simply nagesh

Bharat Bandh.. Minds closed and Faith Lost - An Open letter to BJP and Shiv Seva

2012-05-31T20:11:00.001+05:30

Dear BhagwaBandhus ( read BJP Shivsena - the ground staff, its high bastions and maybe the ivory tower if my voice reaches there due to some miracle)

As an average Mumbaikar, belonging to the increasingly minority category of citizens called open category (medium creamy layer hindu brahmin), i must confess my inclination towards the saffron combine.

However, the political bandh called today and the media chest-thumping of its "nationwide success" is an act worth condemning as the terror attacks. While the statement may sound strong, abrupt and irresponsible, just think... was the final motive of both dastardly acts not the same - to stop life as usual?

I must congratulate you all for the "bloodless" ways though, which makes you ineligible for the privilege of Kasabniwas (A more Indian subcontinentized name for Arthur road jail)

For the common man -- really?
Back to the bandh that happened today, a forced political act disguised as protest on behalf of the common man, Can at least one of the BJP Karyakartas or Shiv Sainik, worth his salt explain, How has it helped make life easier?

Going by pure economics, haven't the mounting losses due to shut business and of course the acts of non-violence (non conventional violence that is) by your workers, contributed to the rising costs... and multiply that... to the rising prices? After all this acts of yours will it be fair to ask for a miracle from the magic sadhus, trishuls and the other saffron delights that we have? Will you be answerable to them and to their Gods, and yes the People?

A dog trying to bite its own tail?
To all of you, from BJP Shiv Sena, specially whom we voted to the Mumbai Municipality, to save ourselves from the Naturally Corrupt Party - Here is a question:

The Mehengai that you are all protesting against, aren't you a major contributor to it in the following ways in Mumbai (your majority municipality enacted these immediately upon getting elected) :

1. Increased BEST Bus fare citing Electricity losses - by as high as 70 - 80% . A ticket from colaba to churchgate, barely 7 kms costs Rs.12!! the ticket cost used to be Rs. 6 not even a year ago... through two hikes the cost has been doubled citing losses in the Electricity business. You have fooled the BEST commuter by making him pay for the Electricity losses . The cost does compensate your unions conducting strikes, and yes the buses you damage during the bandhs.. But hey ... who is creating this mehengai?

2. Increase in Electricity Tariff citing Transport losses - This time the tail wags the dog... Your elected municipality fools the Bus commuters, and then the Electricity users, make money from both and jack up prices...

Besides this the latest Tax policies enacted by the Municipal corporation led by you, my dear Bhagwabandhus, is an institutionalized way to extort the already squeezed Mumbaikar.

After all of this do you have any answers? Or is it just yet another Bandh?

The country is shifting its gaze towards alternatives for the next government.. and you are only warning them against voting for you through your actions.

Yours Truly,
A Saffron Loyalist... and changing..

Freedom is like Cadbury's Bournville - You need to Earn it

2011-07-17T22:21:00.001+05:30

Warning - Random Rambles of a Caged Mind - let loose for few minutes

The ad of Cadbury's Bournville says...

You don't just buy a Bournville.. you earn it!

Dark exotic chocolate aside, The tagline easily fits the description for something that we seek dearly, and forget usually as we part with our "pound of flesh" to the mean marketplace - The rare flavoured Bournville I am hinting at is what we know as our Freedom.

Yes I wanna break free.. I am sure most of us would immediately go karaoke alongside the memoirs of Freddie Mercury and resonate with the urge to break free.. from what? A world of our own inhibitions? towards what? A world of our own fantasies? As a concept, Freedom gets mysterious upon scratching below the crust of usual perception.

The Harsh Reality - There are two aspects to this - One, we are all born free.. Two, it takes an effort to remain free. It's the effort to keep reminding ourselves that nothing binds our imagination and freedom to use it, other than our own inhibitions and fears. Nature has indeed given us fear as a guarding emotion, to ensure that we sustain through her forces of creation and regeneration. However, but for a conscious effort to balance our imagination with this fear, we will never be free! And thats the effort that earns us the Bournville - The exotic flavour of our freedom.

We are and we have always been free... but to enable us to be immersed in that freedom, we need to put an effort of courage in being a black sheep, of taking the unbeaten path. And over and above, keeping our minds homed in on what we seek from life herself!

Google's bite of an Apple - Is Eden getting closer?

2011-07-14T22:29:00.005+05:30

I am a voracious user of Google services and a big fan of most of them. One of my early online hobby used to be discover all that's listed under the "more" option of the Google header, one service at a time.

In the recent span of time, Google+ has been creating waves (sorry not google wave :-P) after two unsucessful attempts at getting a grip on the online social media sphere. A lot has been written, and many are still writing their early reviews of the service and what would be its potential course and its effect over the other social media hotspots.

To be honest, i logged in to blogger today to write about my first hand experience with Google plus. But what met my eye post login changed the course of my topic towards a change happening across Google. --- The new look of Blogger after ages of seeing the same boring dashboard was here staring at my eyes wide open.

Winds of change

Google Adsense was among the first service to undergo a change in look. But apart from aesthetics there were some added features too such as better reporting. Most of the changes then were Googlish - read, mostly white and thin arial fonts all over the place.

Adsense - Old Look

Adsense - New Look

Google is known for doing rigorous multivariate testing before even moving a pixel, and thats where certain sea-changes made me wonder!

Among the first revolutionary design to hit me was... naah not G+, it was the new look of Google Analytics. The fonts got a tad larger with the screen stretching out and demanding more scroll than the older site. The scroll is a compromise for a cleaner look with elements being spread out a bit. The new design though would perform very well with better screen resolutions.


Google Analytics - Old Interface

Google Analytics - New Interface

Just when i was grappling and toying with the sneak peak of Google analytics, the top bar of google turned Black all of a sudden when i was logged in to GDocs. I first thought it was an graphic error due to low memory. Just when i saw BBC news release about the new arrival - G+

More press releases and blogs revealed that Google had bitten an Apple (hopefully not the one left behind by lady Eve!)... The fundamental changes in G+ and the cleaner look was courtesy an ex-Apple employee who brought in the new design elements.

And .. the changes rolled on

Two days since i started using G+ there was a link atop my Gmail prompting me to try the new Gmail look through the theme settings. I could now see an overall pattern which Google as a whole was moving towards. Slim gray bordered buttons and boundaries, Generous usage of white space, fading of the characteristic blue and inclusion of a palette of Grey and an unusual reddish brown were some of the obvious changes.

Blogger Today!

The latest Google baby to crawl out of the changing room is blogger. The new and improved post editor resembling a Wysiwig Gdocs editor is a welcome change. The new lean mean look is refreshing and as you can already see, has spruced up my blogging appetite.

Eagerly awaiting to see the effect of these changes on usage of G-services. Unlike Lady Eve, i hope, Google will open up the garden of Eden for online users, rather than the other way around!

UIDo or UIDont - Concerns on Aadhar

2011-05-21T20:45:00.004+05:30

Yet another Card - a wildcard or a joker?

Government after government, citizens have been bombarded with a new series of cards. All these cards in the past had a similar proposition - being able to serve as a one point identity. We had ration cards, voters cards (where we looked like goons, to match the faces of the people we elect, beyond our own recognition), PAN card (a single identity for financial transactions).

And now a new baby - UID. What's different though is that this time around the government has a celebrity endorsement for it.. Mr. Nilekani.

Benefit state - whats the benefit for the working middle class?
The UID promises jobs, health insurance and freebies for the poorest of the poor.. nice.. perhaps it would help the government implement archaic steps like caste based resevations too!

But what's in it for the people who pay for all these free candies through their nose? And with most of the time benefits flowing out like a fish served daily, rather than teaching the person to fish.

If you were to closely analyze, there is hardly anything for those of us who form the "source of income" for the government. It may infact help the govt to exploit us further by levying as many types of taxes as possible and targeting it to the exact demographic.

A govt. that has a reputation of so many scams can not be trusted to be noble enough to handle our data quite well, even with a pin-up poster-boy Nilekani.

How serious is the government on this project?

Article link: UID project faces big cut this budget - The Times of India - Feb 2011

The article explains it all that the UPA has done a budget cut of over 50% to fund ministries held by its coalition partners... Ahemm.

A do-it-yourself reality check.. Visit the UID website - www.uidai.gov.in

With the project gone live, any citizen being able to find his nearest registration centre deserves a government reward. To cut the riddle short, you will find an ambitious link out there saying "How to get an Aadhar?" and here is what it reads as on 21 May 2011

How to get an Aadhaar?
The process to get an Aadhaar will be circulated by the local media upon which residents need to go to the nearest Enrolment Camp to register for an Aadhaar. The resident primarily needs to carry certain documents which will be specified in the media advertisement.
Upon registering for Aadhaar, residents will go through a biometric scanning of ten fingerprints and iris. They will then be photographed and given an enrolment number upon completion. Depending on the enrolment agency, residents will be issued an Aadhaar number within 20 to 30 days.

Can you really trust a department that cannot manage a database of its registration centers on their own website to really manage a mammoth database of its citizens?

That brings us to the main concern----

How safe is my identity with the Bharat Sarkar?

Nandan Nilekani may have been handpicked to form the face of the project, bypassing the usual IAS babudom factory. However vendors and partners are still chosen by the tendering process, where vendors that find favors in the government stand a good chance to grab the project rather than a competent company. Even with stretched pricing, which is a prerequisite of the tendering process (add to that the goodies that need to go back in cash) - the best of the companies would be forced to cut corners.

There have been headlines earlier of certain government websites, where registered user details including user names and passwords were available through a public URL.. (sigh! even hackers would feel frustrated since they need not hack)

With our friendly neighborhood countries wanting to use Cyber attacks (read China's new art of war) to destabilize the country, there is a lot at stake. It would take just one unscrupulous govt employee to even sell the data to telemarketers and spamsters.

There is hope still .. since thankfully the government has kept registration as a purely voluntary process... UIDo or UIDont is purely your choice. :-)

Wait! Before you damn the Social Network

2011-03-19T20:44:00.000+05:30

It is the heart throbbing buzzword of the day.

Its way beyond the dreams and imagination of those who started electronic communication, even those closer in history who started the world wide web

It is certainly an enigma that has kept many behavioral experts baffled

Marketing researchers and media experts too are left in bewilderment, trying to gauge its impact and future course.

Unlike the rocket science advancements of yore, "The Social Network" is an up-close-personal reality of our over-communicated and over-connected lives. Its proliferation has gone beyond the realms of the modest desktop or laptop computing devices, to the omnipresence of mobile devices. However, with the growth of its usage, and more importantly the way it has become a close part of our lives, we do find amongst us certain negative trails. Trails from the lagging edge of the double edged sword of technology.. as always..

The dark streets of social networking

It is not uncommon to find amongst us a feeling of paranoia about what we should and shouldn't be doing on our social media presence. In few unfortunate cases, there have been unpleasant experiences leading from embarrassment to even suicides, as an aftermath of something uncalled.

I have had friends seeking counselling from me, narrating how their addiction or affairs on facebook messed up their life. Some of them who were new to the online connected world were confused and scared by daisy-chaining applications asking them to be a "mafia lord" or getting friend requests from total strangers.

Way out of the dark streets

In wild woods it is prudent to stick to the beaten path, unless you are game for an adventure at your own risk.

So is killing your presence on facebook or twitter an answer to end your paranoia? Maybe a temporary answer.. but thats not a solution. So what could be a way out.

The answer begins by understanding what the social network is in the first place.

Social.. and Network

These two words have been in existence for a very long time.. much before they have been used together in a strong context to name the big wave sweeping us.

Social Networks have been in existence much before our devices got wired and wireless connected. We have been calling it different names... clubs, Society, Social Circle, alumni groups, interest groups.. and different ways through which we bonded.

So what makes this new Social Network driven by technology so scary?.. If we analyze deeply..

The problem lies in our own tendency to let our own hair free and loosen our clothes, and go blabbery blab till we realize the weight of the first word out of the two... Social.. and that the new and improved ... Network.. makes things spread as wildfire.

The Social in social networking is there for real.. Being tempted by the "non-physical" nature of the medium can lure you into enjoying a self-proclaimed freedom.. But yes, the rules of a SOCIETY.. apply here too.. There are certain norms each society has... You are free to rebel, you may be applauded.. but be prepared to be backbitten with twice the speed as the real world.. thanks to the faster NETWORK.

The next time you feel you are being trapped by the Social Network.. ask yourself these questions .. and you will find your solution..

1. What does being Social mean to me? Does it mean a right blend of being cordial informal, and at the same time knowing the distance to maintain?

2. Am i applying my knowledge of being social... on my social network?

That means certain terms like.. Not accepting friend's request from strangers without knowing the risk associated with it. Using privacy features of each social networking platform whether it is twitter, facebook or youtube.. to help maintain the demarkation between your private and public life.. even online.

3. Just like in a real society locking oneself up in a dark room is not a solution, can staying away from the social network keep me away from its benefits derived from prudent use? - Same old Dad's principle.. Running away from a problem doesn't solve it.

The answers to surviving in the inevitable onslaught of social media and modern day networking lies in being prudent and self-disciplined individuals of the online society. Any deviation from this has its own risks.. and possible pitfalls. However, that doesn't negate or superceed the potential of the medium to do immense good to our lives when used with diligent moderation.

From Amazon:
The Social Network (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Get Connected: The Social Networking Toolkit for Business
The Lawyer's Guide to Social Networking: Understanding Social Media's Impact on the Law

Graduating as a Prof

2010-11-14T19:08:00.004+05:30

The weekend thats about to end in few hours, marked two very memorable events. Apart from the launch of Balaji Seva Samiti website, there was one more event which was very special and unique in its occurence - the convocation ceremony at NMIMS University, where my first batch of students passed out. Around 140 in all across three classes - all decked up in their convocation gowns.

Its been three years since i got the wonderful opportunity as a visiting faculty at the prestigious institution, adding a new facet to my life (read weekend life) at large. The greater privilege was being given a chance to address students who were no less than a panel of experienced professionals from various reputed organizations, who sweated out their evenings and weekends to get their masters degree. Being a part-time MBA myself, makes me totally empathize with the amount of sacrifice and tight-rope balancing needed during the course through a bermuda triangle of - Family, Profession, and Studies.

The Reminder

I was at work when i got a call from Mr. Dharmendra Kumar, my student and a seasoned professional from the Pharma industry. He informed me about the convocation ceremony and asked me if i could be a part of the event by invoking Saraswati Vandana - a Prayer to the Goddess of learning. He was entrusted the task of getting someone with a classical music background, and it was kind of him to remember me. I pounced at the offer and readily agreed for the event that was scheduled in two days time.

At The Venue

Bhaidas Hall was abuzz with activity of the post graduates passing out, but what surprised me further was familiar faces at the entrance.. These were students of my first batch! "Its been 3 years already!" I thought with glee to myself. My students and i had pleasant exchanges. Was totally humbled when some of them introduced me as their prof to their family members. One of the elders even blessed me with a caring hand over my head.

I told them that i was giving them a surprise .. as i left for the backstage :)

Backstage -- Frontstage

I was introduced to the compere of the evening who briefed me about the flow of the event and my entry and exit. The curtains opened and the crowds cheered to the young and beautiful compere, in many more decibels than the applause to any other guest for the evening.. ahemm!

The convocation parade comprising of senior faculty and distinguished guests marched to a ceremonial tune of bagpipes and lit the ceremonial lamp. I was called upon the stage where i sang the Saraswati Vandana i had learnt in my college. I was humbled when my name was mentioned in the vote of thanks for the tiny participation in the prestigious event marked by its achievers.

My students got their degrees and felicitations... and i Got mine when they reciprocated my surprise stage appearance for them .. and Goddess Saraswati :)

Felt like i was convocated 140 times for each of my students passing out... ..A feeling that had never hit me before. My students got their degrees and i got mine in my joy filled heart.

Icing on the cake

When i was having my dinner (actually high tea) with my students, a senior visiting faculty walked up to us, congratulated me for the 'degree' and wished me all the best for the future.... He thought i was a student :-D. I was reminded:

" Life is a university that admits you in the Womb, and graduates you in the Tomb"

Many Smiles ... scaling... Many Miles

Google Chrome Full page ad - Browser Wars - Now at a desktop near you

2010-09-29T18:35:00.001+05:30

Everybody loves watching Google and her moves, with the curiosity of watching Magician Pasha with his hand in the top hat. Presto! and we have here today -- Google Chrome Full Page color ads in leading Indian Dailies...

Blogs, Tweet-o-sphere, and all modes of communication is abuzz with the question... What made Google, the largest medium by itself on the planet, resort to newspapers in India? and that to for promoting not its cash register - Adwords, not its milking cow - The Google search engine... But... its browser Google Chrome..

As the rhetoric exclamation of these questions spread like wildfire i am sure ol shrewd pals - Larry and Sergei are laughing all the way to the bank, since one half of the objective for the campaign was done successfully... Which was... the huge buzz factor.. News of the day across multiple media by just few ad inserts in a daily.

Now what could be the other half of the objective? Let me add my two cents to the buzz, and to the grins of Larry and Sergei.

1.First thing in the morning :
Why did Google choose English newspapers as a medium, that has almost the same reach as its search engine? The size of the ad, of course was for the reasons of getting impact and showing dominance. Dominance in the wake of newer versions of Internet Explorer, and rising popularity of Firefox and other browsers.

Size aside, the ad was not seen on television or on hoarding (may follow later). Newspaper was the unsuspecting first choice..

Pondering over the reason for this choice took me to a conversation i had with a former senior colleague of mine.. who told me about a pitch he did to a prestigious client for organizing a large corporate event. His competitor was the number one business TV channel known for doing custom events.

When his turn came, which was after the TV channel's, he was asked- " My dear Sir, you just now saw the largest business channel walk out of the room. What is it that you can give us that they can't?"

To which my friend replied -" We reach your audience, much before any other medium does in the morning..... Not everyone has a television in the Washroom.. and busy people usually read a newspaper in their most intimate morning moments :-)". ..... The pitch was won..

Bottom-line... Newspaper gets there First thing in the Morning.. however this may change for different audience.

2. Why Google Chrome? Why not other products?

Before Google, it was Yahoo and Rediff that did a multi-crore blitzkrieg to promote relaunch of the complete portal.. However, Google here chose to do it only for its browser, not for any of their other cash cow products.

There could be two reasons for this.

a. The browser, which began long back as a modest, good-to-have, add on tool to browse the Internet, is poised to become the most important and core application on your machine.

Cloud computing and Software as a Service, are becoming jargons of the day, which primarily use the browser at its core. Very soon, all the applications that you would ever need would run from a remote server, which can be accessed through..... the good old browser.

Hence to gain a good share of the browser user base is very important for any online brand, to gain a ready platform to offer overall computing service in the future. It is not a matter of surprise, that the Google Chrome Desktop operating system is touted to run on online application.

Having said this, for India, we are still away from the day when we can have reliable connectivity. However, the day is getting closer.

3. Dominance during a competition launch - "Who is the boss?":

With over 2 million downloads reported for Microsoft's Internet Explorer ver.9, six days ago, the battle lines had to be drawn between the Redmond Giant and Mountain View Monarch.

The stakes are too high for this one, and hence Google Chrome perhaps wanted to show its dominance - First Thing in the Morning.

Newspaper was its best bet..

PS: Imagine the sight of Google Chrome and MS IE bidding on each others keyword on Adwords as well as bing!! Keep watching!

Live Webcast of Ganesh Chaturthi at my home

2010-09-10T13:12:00.001+05:30

An Ode to Childhood - बचपन मेरा बना रहे

2010-07-25T23:00:00.001+05:30

पैरों मैं पंख लिए जब, दौड़े चले वह नन्हे पग
नैना देख पुलकित होए, सुन्दर बने उनसे यह जग

ज़मीं पर टिके न टिकाये, वह नन्हे पैरों के दौड़ते निशाँ
चंचल पग को चूमना चाहें, इस व्याकुल धरती की प्यासी जाँ

बचपन के यादों से लदे, तह दिल से दुआ करता हूँ
बचपन मेरा बना रहे, दुआ रब से यही चाहता हूँ

US open, French Open.... Bharat Bandh

2010-07-04T15:24:00.000+05:30

जो काम बरसात का जोर न कर पाया, जो काम देश विदेश के आतंकवादी न कर पाए. वह काम हमारे राजनैतिक नेता कल आजमाएंगे .... मुंबई.. और भारत बंद

(what couldn't be achieved by torrents of rain, and the blows of terrorists from within and outside the country, the political leaders are attempting to do.... Mumbai and India Shut Down in protest)
The opposition parties of our great country have called for a ritual that is celebrated "peacefully" in this world's largest democracy of ours.The ritual is called a Bandh... Which literally means .. Shut Down..

For residents of financial capital of India, it is business as usual. First it was the Motormen of the city's life line - Local Trains, that went on strike for the "larger benefit of commuters".. Then, it was the turn of the Taximen and Auto rickshaws to go on strike. The weather god's tried their bit with not much effect though with the usual flooding of the city, at a trickle as much as a dog's piddle.... And now..
Its the turn of the lawmakers (should i say lawbreakers) themselves.

Elected representatives of the opposition parties of our democracy have invoked the great constitutional right... freedom of peaceful protest.. that would hold a city or even the whole country to ransom, with hungry daily wagers and sporadic violence, to name a few, as a price to pay for this peaceful protest.

The protest is in response to the rising prices of commodities and the recent unpopular decision of the govt. to deregulate the price of fuel. Whether the protest will help the countrymen or is it just yet another ritual (read political stunt) is any common man's guess.

1. Does a strike really help?:
When you keep the nation shut for even minutes, forget an entire day, she has to foot losses - monetary and psychological.. for the moment let us consider the monetary part.. People earning on a daily basis can even go hungry.. And at the end there are no free lunches.. The loss incurred has to be paid for, ultimately gets paid through the tax payer's pocket. The party funds of the protesting political groups are not gonna fund even a dime.

2. Would prices fall really, if the fuel prices were rolled back?
The answer is a small yes and a big No... The small yes is the short term effect you will see on the price tag.. Now for a big NO.. Before the fuel prices were deregulated. Every liter of fuel sold was subsidized to as high as 25%. This cost was paid by Tax Payers as subsidee.. most of whom do not own a vehicle! The mounting losses because of the subsidee would once again mean rising prices.

It is a shame that hardworking citizens of the country have yet another obstacle for them to and from their workplaces, tomorrow.. Monday.. Just as this "peaceful protest" unfolds.

A weekend diary note

2010-06-26T00:54:00.000+05:30

Here i am, at the brink of terminal midnight...
where one week end's and shows me the next flight..

The week that went by had many pleasant and jovial moments.. Few random citations served right here:

1. Finally got a call from NMIMS university for an assignment as a visiting faculty for one of my favorite subject - "Brand Building for NGOs and social enterprises".... So next ten sundays are booked. This is the third year i would be facilitating the course.

2. Had my third marriage anniversary.. which i spent with a rare occassion of overnight work assignment at my creative agency's premises. Worked till early morning 430AM, to be greeted by passionate rain with lights and sounds... On a road that was empty with cabs and autos on strike. Was lucky to be dropped by a friend from the agency.

The final outcome was good and appreciated indirectly... I think the compliments, few of them make it direct to you specially during appraisal :-D.

Luckily had the privilege of taking the next day as a compensatory off from work.

3. The rains are here.. It was raining moderately yesterday... i embarked on a two mile walk after a days work, as i left for my sister's home.. It was an experience enjoyable as ever sipping raindrops.. The next morning, was walking again towards office, just when a bus driver, from my usual morning bus honked at me and dropped me to the bus stop en route his return journey.

...

Little moments... few disappointments... glitters of joy.... deep rough sea... and then Land Ahoy!

A sleepless night - random rambles

2010-05-20T03:27:00.001+05:30

The first notions that come to your mind when someone says - "Sleepless night" is hard work, constant worry, upset health, insomnia... and so on. Thankfully, this moment of my sleeplessness relates to none. Strangely, i slept off at 8 PM the moment i reached home, and after 6 hours of dreamy sleep, i woke up at 2 AM with nothing much to do except for toying with a new netbook that i got for my cousin sister.

I just recall that i reclined on my bed at 8 pm, and immediately fell asleep as though i was tranquilized with a strong dose of anaesthetic drug. Though my personal anaesthetist - my wife Varsha, is away from home preparing for her final exams on the same subject. I could have very well been a subject of her study today for two reasons -

1. What made me go into hibernation at 8 pm?
2. What keeps me totally awake at 2 am?

As i fell asleep, i recall entering an imaginary world in my dreams, which had some imaginary friends of mine partying with me. In the dream, I recall standing outside the five star venue, in the lawn of the entrance driveway, with a couple of my friends asking if i was fine... And all of a sudden, the earth shakes violently - right to left... "God, its an earthquake!" everyone around exclaims.. Within moments, there is a second tremor, this time exactly in 90 degrees direction to the earlier one.. Went into deeper slumber after that... and then stood awake at 2 AM.

Have had strange dreams, usually during summer nights. Have dreamt of dark skies, storms and tornadoes (once distinctly at Dadar beach) during this rude season.

Maybe i should just shift to the Air Conditioned bed room :-)..... *yawn* ... feeling a bit sleepy now.. and there is about an hour of sleep-able early morning :).. Sweet dreams.

Of Mosquitoes, Bed-bugs, Leeches and Insurance in India

2010-03-02T20:57:00.005+05:30

"Duniya main do tarah ka macchar hota hai.. ek khoon peene wala..... aur ek insurance bechne wala"

(details of controling the macchar of unsolicited calls is given at the end of this post)

Here is a story of two brands... one that behaved like a pest... and another that proved to be a repellant.

All of us, tormented captives of our mobile phones have learnt it through the nagging calls of various insurance companies and DSAs. Today was my turn courtesy ICICI Prudential life insurance.

Time: 9.59AM as per the reliance phone
Date: March 1, 2010
Phone number of the caller: +91 022 42560500

The lady on the other side said that she is calling from ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. I asked her where she got my phone number from, to which was an auto-response - "Sir we get it from our online system". I politely remarked - "madam my phone is registered on NDNC, you can be penalized upto Rs. 200 per minute for placing this call. And i can complaint about you if you repeatedly call me". I was travelling by bus then, and my daily morning friends applauded me for shudh hindi and a line that sounded like a govt. approved family planning ad copy... that usually ends with "nazdeeki swasthyakendra main muft payeeye". It was that polite and straight faced.

Her response was a sure winner for Ekktaa Kkapurr (hope i got her nummerrologie right, since i love this lady from the right auricle of my heart).. She responded with emotion " Sir please go ahead and complaint... we get the number from an online system.. you complaint.. but still you will continue to get our call".

I wanted to give her 9.9 marks, but did not have a score card, the types of which our virtual reality show hosts display on TV with their polymerized smiles, thrills and chills.. and hey she couldn't have seen it, since it wasn't a video call.

Back to the lady.. her words hit me like the relentless bites of mosquitoes, which refuse to cease inspite of my attacks with my favorite electric chinese racquet... "You will continue to get calls" sounded like "We will continue to bite and suck blood, kindly bear or bare with us".

I held back my emotions and smiled, because i was pretty sure that a company like ICICI Prudential Life Insurance may perhaps not cover its own telecallers, or that of their DSAs, for verbal assault and emotional outbreaks.

I did something better... and so can you..

As per TRAI guidelines, i called up my telco for raising a complaint - Reliance customer care. Thanks to their new dedicated customer care for post-paid customers, my complaint got registered in 5 minutes flat. I even got an SMS with the name of the person who attended my call, with another SMS requesting a tollfree feedback about the service.. It was a perfect ten here.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance proved itself to be a brand with which i cannot trust my money, since it depends on stolen data to make unsolicited calls (their so called online system). Further they are a party to offending the law of the land.. the NDNC Rule.. I can imagine what they will do with my money.

Reliance, inspite of its negative perception among many, gave exceptional service.. I remember the name of the Customer rep-Atul ( i dunno why i called him Abdul till i got the SMS from Reliance)..Atul even had records of the exact date when my phone was registered for NDNC on the TRAI list. Though they have yet to prove their worth by finally sending my complaint to TRAI. But i know Papa (of papa ka sapna fame) wont let me down.

In any which way, i am happy that i did my bit by reporting an offence.

More details on NDNC registry and ways to stop nagging calls are available on the NDNC website: http://ndncregistry.gov.in/

Registering for NDNC is simple... send an sms with text START DND to 1909 ..toll free.. Yah seva bilkul muft hai (there i go on a govt ad tone!)

Open letter to Vir Sanghvi

2010-02-28T08:39:00.007+05:30

This is in response to Portraits of the artist as a Qatari citizen, an editorial lamenting the exit of M F Hussain's from Indian Citizenship.

Dear Vir,

Your editorial throws an interesting insight into the malformed definition of freedom of expression; that rests today in minds of Pseudo-secular-liberal journalists and so called key-keepers of the fourth estate.

I begin my response with a guiding quote by Swami Chinmayananda - " To do whatever you FEEL like doing, is not freedom" .. its called licentiousness. Here a licentious individual keeps to himself, a licence to impinge on any other faith, just because he FEELS like, without being sensitive to the feelings of a community at large. The word FEELs is highlighted because his actions of what he thinks is freedom, is out of pure Feeling without any Intelligent inquiry of its outcome.

Coming straight to your article, I am not sure what feelings you have towards your own mother, but we Hindus (even those outside the "Hindu Taliban" breed as per your definition) revere Mata Saraswati, Sita and Durga nothing less than our biological mother.

i would like to quote you:

"If some Hindus are offended by Husain’s nude Saraswatis, then they can simply look away. They have no right to restrict his creativity or to deny the rest of us the opportunity to view Husain’s work."

My question to you is.. would you or any member of your Liberal Journalists' watering-house club, tolerate any liberal artist to paint your own mother nude, with compromising pose with your own gardener? The feeling for a hindu is the same when their mother, Goddess Parvati is shown having sex with Nandi. Nude painting of Saraswati is one of the less severe and "liberal" versions.

Does freedom to you mean, that a non-believing painter is free to make a pornographic movie on my mother and publish it within the confines of my home?

Does freedom to you mean, your neighbour, or your "brethern" getting drunk or going overdose on Bhang cupcakes (publicized on second front page of the same newspaper where you showered your grace today. The first front page, like most of our liberal media, is sold out to an advertiser) and doing a strip tease on the street... Even worse... in your living room? Well thats his freedom of expression... but do you allow that?

I am sure, in each of the above cases, you will use your "freedom" and political contacts too if necessary to retaliate.

In that case, why is it that the non-believers, as mentioned in your articles, should continue to have the "freedom" or "License" to poke their dirty nose in the faith of the believers?

Would the non-believers be comfortable if believers kept on making lewd remarks about their lifestyle? No... they wont.. and both of them peacefully coexist with the right distance and etiquettes... Which in totality define our collective freedom to THINK what we should do... and not do whatever we FEEL.

The painter is free to express his views openly, but a free democracy also obligates him to be answerable for his work and bear its responsibility to . In the US and UK there have been instances where editors and journalists have resigned, where people pointed out their irresponsibility.. Here in India, any such attempts have been quelled, with the editors continuing to review free food and booze. I guess that's freedom.

Books like Satanic Verses, Worshipping False Gods and the Danish Cartoons are banned in India, since we believe in a culture of respecting each others faith.... Not maligning it... Atleast as a Hindu, i can vouch for my faith, and that of my close friends of other faiths. These books and MF hussains paintings may mean freedom for the artist, but it also means infuriating a large section of our population. They should be banned.. When the law of the land ignores that, and even worse, when media drunk its own world too doesn't reflect peoples faith... parallel law takes over. Perhaps you find that interesting, since that gives you more sensation and topics to write upon.

i would like to end once again with Swami Chinmayananda's Quote.. and i suggest every journalist, in particular, should read the book - Manual of Self Unfoldment.

"To do whatever you feel like doing is not freedom"

Freedom is being allowed to THINK what is appropriate and do that... and not do whatever you FEEL.

With deep belief in my faith,
and regards to non-belief of others,

Nagesh Pai
Saraswat and a Hindu

References:
Hindustan Times - Mumbai Edition dated February 28, 2010

Paintings by MF Hussain viewable HERE

Words for a busy friend

2010-02-06T10:51:00.000+05:30

It was on a winter few years back when i broke into sudden poetry out of nowhere, the last thing i thought i would do in life. I wrote few verses to my friends during that season.. here's one of them to a friend who was hassled with lots of work and was gasping for time for herself:(click on the slideshow controls "<< >>" to watch all the four slides")

I hope the poet that possessed me returns someday!

Mulki Chariot Festival - (Prathishta Punnav) -

2009-09-14T23:03:00.000+05:30

Click here to view these pictures larger

Beware of VisaBillPay.in

2009-08-29T16:39:00.000+05:30

At the first sight of it VisaBillPay.in looks like a service offered by a reputed payment solutions company in league with Visa, that promises to may bill payments a breeze.

I am sorry to say that i got conned by the image and the promise offered by the brand. My bills of Reliance Mobile (my wife's and mine) were presented on the site, and i decided to try its service. I made a payment through my Visa credit card on VisaBillPay.in, and the same was acknowledged through respective transaction IDs, with a status of Paid.

However, even after 3 working days, i keep getting calls from reliance mobile's aggressive recovery center for the amount. 3 days and more for electronic payment, through an approved credit card, is ridiculous.

Things are in a mess with one lesson learnt.... Make your bill payments, no matter what, without any intermediaries, no matter how big their names are... In this case the big name is a big Con.

Update - the payment finally went through after three agonizing days and after passing on the payment reference numbers to Reliance.

Turning One over the Hill of 30

2009-08-15T10:26:00.000+05:30

Here is an account the beginning of a not so loud, but well-spent birthday

"Dont think that you are thirty year old. Think that your 18 year old with 12 years experience".. was among the most memorable b'day wishes i received from a dear sister this birthday.

Much to the relief of my imaginative world, the child in me refuses to grow even above 15. And much to the horror of my "real" and "practical" world, I wonder, when will i mature. Net of both, i like to stay in my own imaginative world, many times irked and adjusting to the whims of the real one.

How the day began:
1. It was Gokulashtami, and the frequency of the bus i take to office was halved, in spite of almost all offices working in Mumbai. I was glad to see my violet chinese chariot, read: one of the latest AC buses in BEST fleet, come towards me..I waved at it, requesting it to stop..... It gave me a royal guard-of-honor salute, and whizzed past me.

"There was ample space within, why did the B****d not stop!".. The parade of mental abuses began. It roped in the BEST corporation, the guys who declared Gokulashtami as a partial holiday, few more individuals and corporations, and finally Lord Krishna himself for being born on a partial government holiday, that too on my birthday!

Luckily the next bus came just around, and did stop for me despite being totally packed. I entered the bus, grumbling at how my birthday began, ignored a couple of calls that meant to wish me. Squeezed my way into the bus, through a group of grumbling Page3 dressed thane women, to whom i grumbled back with a stare that could kill. I finally managed to take the call of my Mother-in-law (could i ever miss that one?!!) and my disgust leaked verbally.

After i was done with the phone call, a man in his fifties, seated just beside who had been noticing me closely, offered to hold my bag. In a couple of stops he asked me to sit, saying that he would be getting down in a few stops, which turned out to be quite a distance. This is when i felt, my day was actually getting special.

I apologized to Lord Krishna, and accepted that since he was the creator of the universe, he was free to be born on a semi-bank-holiday. I thanked him for the b-day gift of a comfortable seat, that did arrive after a small squeeze.

And yes! I did feel privileged to share this year's birtday with Him!

I got Mac

2009-06-29T10:26:00.000+05:30

No. I am not talking about McDonald Burger and Fries.
And I ain't talking about a rubber raincoat invented by Charles Mackintosh.

My wildest dream finally came true with the arrival of a MacBook. It was a dream indeed since i couldn't afford the price of it and would simply stare and fantasize at the ads of Apple Macs.

I managed to snatch it out of dreamland, thanks to my brother-in-law. Two years back based on my recommendation he purchased the machine powered with Core2 duo 2+ gigs with 2GB RAM from Russia, where he was posted. A month ago he procured the latest version of the mean machine, cast in a single block of aluminium, and decided to hand the older one to me for a steal.

And here i am now enjoying the best ever experience of human interface in computing. I have now with me 4 operating systems at home - Ubuntu, WinXP, Windows Vista, and the Mac OX leopard.

Let me romance with the new machine and OS, and await my review on the same.

Ubuntu 9.01: Jaunting with the Jackalope

2009-05-13T16:54:00.000+05:30

Disclaimer to linux gurus and open source experts: You may find this article too noobish

My first tryst with Ubuntu, one of the most popular flavours of Linux operating system, was about a year back based on the recommedation of my brother-in-law. For the uninitiated, Ubuntu is a 100% free, operating system that is much more stable and secure than the farthest Microsoft can get. And thats not an exaggeration. I can tell you that after seeing successive versions of MS Windows getting more unstable, more resource hoggy, while offering no significant performance/ utility improvements. Guess what - you need a license to own a piece of porous operating system which gets heavier and buggier with every bundle of patches.

Ubuntu comes to you as a free download. You can even order a free installation CD, and i have read they deliver it in India too! You can have a fully functional trial of the operating system, by simply booting from the "Live-boot" CD, as it is called. The operating system, including key software like Open Office Suite, runs from the CD itself, without affecting your existing windows installation.

If you like the experience, you can go ahead and install ubuntu on your hard drive on a separate partition, and run a dual boot with windows.

Teething Troubles

The first version i used was Ver. 7.10 nicknamed, the Gutsy Gibbon. Ubuntu versions are named cutely after an animal preceeded with a rhythmy rhymie adjective. (Hardy Heron, Feisty Fawn are some other names i recollect). I had initial teethers to get used to the new file structure and with the fact that for installation of some software i had to use command prompt.

Inspite of being a total newbie, with a decent level of computer literacy, i was able to find my answers on the forums.

Ubuntu clearly gave me freedom from viruses, and visibly faster internet browsing speeds. (most of the virus writers are busy proving microsofts security claims wrong, and find it tough to crack linux )

Jackalope is here:

I was happy to find the latest release of Ubuntu - 9.04 aka Jaunty Jackalope, which has better wifi abilities among various other improvements. This development came just days after i upgraded my home PCs to wifi . I had a preview of the latest release through the live CD.

Open office suite thats bundled with the operating system seems to be much more convenient than the badly screwed up Microsoft office 2007. It contains most of the features that i use in MS Office (older version than 2007, thank heavens) I am itching to make the Jackalope jaunt on my machine.

My Gadgets- episode 1 - HTC 3400i

2009-05-09T16:13:00.000+05:30

2008-09 happened to be quite a gadgeted year for me. Not that i went on a buying spree of some of the most expensive flaunty devices around, rather settled for some devices that had genuine utility. Some of my real gadget freak friends would dispose these as cheap as compared to the "deeply desirables" in the market. But these devices have really helped me in my day to day.
The first gadget, i would like to feature is HTC 3400i, a windows based touch-screen smart phone. Priced at Rs.9000+, you will find this on the entry level pricing as compared to other popular touch phones from the stable of HTC as well as others.

Features that i recall instantly : The phone is equipped with reasonably good browsing capabilities that helps you surf the mobile web. It has MS office and outlook which helps you handle docs, spreadsheets and check your email. If you have a windows live (hotmail et al) account you can send and receive emails pretty fast. But be warned, the whole list of your wanted and not wanted MSN messenger contacts barge into your phonebook the moment you map your windows live account.

The 2 megapix camera can help you click some good photos on the move just for snippets, rather than exploring finer photography.

How the phone helps me:
1. The first thing i do on my morning bus to office is check the Reuters India Mobile site for the latest news with least noise and celebrity crap that you find in other dailies.

2. I use Fring, a gem of an application that helps me logon to Gtalk, Facebook, orkut, and my latest favorite - Twitter. Most of my tweets you would find talk about my long bus journey back home. Once it did happen, that my wife and i tweeted the same thing, She from our home pc and me on my mobile.. ahh how romantic that was!

3. GMail and google search - Use these occassionally on the phone. Great utility

4. Quick Photography of things - funny and notable, on the road

5. Oh yes i make and receive phone calls too!

I haven' t tried watching movies or hearing music on the phone as yet. Since i use my laptop and Sony walkman mp3 player for the same. The phone is however loaded with windows media player, with alternatives of better mobile media players available.

Disadvantages:
1. The phone navigation could take you some time to get used to, since it doesnt have blackberry-type Querty keypad or for that matter even a mechanical key number pad.. In the beginning you would be too dependent on the stylus, which can cause finger fatigue after sometime.

I would highly recommend using application like PCM Keyboard which helps you type with your fingers, much better and accurate. The keyboard application does have a hyper allergic auto-correct, which you would eventually get used to.

2. For all you guys waiting for 3G service.. the phone doesnt have 3G capability. It doesnt have wifi too. It does have bluetooth for wireless data exchange.

3. The phone is a bit bulky compared to the newer and slimmer models coming up

4. Well its a windows phone.. do i need to spell it more? Alright.. the phone sometimes does hang, and unlike your PC here you dont have CTRL ALT and DEL. But it doesnt hang too often though.

In case you are looking for trying out a good entry level smart phone with web browsing capability, HTC 3400i is definitely a great value for money buy.

Face of America (or the lac of it)

2009-05-01T15:43:00.000+05:30

Many citizens in the US may wonder, why do so many people in the world dislike them? why is their innocent presence at the crosshairs of terror attacks? Inspite of being a great icon of freedom and democracy, what's the problem with people around the world?

When you look at the US as a lay outsider with some facts from history, you would come across a behavioral pattern of fear - of losing the superpower status, fear - of inability to feed the gluttonous US consumption, someday. It is this fear that makes US today:

1. The country with the maximum weapons of mass destruction, which is on a desperate hunt to disarm the rest of the world

2. The only country that used a weapon of mass destruction

3. The country that aided creation of Taliban, to counter the soviet "threat" - Was silent during its conquest of afghanistan. And today the militia is the biggest threat to the US and the good world.

4. The country with a greed to keep its citizens consuming, invaded Iraq with a mask of fighting terror, only to gain control on oil and to boost its war-driven economy.

Here's an example of a country that showed itself to its citizen as a great idol of freedom and democracy. While to the rest of the world it pressed upon its tyranny.

Will change arrive in the US with Obama at its helm? At least the first hundred days of the charismatic leader indicate otherwise.

आज मैंने ऊँगली की - मेरे देश के भविष्य से

2009-04-30T21:58:00.000+05:30

पहली बार ज़िन्दगी मैं, हमारी राष्ट्रभाषा मैं ब्लॉग लिखने की कोशिश कर रहा हूँ।
हिन्दी भाषा के प्रेमी, विशेषज्ञ, और बीते हुए कई विद्वानों की आत्माओं से मैं अपनी कच्ची भाषा की माफ़ी चाहूँगा।

आज हमारे देश के केंद्रीय चुनाव का चरण, मेरे शहर मुंबई मैं हुआ। काफ़ी दिनों से तमन्ना थी के मैं अपने देश के भविष्य मैं कुछ ऊँगली करूँ। आज मुझे ऊँगली करने का अच्छा अवसर मिला, वोह भी बीच वाली ऊँगली करने का!
सबसे अच्छी बात यह थी के अन्य जगहों पर ऊँगली करने से काफ़ी अलग, यहाँ, देश के भविष्य मैं ऊँगली करने के लिए केवल ३ मिनट का समय लगा।

३ मिनट मैं जितना ऊँगली करना था, हम कर लिए। सबूत के लिए, ऊँगली पर ऐसी दाग लगा दी सरकार ने के हम गाते ही रहगये - " लागा ऊँगली मैं दाग मिटाऊँ कैसे, घर जाऊं कैसे??"।
तीन मिनट से ज्यादा ऊँगली करने की सरकार ने इजाज़त न दी। उसके आगे पाँच साल तक ऊँगली करेंगे हमारे चुने हुए नेता। और हैरत की बात यह है के पाँच साल ऊँगली करने के बाद भी, उनपर एक भी दाग न होगा।

उम्मीद करता हूँ मेरे दोस्तों, आप सबने जी भर के ऊँगली की हमारे देश के भविष्य से। अगला मौका आसानी से हाथ न आएगा। और इस पाँच साल के दौरान, हाला के हम ऊँगली नही कर पाएंगे, हमारे पास होगा एक विशेष प्रजातान्त्रिक अधिकार। गांधीजी के प्रसिद्ध तीन बंदरों मैं से किसी एक का रूप और अंदाज़ धारण करने का हमें पूरा मौका दिया जाएगा।

याने - अगर सरकार और उनके शागिर्दों का किया बुरा देखे अथवा सुने, तो चुप्प रहिये। बाकी दो बंदरों के उपयोग का आप ख़ुद अनुमान लगायें।

आशा करता हूँ के आपके इलाके मैं सही ऊँगली-द्वार ,,, मेरा मतलब उम्मिद्वार चुन आए।

जय प्रजातंत्र । जय भारत माता । और पिता... जो भी चुन आए ।

Joy of a wireless home

2009-04-26T12:14:00.000+05:30

I am obsessed with computers and the Internet and consider them to be my basic necessities after food, shelter and perhaps clothing ;-).

The last financial year has been a year when i spoilt myself with quite a few interesting gadgets. The latest one was a wireless router that i decided to install at my home, to enable my 2 PCs and mainly a laptop to get connected to each other and share a network connection.

Three-four years back, I first experimented with a wired LAN, with cables running through my room. Made one of my machines as a gateway and shared the internet connection. I had considered later to buy a linksys wireless kit, but during that time it costed about thrice as much as the conventional cabled network. Inspite of the cables being called "CAT-5", rodents were not scared to take a nice bite at 'em. Thanks to their ruthless attacks, house repairs etc, the cabling failed and i got too bored to restore it.

Wireless At Last!

Lower Price:

Meanwhile i found that the price of a wireless router and adapters had reduced drastically. I ran to a neighborhood shop and purchased a router like i would buy a packet of biscuit. The price difference between the shop and the computer hardware mecca of our city - Lamington Road, was a couple of hundred bucks. I settled for a D-link DIR-300 model that costed me about 2 grands.

Configuration with your internet provider:

Initially i couldnt connect to the internet because of a software that my cable operator uses to connect me (called Cyberroam 24 online). I fixed this by requesting them to make some changes on their side, which would connect me based on my IP and MAC address and not the software.

Wireless security:

It is absolutely imperative to password protect a wireless connection. Few simple steps provided in the router configuration made my network invisible to the mean bad world outside, and also password protected it, just in case they spotted my signal.

Presto! now i can access the net without wires from any part of my home. My rodent guests now have no other choice but to feast on the Rat-kill biscuits.

Obama ka Kaarnama - please pay exact change!

2009-04-19T18:31:00.000+05:30

When Barack Hussein Obama succeeded George W Bush, the entire world celebrated with hope that sanity would return to white house, after two five-year terms of what i would call - The planet of the Ape.

So there we were - an "New and Improved"(american marketers favorite chant) President of the United States surfing high on a hawaiian wave of hope with a very promising punchline - The change we need is here. ( applause... encores...fireworks around the world.... hopes and promises)

An amazing punchline which no hyped advertisement in the debt ridden nation of the United States would ever like to miss.

As a foreign layman observer sitting at a point which wakes when US sleeps, i agree with Obama-Saheb. The change that US needs, but perhaps doesn't want is surely going to arrive...

The change is nothing but the sound of the last few coins (the change) in the american pocket, after they are done with printing dollars indiscriminately without any underlying national productivity/ wealth, just to feed those who are spending without earning as much.... After they have realized that the gluttony of debt in the country is leading them nowhere and ... they wouldn't have the rest of the world bail them out.... The music of 'change' chinking in the american pocket would arrive indeed!

The change is nothing but the coppers and nickels that would eventually remain clinking in the american coffers after funding its own enemies (and that of humanity) - militarily and humanitarian. You may not guess too hard who these enemies are. For all you know the blood thirsty, sheep-skinned 'allies' of the american war against terrorism will bring the situation of 'change' faster?