at some stretches. The route starts off behind the Sarvajna Peeta & goes downhill for about a KM and half, finally revealing us a small stream of fresh water amidst the crevices in the rocks at a place called Chitrakoota. These rocks are home to a few Sadhoos who come there to sit and meditate. The climb uphill back to Sarvajna Peeta is very tiring, but, we reached by 8 am. Bidding our goodbyes to the peak, we started on our trek downhill back to Bhatra mane, where we had asked him to keep a breakfast ready for the 7 of us. This route is actually very scenic, taking us along the top & sides of many hills around the peak. The view offered along this route is breathtaking, with the bright blue of the morning sky forming an excellent background to the Golden brown grass.

After the breakfast, we returned back to our waiting jeep & came downhill experiencing the Topsy turvy ride all over again. There are people who take a bus from Kollur, which will drop them off at Nittur & after that its a trek on those 'unmotorable' roads, but taking short cuts through many of the bends on the way. The jeep journey saved us a lot of time, though at an expense of Rs 1500 for the 7 of us, which we found quite reasonable. Another trekking route for the hard-core trekkers is straight from Kollur, through the forests, which is a 20 km long trek.

Anyway, our final leg of the journey was our 'direct' return bus from Kollur to Mangalore which was spent in catching some shut-eye.

In all, the Kodachadri trek was AWESOME where we enjoyed to the max & also gained valuable experience in survival skills while being audience to the spectacle of the Kodachadri region.

World Save Myanmar

2007-10-08T06:23:00.000+05:30

The events in Myanmar in the past few weeks have greatly disturbed me. And it has only partly to do with the brutal junta and its violent crackdown against peaceful monks. It also has to do with the indifference shown by my own “people” towards the incident.

For the uninitiated, here’s the gist of the situation (wikipedia is likely to have more details). Myanmar, (formerly called Burma, and the eastern neighbour of India), has been ruled by the military generals, also called the “junta”, with more or less an iron fist for the last 45 years. In 1988, there had been a popular uprising against the junta, which apparently been silenced by using force – 3 thousand plus people had been cold-bloodedly shot and killed. At that time I was too young to remember any of this, or of the global outcry that ensued.

Sometime during the early 90’s, the famous political leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party NLD had won landslide elections in the country. However, the junta disregarded the results, charged Suu Kyi with various “crimes” and she has been under house arrest ever since.

Coming back to present - Last month, the junta effected a five-fold hike in fuel prices, which sparked small pro-democracy protests initially. 2 weeks back, monks in huge numbers lent their support to this largely peaceful protest. This is supposedly the largest protest of its kind in the past 20 years (since the bloodbath of 1988), with the strength reaching almost one hundred thousand at its peak. Myanmar is a principally Buddhist country and the monks’ support is a huge moral support for the pro-democracy public.

However, once again Tan Shwe (the leader of the military regime) and his soldiers have responded to the protests with force. Add to this, the blatant human rights abuse and curbs on freedom (of movement and of media). The junta has attempted to hide the atrocities from the world by trying to block international calls, cut internet lines etc (kill foreign journalists – as happened with a Japanese photographer who was shot dead from point blank range). This time, although the number of deaths has been less, it wont be long before the situation disintegrates to the 1988-like one. Unless there is global pressure on the junta. Which brings us to the “indifference shown by my own people” comment.

From what little I know about the whole issue, I have come up with this list of countries/organizations who are in a position to intervene; and stop the horrific human rights abuses taking place in Myanmar.

India:

India is one of the major trade “partners” of Myanmar. We Indians also have interests in the resource-rich Myanmar in terms of minerals, oil and power. Some Indian companies have (quite profitable?) operations in Myanmar. Is that why we are looking the other way when peace-loving monks are being shot at and monasteries are being ransacked? The statements given by the Indian Government regarding this issue have been ridiculous. It took almost 2 weeks and tremendous international pressure on India, for us to finally “demand” the release of Aung San Suu Kyi!

The world is looking at India to bring some semblance of sense to the junta, because India is in a unique position to wield influence on the Burmese junta. But, we do nothing about it. Reason? That’s not clear. But it is our moral responsibility as the largest democracy in the world to speak up against the atrocities of the Myanmar military generals.

China:

China is another one of Myanmar’s “giant neighbours”. Again, China is in a position to influence the junta. Although China has reacted strongly to the shooting of the monks, and has called for peaceful resolution of the issue, they have stopped short of employing any effective measure at all. In fact, China is exercising its veto power at the UN to prevent the UN from “interfering” against the brutal crackdown.

China has interests in Myanmar for minerals and power – both central to China’s growing status as an industrialized nation. Furthermore, China supplies the arms to the military generals! Would this have anything to do with China’s soft approach on the junta?

Finally don’t forget that China itself is wary of democratic uprising within their own country, not to mention the already sensitive issues of Taiwan and Tibet.

Japan:

Japan is the largest provider of aid to the impoverished Myanmar. So Japan can take action if the violence continues. However, they have to be careful in what aid they withdraw. They don’t want to further aggravate the poverty of the public. Any decision with respect to withdrawal of economic aid has to be designed to hit the military generals and not the public.

US, UN and the West:

US and the West are again providers of aid to Myanmar. In typical un-thoughtful style, the Bush government has imposed economic sanctions against Myanmar. I doubt they have even considered the repercussions of this act of theirs. The economic sanctions will hit the general public of Myanmar the hardest; while the junta continues with its human rights abuse campaign.

The so-called developed countries have to look at other ways of controlling the Myanmar junta. They have to come up with something that handicaps the ruling generals and not the poor people of Myanmar. This brings us full circle, back to India and China. These are the only countries which are capable of stifling the junta. Until they do something about it, the bloodshed will only continue, and military dictatorship will reign in Myanmar.

The next question is what really is the “solution”? It would be stupid to expect that the junta will bow to pressure and install democracy in Myanmar right under their noses. It has been demonstrated time and again that the junta is ruthless and cold-blooded. They will not hesitate to massacre their own people if it comes to that. So all this talk of “discussions” or “talks” between the junta and the NLD seems to be too hollow.

But that brings up the other option, which although is an “option that should be the absolute last resort”, is the only option left – and that is the international community using force against the junta.

Are we headed towards another Iraq or Vietnam? Who knows? I hope so and I hope not! I hope that democracy finds its way into Myanmar sooner or later. And I hope that the manner in which this is achieved is not a repeat of Vietnam.

Things holding India back from being a developed nation - 2

2007-09-25T14:17:00.000+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.

My birthday 6th august

2007-09-24T19:48:00.000+05:30

My birthday 6th August
Yes, at last, today is 6th august 2007. For some, this might be a black letter day because it was on this day 62 years ago that the disastrous Hiroshima and Nagasaki bomb blasts took place.
But for me, it is a red-letter day, because it is my birthday. Don’t mind me if I get a little retrospective .I thought I was old enough to pen down my thoughts. I am officially 18 years old now. How I wish I could just be born and relive the happy moments in life!!! Since that is impossible I have to stick with being an adult now.
Since I am an adult now, I have a lot of privileges. I can find my name on the voters list and help India get a better administration. Wow! That’s too much too much for a kid like me.! I can get my drivers license and help my country by becoming a good rider and by avoiding accidents.
I can find myself in places like discothecs, which any next-door teenage girl like me would love to go.
I can even get married or elope! Which is awful because I hate even the m of marriage.
I might have grown older but I have become wise too. I am not cherubic like I was before. I have learnt to start appreciating even the un- noticeable things in life. I have become more sensitive when it comes to certain personal issues like friends, family etc.
I have been in the good books of most of my teachers (I have got into deep trouble with some) and many of my friends. I have got myself in the bad books with some of my friends in the past. It is a pretty dramatic story, that which cannot be revealed.
But I have never regretted that incident. Infact I have learnt from it. I have realized that I cannot expect all my friends to be of the same mentality I am.
Then after, a few years later, I have made new friends and understood them better. I have also not remained the same anymore . I have improved on my behavior, made new friends and many acquaintances also. I have learnt from my mistakes and I am very much ready to make new ones.
This birthday is special, not just because of the gifts and phone calls from my well wishers. It is because I have a lot of memories, which I have lived and cherished unlike other birthdays.
This year I have gone through a lot of personal problems. Lost hope, lost self-confidence. But as I learnt to battle them one by one, things seemed to be a lot better. When I look back, I see that it was not the worst problem I have faced after all!!!
In spite of my difficulties, I have done pretty well in my board exams. I managed to score 96%, a centum in maths, which felt like a cherry on top of a pie. I received a lot of appreciation from my family and friends for achieving this feat.
Guess what,“sphurti is a child prodigy” well, how does that sound? No, I am just saying that. One need’nt have to be a child prodigy to prove that they are intelligent. I am proud of myself, as I have been academically very good in my entire life. I have won many school awards for my academic excellence. I have won a scholarship of national level general knowledge competition. I am good in sports too. Besides that, I love to dance. I have received a lot of appreciation for the stage show I had performed once amongst many other competitors.
I have never done any pretentious act of valor. My family has never told me that they are proud of me. But, somewhere in my heart, I feel that they are already proud of me and of what I have achieved so far!!!
I guess we all grow up pretty soon eh!? Now, I can never go back to being born again and reliving the happiest moments of my life so far.
I can never go back to being a kid again. Ah!!! How much I miss those days!
Nevertheless, life goes on and we have to learn to live with it. We have to accept everything that comes in our way as we don’t know what we are destined to become.
Always show unconventional love and passion towards what you are doing. Don’t ever get intimidated by others success. I encourage myself to become envious of others because it helps me improve myself by acquiring the qualities, which I lack. By doing this it helps me become a better person.
I have a lot of responsibilities. High hopes are pinned on my back. It becomes my responsibility to live up to their expectations.
I have learnt that no matter where life takes me, I shall always be strong. I hope to become someone someday and be more useful than what I am now.
CHEERS TO LIFE!!!

Things holding India back from being a developed nation

2007-09-02T12:44:00.001+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.

Absolute Reality - Is there any such thing?

2007-08-13T14:14:00.000+05:30

Most of the children have imaginary characters for their friends. They play with them, enjoy with them and even talk to them. If you ask them anything about those characters, they will reply in a way, which will convince any body that those characters actually exist or they are “real”. But for us those characters are just figments of the children’s imagination. They are not “real”. Just because we cannot see hear or even sense those characters how can we deny their existence? We experience thoughts, dreams, emotions and feelings. Are these not real?

We may feel that anything we perceive using our five senses is real. So we believe and understand that all the objects that we can touch, see, feel, hear, taste are real. Well, in that case think of those myriad stars twinkling in the night sky. What we are seeing could be what was the state of the stars many years ago because as everyone knows light takes several years to reach us from the distant stars. It could be possible that some of the stars do not exist any more. We believe that they exist because we see them twinkling. The assumption here is that “Time” is absolute that is one is simultaneously able to see the stars as they are now and as they are seen from the Earth. Does that mean reality is something beyond our fives senses of perception? Probably. Any thing “real” can or should probably be defined relative to the space in which we live.

Consider the example of a seed that has grown into a tree. From our knowledge of science we know that this tree has grown from a seed. But just try to view the tree in the absolute sense. We do not call it a seed anymore. The “reality” of the tree being a seed was the past. The “reality” now is that the seed is a tree. What was “real” in the past is not “real” any more as we cannot perceive the “seed” using our five sense organs. Here the assumption is that space is absolute i.e. it is the same space where the seed was planted and now the tree is standing. This implies that “Time” needs to be incorporated in our understanding of reality.

Consider this. I understand that if I am shown the color red, it is red because I have been taught that the color is red and now I understand and believe that the color shown to me is red. But if some one is taught that the color red is green, that person will understand and believe that the color is green and not red. Here what is “real” depends on what we have defined the terms “red” and “green” to mean. Humans have written a language and created words and associated meanings with it and have laid down a universal understanding that a specific reality is associated with each word that represents anything that is tangible. So reality includes those things, which we have been taught to believe and understand as representative of a specific thing.

If you noticed, whatever we defined to be “real” was relative to some element – either time or space or a person’s understanding of what is real. If “real” is defined relative to something how can it remain “real”? We associate “truth” with “reality”. When we think of “truth” we think of it in the absolute sense. If reality is relative, then so is truth.. We have based all our knowledge of science, scientific discoveries and inventions on assumptions- assumptions some of which we believe are true and others we just intuitively know are true (the ones we call axioms). So if this fundamental understanding of truth changes can we then say that our knowledge of science if fallacious? Is it right to base our understanding of anything based on truth which by its very innate nature is relative because of its dependency on factors like time, space, beliefs? This brings me to my question – Is there something which we can call “the absolute truth” or “the absolute reality”?

Fading Identity

2007-08-06T13:37:00.001+05:30

Recently, our team shifted to a new building far away from home and finally i am beginning to feel the pinch. Today morning when i reached our new campus(hate associating the word "office" with myself), i was reminded of the many things that i wanted to do by the time i finished college. I wanted to be an entrepreneur with the "youngest achiever" award, giving loads of interviews on the TV. But unfortunately none has been accomplished or even started...

OK, fine i am applying to b-schools and all that. So what? I am still far away from what i wanted to do. B-school is definitely not my destination. In high school i was so overwhelmed by people such as Alexander and Cleopatra that i wanted to actually rule the world someday so that my name gets etched in the history of the world and not lost once i perish. Over the due course of time that fantasy matured into the want to be an entrepreneur and own a building as huge as our new campus.

After high school i got carried away by the usual competition stuff and here i am sitting in my cube debugging code. Which competition you say? Well, the usual marks saga. I am not sure how can competition land a person into something that she doesn't want. But sadly that's the truth and that will be, till our system and values change.

This is not the future that i dreamt of nor would many "dream" of in childhood. Then why am i not going ahead and ditching my job and starting off with my dream? Probably i am not the risk taker kind. Am i the only person who is doing what she DOES NOT want to do or are there other people too?

Hats off to people like Bill Gates who had guts to ditch the "competition" saga and realize their dreams. As far as people like us, i don't even know why do we keep reading things about these achievers. I don't see us (atleast me) putting it into practice. Oh OK... Our system has taught us how to do theory not practicals right? Then how can we realize it in reality.

I don't think its too late. Probably we all still have time to live our dreams. But how many of us actually know what we want? Probably a flashback to our childhood days will help.

I just hope you and I realize what we actually want and go ahead with that, instead of sucuumbing to the situation. Else we will end up spending 15 hours a day doing something that we never dreamt of or do not actually enjoy doing, till we are 60 and then retire and wonder what happened the whole time in our lives.
-
A girl losing identity in her cube

Safety Last in Motown!

2007-07-15T21:40:00.000+05:30

Its sad, but “safety last” seems to be the attitude of all players in the Indian automotive industry – be it manufacturers, consumers, Govt., transport companies – everyone. Seems too harsh, doesn’t it? Lets analyze why this conclusion was reached in the first place.

Automobile Manufacturers:

Road conditions in the country have improved tremendously in the past few years, more so the inter-city highway infrastructure. This has resulted in increasingly large number of people preferring their own cars for long distance transport. This improvement has also bred high-speed driving patterns. Obviously, this calls for higher safety expectations from the cars. But, have these expectations been met? Not really.

The bare minimum safety features one can expect when one thinks of high speed highway driving are – airbags and ABS. And what are the cars offering these features? Since small cars form the overwhelming majority of all cars sold in India, we’l take a look at small cars first.

Chevrolet Spark offers ABS as an option; on the top-end variant only. Airbags are not offered, even as an option.
Suzuki Zen Estilo offers ABS and driver-side airbag only as an option; on top-end variant only.
Fiat Palio Stile doesn’t offer either ABS or airbags, even as an option! (Either that, or their website design is so poor that I wasn’t able to locate these features).
Maruti WagonR offers ABS and airbag as option, on top-end variant only.

You’d notice that the real volume-sellers – Maruti 800, Hyundai Santro, Maruti Alto, Tata Indica do not even feature in this list. Reason- these cars offer neither airbags, nor ABS; even as option! I wonder whether these cars would even be road-legal in many of the developed countries. And I shudder to think about the upcoming Tata’s OLRC (One Lakh Rupees car), or similar ultra low-price cars being developed by other manufacturers (Kinetic??)

Now lets step up the ladder – and analyze the “premium hatch” segment.

Chevrolet U-VA offers ABS only on top-end variant. I could not find any reference to airbags on their site.
Maruti Swift offers dual front airbags and ABS as standard on top-end Zxi variant; and ABS as option on the middle Vxi variant.
Hyundai Getz has ABS on the to-end variant.

The above list is indicative. The point I’m trying to make is that the automobile manufacturers are trying to play a game here – if safety is what you want, go out and buy our top-end variants. What if I want a “basic” car, but with safety features? After all, since I don’t smoke, what use is a cigarette lighter and ash tray for me? What if I don’t care about body-colored door-handles and leather-wrapped gear-knob? Answer is – there is no such “basic-but-safe” car out there in the market.

And oh! If you thought that only small cars are the target of this safety-discrimination, think again. The same pattern of offering essential safety features on top-end variants is carried over all the way to the Chevy Aveos and Maruti SX4’s and Ford Fiesta’s etc.

I think it is high time manufacturers started offering ABS and Airbags as option across all variants. This is all the more relevant as the roads improve by the day, speeds increase, and more and more people start traveling by road.

General Public:

Its not only manufacturers who disregard safety. We "aam janta" care hardly 2 cents about it. How often have you seen well-educated people speaking on the mobile phone while driving a 2-wheeler? Its almost arrogance personified! “I don’t care about safety and rules. I have a cell phone and I shall use it while driving” kind of attitude only magnifies the safety problem on our roads.

Coming to the topic of rash driving – of course it is “subjective”. Still, just look around when you are driving. Chances are you’l see not only the “brat” cabbies driving as if there's no tomorrow; but the well-dressed, educated professional as well.

Transport companies:

People who regularly travel by the long-distance luxury bus services would identify with this. We have all kinds of luxury buses flooding the market. Volvos, sleeper coaches, semi-sleepers and what not. How many of these have proper safety features?

To quote an example, I regularly undertake overnight journeys by VRL, a private bus service provider in Karnataka. These buses are popular for their comfort. However, I have noticed time and again, that even though seat-belts exist, the seats are laid out in such a way that it is not possible to engage the seat-belts! One can imagine the effect of even sudden braking when one is asleep. This problem is even more pronounced in case of sleeper coaches. The upper berth in the sleeper coach buses are an example of how things should not be.

In spite of being so unsafe, these buses are immensely popular with the passengers. This shows how much the general public cares about safety! Or is it the case that transport companies dont give a damn about the passengers' concerns? Whatever be the case, it needs to be set right.

Government:

If the manufacturers are not forthcoming in offering safety features on basic cars, then the Government should mandate it. Of course, the ideal case would be that it should be made compulsory for ALL cars to feature ABS and airbags. However, this is not a practical solution. But, surely, the government can make it compulsory for all manufacturers to offer these safety features at least as an option on all variants?

The same goes for buses as well. The government should regulate safety features on all long distance buses.

Regarding rash driving and using cell phones while driving; well there are a whole bunch of laws regarding these. Only if all laws as they are on paper, were implemented!

Conclusion:

Its still not too late. Either the manufacturers, transport companies and general public should act voluntarily, or the government should take matters in its hands. It only takes resolve on part of the authorities to brush aside resentment from lobbies.

Its delightful news that consumerism is becoming a way of life in India. Lets also inject an element of responsibility into the whole business! Looking forward to an India where safety gets its due credit. JAI BHARAT.

Pirates Of Caribbean: At World's End

2007-06-07T14:34:00.001+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.

Holiday with Mr. Bean

2007-04-23T00:20:00.001+05:30

Watching the antics of Mr. Bean is always fun & as soon as I heard that a new iteration of the series, i.e. Mr. Bean's Holiday, is ready for release, I was looking forward to it. Finally, i got a chance to watch the movie & I can say it was a laugh-riot, alright.

The movie is about the Mr. Bean’s (Rowan Atkinson) journey from London to Cannes as part of his holiday. As can be expected when Bean is around, anything which can go wrong, goes wrong as he gets lost and into trouble many times over, with just his Sony Camcoder for company.

The movie has its typical Mr. Bean moments, which only Rowan Atkinson can perform. His expressions are simply amazing (& at times, disgusting) What seems to have been done, though, is that, with few comedy sequences in mind, the rest of the plot of the movie, seems to have been written. That is probably the reason why the story takes so many turns. The movie is a little slow-moving at times.

The music collection is apt & suits the mood of the movie. Cinematography is a lot modern when compared with the Bean of 1997. I, however, felt that the Camcoder inlays in the movie was a bit too long, especially early on, although, it plays a pivotal role in taking the story forward.

The support actors are par for the course. The boy, Max Baldry has done a very good job. William Dafoe doesn’t have too much of screen time. But, the movie belongs completely to Rowan Atkinson. His uninhibited portrayal of the absent-minded, fun-loving & idiotic Mr. Bean is what we have loved him for.

In short, it is a movie which will make you laugh, at times, clutching your stomach. Your experience is likely to be similar to watching a couple of episodes of Mr. Bean on TV, but, who cares, its still Mr. Bean. Kids will have an even better time watching this movie. I give it a more-than-decent 7.5/10.

Pursuing HappYness

2007-03-27T10:41:00.000+05:30

The Pursuit of Happyness' is an inspirational story of a struggling salesman bringing up his son in suburban San Fransisco in the mid 80s. This movie is based on the actual life story of a rags to riches entrepreneur and stock broker Chris Gardner as he struggles through abject poverty and destitution on his way to break into the stock brokerage business as an intern.

The movie follows the life of Christoper Gardner (played by Will Smith) who sells little-needed medical bone density scanners for a living. Supporting his child (played by his biological son Jaden Smith) after his wife's departure, he is forced to relocate to a smaller house, loose his car and even spend time in jail for not paying parking tickets. His life takes a turn when he gets a break in to the world of finance and investments as an intern. He reluctantly takes up this non-paying, no job guarantee offer though the odds of getting a job after internship was next to nil. Between toiling hard to make a mark in his internship and trying to sell the left over bone density scanners over the weekends, he also needs to stand in a queue for rehabilitation everyday!! They become homeless, living in hotels, homeless shelters, and even a cruddy subway bathroom! But Chris holds on to his ultimate dream of being happy and giving him and his son the life they truly deserve.

Will Smith plays the role of his lifetime. His comic timing is very evident in the lighter moments, but his sincerity to the role is best brought out playing a man with no options, no family, no help and little hope. Special praise must be reserved for his son who plays his part to the tee. He has portrayed the innocence and sweetness of the tender age, while being able to hold his own in the more serious of circumstances. The father and son share an awesome chemistry which is very apparent right from the first scene.

Every scene and emotion portrayed on screen is heart warming and touching making this movie a truly worthwhile experience. What touched me most was the way Chris never gave up fighting even when faced with the most dire of circumstances. This movie stands as a testimonial to the cliché, success and more importantly happiness follows those who pursue it. In Chris's own words we experience happiness in eye blinks. The rest of the time we are chasing after it.

I rate this movie a must see for the sheer tenacity of emotions and thought process the movie puts the audience into.

"Wise and Otherwise" by Sudha Murthy - Book Review

2007-03-20T15:09:00.000+05:30

I just finished reading "Wise and Otherwise" by Sudha Murthy. And I must say I am mighty impressed and moved by the book. This book is a collection of 51 short stories, every one of them being a gem. Whats more, majority of the "stories" are in fact real life experiences of Sudha Murthy.

The first and foremost aspect of the book which I fell in love with is its simplicity. The incidents are narrated by the author in simple words, without any attempt at glamour or extravagance. The language is simple - you dont need a dictionary to understand it. The opinions put forth are direct. Its almost as if the author does not want to attract attention; this is the most attractive feature of the book.

No "story" is more than 5 or 6 pages long. However, each and every story is a lesson in life! Thats not to say that every story paints a rosy picture of life. Sudha Murthy gives some instances which clearly portray the vagaries of life. Some of these incidents are so moving, you are forced to reflect on how unfair life really is. For example, the author recollects the encounter with a gharwali, who was initiated into the "profession" at an age of 12, by her younger brother whom she adored, that too on Rakhi day! Similarly, there is the example of a man who branded his aged father as "homeless" so that he would be admitted into an old-aged home.

The moral of the stories varies from humility to humanity to equality to social issues. Another feature of these stories is that they are all realistic. The masses would relate to these stories. Its not about the "rich and famous", but about everyday people. The "heroes" in the stories are for the most part, simple "persons next door". For instance, the author shares her experience of how one of her friends learnt to have a positive outlook towards life, after being inspired by a beggar dancing in the rain! Likewise, Sudha Murthy describes how a woman did not forget to express gratitude to the author even on her death-bed.

Finally, another highlight of the book is the experience factor. The way the stories are written, you can clearly see the feelings, the emotions and the experiences that has gone into each of the anecdotes. It is obvious that the author has travelled far and wide - from the extremely poor villages in Orissa to the flashy environs abroad. The tiny tidbits that the author gathers in each of these encounters aggregate to form enormous experience. It is this personal insight and experience that injects life into every single story.

Now for the verdict - There's no two ways about it. Irrespective of one's demographic classification, this book is definitely worth a read. I conclude by rating "Wise and Otherwise" as a must-read; and hope to take a leaf out of it myself.

WC - The Game of Unity & Love

2007-03-07T22:05:00.000+05:30

Come the 13^th of March, 2007, everyone’s attention will turn towards the tiny countries in Central America, collectively called, the West Indies, to follow the progress of the biggest & most-awaited event in any cricket enthusiasts’s schedule – the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Although the opening ceremony will be held on the 11^th of march at Jamaica, the matches do not start off until West Indies play Pakistan on the 13^th. Both of these teams belong to the Group D; Zimbabwe & Ireland being the other two teams. West Indies are having a decent build-up to the WC, hampered a little bit by their 3-1 series loss to India. But, they do play well in WI, with the backing by their jovial crowd. Brian Lara, playing in what-should-be-his last WC would want to make this 1 a memorable 1. His leadership skills has improved a lot in this captaincy stint.

Pakistan, on the other hand, are an unpredictable outfit, being wounded by their 4-1 away loss to South Africa. But, as we have seen time & again, on their day, they are capable of beating the best. Pakistanis would be looking up to their old warhorses – Inzamam & the tremendous Mohd. Yousuf to fire consistently. Absence of Shoiab Akthar & Mohd. Asif will definately be felt in the bowling department.

Moving over to the Group A, there is a mouth-watering clash between the current No.1 & No.2 ODI teams in the world, namely, South Africa & Australia respectively. Although, Australia have been outclassed in their previous 5 encounters, it wouldn’t be wise to rule them out of WC contention, especially with the return of their Captain Consistent – Ricky Ponting & the wicketkeeper-batsman, Adam Gilchrist. They, however, are bound to miss the services of the in-form but injured, Brett Lee, who has been gradually developing into a deadly fast-bowler.

South Africa is a team which has been performing consistently in the past few months, easily beating India & Pakistan in the home series. Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis & Shaun Pollock are their proven players. They will also rely on the services of Makaya Ntini & Mark Boucher to come-up with a clinical performance.

Group C includes two teams which must have gained immense amount of confidence after recently beating the World Champions Australia, ie. New Zealand & England. New Zealanders have a nice team, packed with all-rounders, because of which they bat deep. But, they might have a little problem in the middle order, which lacks experience. Their greatest strength is their fielding & their team-work…many players chip in with runs & wickets in most games.

England played wonderfully well to win both the finals of the Commonwealth Series against Australia, but, their form in the matches before that isnt very encouraging. Apart from those two gritty games, they have been struggling in Australia. Andrew Flintoff & Kevin Peterson alongwith Paul Collingwood, are bound to be their players to watch.

Group B is where our primary interest lies, with sub-continent teams like Sri Lanka & India battling it out here. Sri Lanka might have looked a bit out of sorts in their last ODI series against neighbours India in India, but, their team will be boosted by the return of the tremendous bowling war-horses, Muttiah Murlitharan & Chaminda Vaas. Batting line up appears strong, but, they will require players like Sanath Jayasuriya, Sangakkara & Jayawardane to fire consistently.

Indian team, after its terrible outing in SA, has managed to recover its confidence, beating both WI & SL at home. Their main concern will be the batting. Although, most batsmen were among runs in the past two home ODI series, but, its while playing away that they manage to falter. Captain Dravid has made a courageous, but, right move by picking Sehwag in the team; because, he is the kind of batsman who can murder any kind of bowling attack, if he stays in the wicket for a while. In the 3 practise matches & agaisnt minnows, if he gets close to a hundred, then, that’s what will get him going. Sourav Ganguly, who has looked very good since his comeback, should hold the top order together. In my opinion, Sachin Tendulkar should still be opening; but, in order to fill in the lacuna in the middle order, he has had to drop down the order. He should have a good WC campaign, if India are to do well in this WC.

Bowling prospects are in the hands of Zaheer Khan & Agarkar, with new comers like Sreesanth & Munaf Patel fully raring to go. If Irfan Pathan gets back to his earlier wicket-taking ways, it is going to help the team a lot, as India will get a decent all-rounder as well.

Among the minnows, if any upsets can be expected, it should come from Bangladesh or Kenya. Zimbabwe have had very few matches in the last couple of years & most of the seniors are also gone. Canada, Holland & Scotland would be aiming at improving on their past performances & giving more of a fight to the test playing nations, all the while hoping for an upset. Ireland and Bermuda will be be feeling ecstatic, just being part of the major cricketing event.

All said and done, the league matches might not draw in too many audiences, save for the 1 or 2 matches in most groups between the test playing nations. The party really gets started on March 27^th, when the Super 8 matches begin. It’ll make for some good TV viewing!!!

Reacting a Tad Too Late

2007-03-01T22:39:00.000+05:30

There is a Kannada saying which roughly translates to "He started digging a well after the fire broke out" (pardon the messy translation). Well, thats exactly what applies to every untoward incident that happens in India.

Two days after the Samjhauta Express blasts, the Delhi-Lahore bus departed "amidst heightened security", as one newspaper put it. Oh great! So by doing this, the events will be reversed and the 65 (and counting) people who perished in the blasts will be brought back to life! And you see, these criminals are seriously running out of ideas. Thats why they are sure to plant bombs in the Delhi-Lahore bus barely days after they pulled off the Samjhauta Express blasts. Right?

Excuse the sarcasm, but the administration must be made up of a bunch of jokers. I am not saying that there shouldn't have been heavy security for the Delhi-Lahore bus. I am just saying that there should have been similar rigor for the Samjhauta Express as well. I just cannot imagine how the security could have been so lax that passengers were able to excuse themselves from the security routine of the train by paying 50 rupees!

But this incident is just an example. Such inaction on part of the authorities has become the norm. What is worse is the pretence of concern and "action" after such incidents take place. From mobs/riots to boat capsizes which kill scores of children to wedding hall blazes to train accidents - the story is always the same. A very avoidable tragedy occurs (often because of official apathy/administrative inefficiency in the first place), then there is the finger-pointing between various agencies, committees set up to "probe the incident and submit a report". The sleepy authorities, given a rude awakening from their year-long siesta, are desperate to save face. All of a sudden, they become very concerned about the people, the public, the country.

The big question is .. why not be a little more cautious in the first place so that the tragedy would have been averted? Had these authorities excercised that oh-so-little extra caution right from the beginning, they would not have had to struggle to save face today. By the way, if you are thinking why I am repeatedly referring to officials "saving face" and not about the officials' concern or country and the people.. well the answer is "What people?" "What country?"

The most shameful aspect of such incidents is the way politicians utilize these unfortunate incidents for political (read vote bank) gains. I have written before about this here. There were reports in the newspaper about how, after the Samjhauta Express blasts, the relatives of the injured had a tough time reaching out to their near and dear ones at the hospital. Reason: There was a constant flow of (competing) politicians at the hospital. Politicians must give a thought to the struggle that hapless relatives will go through if they visit the hopsitals. But, hey, since when did politicians start thinking about people?

I do not know what scale of tragedy is required to really wake up the authorities. I hope they adopt the policy of "Be Prepared" sooner than later and save those thousands of innocent lives. And this policy should not be restricted to the authorities alone. We "aam janta" have as much a role to play in this as the administration. Simple practices like a little more honesty, a little more patience and a lot more principle in life; can do a lot to bring down such extremely undesirable incidents. We can do with a lot less of these, especially now that we are on the right path of nation-building.

Looking forward to an India where more value is placed on the human life! JAI BHARAT.

Professionalism in politics is the need of the hour

2007-02-20T15:41:00.000+05:30

Politics has always been dominated by the babhus who have a ad hock way of reacting to the circumstances. Most of them seldom think about the big picture, concerning themselves in petty vote bank politics. Politics is as much science as it is an art. It involves as much careful planning and analysis as taking quick and dirty decisions to resolve issues.

Politicians in India have always been judged by the aam junta during the elections, and those who fool the public gets away with poor performance. instead, politics should be treated like just another job, where an official review should be conducted once or twice in a year and the minister (and his office) should be commended or criticized based on his performance. This will bring a layer of credibility.

Transparency of operation is a very key issue towards making politics a clean profession. Any citizen should have the right to question the workings of a bureaucratic system without too many hassles. In this regard, the RTI (Right to Information Act) passed in 15 June 2005 is a step in the right direction. Any person may request information from a "public authority" (a body of Government or instrumentality of State) which is expected to reply expeditiously or within thirty days. The Act also requires every public authority to computerise their records for wide dissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally. Though this act is good in principle, there are many grey areas that need to be addressed before this act starts serving the intended purpose.

The ruling government should come up with a set of action points that are planned to be achieved in their tenure at the office, similar to the common minimum program (CMP) proposed by the ruling UPA government.

Also important is the role played by bodies like Lokayukta in probing the corrupt officials and bringing them under the purview of law. But, for this to be effective one needs a dynamic leader like former Lokayukta head Mr. Justice N. Venkatachala who was instrumental in busting scams to the tune of 270 crores in Karnataka, leading from the front.

The role of media in this endeavour cannot be undermined. Their role is not just in exposing the scams and criticizing the political policies, but also to applaud constructive and pragmatic decisions taken by the politicians, without leaning towards any political ideology or principles.

Politics is a game where the rules are set by the players themselves! Unlike a corporation, most of the times, there will not be a quantifiable and achievable goal set. Hence it becomes imperative to define a professional framework, to get people to not only believe in, but also to actively participate in the political system.

Defining Moment: Tata acquires Corus.

2007-02-14T19:59:00.000+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

2007-02-14T19:56:00.000+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...

The Instinct

2007-02-07T15:56:00.000+05:30

Space, the final frontier... These are the voyages of a starship enterprise… These are the words that were an intricate part of most of our childhood days, when each of us wanted to be a Mr. Kirk or even a Mr.Spock! "Beam me up Scotty!!!" used to be our favorite catch phrase.
While you are caught up in a nostalgia uncalled for, let me ask you a question, do those words still make any sense? Or do you dismiss them as just being a childhood delusion? Don't worry. These were the exact questions that I was asking myself yesterday and do you know the answer for these that my sub-conscious gave me? "YES" and yours will too.
All these thoughts wafted me to the world of "black holes", the key for time travel. Scientists have come up with a hypothesis according to which if you are suspended in a world with a lower number of clock ticks per second you will travel to the past. Considering our earlier perception of time travel, as induced by H.G.Wells you may presume that you would be actually revisiting those moments of your life that you have actually experienced earlier. This leads to the million-dollar puzzle. Here it is for the novices: If a great grandson of H.G.Wells visits his ancestor, does it mean that the visit goaded him to actually conceive and write "The Time Machine"? or is it his writing that goaded the scientists to invent it?
Either way, the proposal of an infinite parallel world has reduced the probability of that event. The infinite parallel world theory says that, there is an infinite number of parallel worlds that are ticking their clocks simultaneously and if we slow down ours, we may land up in any of those worlds, and not necessarily the one that we came from. Yes, it does mean that at the very place you are sitting and reading this article, certain other things may be simultaneously happening too, but are not visible to you due to your myriad status. Nevertheless, many of us would have experienced it.Sometimes you feel that someone just called you. But there may be no one around. A group of scientist(I dont remember which university) had conducted an experiment on a billiards board to explain this phenomenon.
When a player targetted one of the balls and gave a strike the ball started rolling in a particular direction. But then as it rolled it slowly started altering it straight path. Critics said that according to the laws of physics this is perfectly normal. But then when they started applying the current laws and started calculating the angle of deviation of the ball, the deviation taken by the ball and the calculated value did not tally. Surprisingly, several billiards players(and players of other games) have faced this kind of a situation. When critics do not get their way the only plausible explanation is "the Paranormal" factor.
Para-scientists say that, when the ball started rolling it collided with another one in the parallel world and hence the deviation.
All these may be the foundation of "The instinct", a quality not found in many other species. Events happening in your world are often influenced by those happening in the parallel worlds and hence may rekindle your "instincts" that often harbinger many of the twists in your life.
So, it may not be entirely wrong to start trusting your instincts as they may be messages from the parallel world:-)

A Woman's Cry !!

2007-01-30T19:57:00.001+05:30

A married woman set ablaze by her husband and in-laws…. A woman raped, harassed and killed….
A woman stripped and paraded naked in front of villagers….
A baby girl killed at birth….
Husband beats up his wife to death….

Does this sound familiar? Or are these just myths borne out of my vivid imagination?

I am not a feminist or an Atheist, but why am I sometimes forced to question the existence of god? Why am I forced to feel misery, pain and empathy for my fellow women? This is one of the ironies of life.

Women have been subjects of undue oppression, be it in the pre-historic times like the Mahabharatha or the Ramayana where Draupadi and Sita were made the victims of man’s insatiable greed to now when we hear horrendous stories of women being subject to misery every other day.

It is not just the Indian or the Afgan Society that has not yet woken up to women, the Western Culture is not a free society for women either, no one, not even stringent laws or a broadminded society can prevent a woman being harassed mentally and physically abused.

Female Infanticide has been an omen that has been rampant for long, particularly in the third world countries like India and China. It is by far one of the most brutal and arguably the most appalling of anti-female bias that pervades our societies. Mothers killing their new born daughters on the pretext that she is a liability to the family is no uncommon scenario. The statistics of such death is equally shocking. When demographic statistics were first collected in the nineteenth century, it was discovered that in "some villages, no girl babies were found at all; in a total of thirty others, there were 343 boys to 54 girls….! In Bombay, the number of girls alive in 1834 was 603’.

Dowry deaths and killing of women according to an article in Time magazine, have increased 15-fold since the mid-1980s from 400 a year to around 5,800 a year by the middle of the 1990s. Killing women or domestic torture for dowry and the like is by far the most questionable of all evils. My only question that comes out of this is…. Are women mere objects of Trade between the Father and Husband or are they assured of an identity of their own?

Rape and molestation of women is one more of the evils that plaques our society today.
Not one woman can be confidant of herself even in today’s free and broadminded society. Using force on a woman is not an act of showing a man’s prowess but dastardly behavior of an absolute loser who cannot call himself a man!!!

Irrespective of being educated, good looking, having a strong position in society, women are being subject to all forms of violence within the four walls of her home, she is reduced to a victim status not very different from women not so well provided for as her. Why do women tolerate the intolerable? Why is it that baring a couple of them, none have the voice to raise against the society, the system and the world that takes women as lesser beings. The reasons are far too many and complex. But even if this has an answer, the reasons why men hit and abuse their wives is something for which there can never be a reasonable explanation or a generalized answer.

If a woman wants to raise her voice ……what are her options? Will the law come to her aid? Before 1983, there was no specific law dealing with domestic violence. Women were expected to produce witnesses to prove that they were the victims of abuse. Between 1983 and 1986, several amendments were made to the Indian Penal Code such as the introduction of Section 304B where the death of a woman from unnatural causes within seven years of marriage had to be investigated as a dowry-related death. What is funny is does the woman have to die before she gets JUSTICE???

There might be arguments that ‘Todays Woman’ has all her rights and is getting her due recognition. But one cannot deny or ignore the fact that this is but a pure myth.

A woman’s innate physical weakness has become her biggest enemy. Her spirit, her compassionate heart, the love that she is capable of giving and her clear soul is no bargain for the brutal strength men are endowed with. Men of integrity and men who are secure of themselves will only be able to understand the beauty in the soul of a woman. A woman is made not to be the slave but the companion of a man. She resides not at the feet but the heart of a man. She is a mother, a daughter, a wife and a sister, and she deserves her due respect.

There is a change that is required to be made, and that is in the mindset.
Will that be possible?!?