Rahul Desai's Blog

Why Pune Is Not Bangalore

Rahul Desai — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:23:00 GMT

I have spent the biggest part of my sane life in Pune (in Maharashtra – to be precise). If forced to define, I’d say I’m equally or more a Marathi (not sure if being Maharashtrian is any different) as I am a Gujarati (if at all). I’ve loved every moment (well, almost every) of my time being there and I any day love Pune and being in Pune more than any other place I’ve ever been to.

Little over two years ago, the fate had me relocate to Bangalore. Another beautiful city, but with less than limited love interest from my end. Rang Shankar, Radio Indigo and Cha Bar aside, there was barely anything to feel energetic about. And then suddenly, Bangalore was declared 3rd Best City To Be Visited In 2012 one fine morning. Not much later, a worldwide survey honoured Bengaluru as the best city to live in India. (My moving to Bangalore at the same time was completely coincidental – I didn’t influence these recent developments in any way.)

I know I just said I liked Pune more than Bangalore, and I still do. But I can’t keep from wondering. Why isn’t Pune the best city to live in India? It’s not important whether Bangalore deserves to be called whatever it is being called these days. The point is, Pune’s not anywhere in the list of 221 cities they came up with. What may possibly be going wrong?

I’m not talking about the climate or geographically strategic location or similar aspects we can’t control. Let’s take up some most basic and common things relevant on day-to-day basis.

1. Language – Marathi: I agree one should know (and put sufficient efforts to learn) the local language. It gives an edge in routine interactions and transactions. But how fair is it to penalize someone because you’ve found out that s/he is not local? My most typical experience has been a Marathi question (and not answer) in response to a simple query in Hindi or English. The simple purpose is to check your “local quotient” and the treatment changes accordingly, in turn, adding to the undue financial incurrence. When language starts costing, how do you expect an alien to settle here?

2. Transport: The public transport in Pune is a joke. The local shuttle trains are terribly limited in terms of its coverage of time and area. The bus service is so inadequate, it’s far from being compared to Bangalore’s BMTC (let alone Bombay’s BEST). The whole BRTS experiment turned out to be an expensive experiment, with crores spent on infrastructure and just adding to the inconvenience to the citizens. Taxi or Radio cab services are still in their primitive state; and it would be easier dealing with a gangster or mafia than interacting or trading with local Auto-rickshaw guys.

3. Infrastructure: Can’t blame the Transport system alone. Pune fundamentally lacks the civil infrastructure, and more importantly the willingness to improve it. Most roads in the city are still in primitive shape. The ones ready are always under repair; most bridges are still under construction and water drainage is ill-planned. Little rain blocks major roads and this issue seems to be nobody’s business.

Municipal Corporation is busy taking all the pride in letting flashy malls and multiplexers rise, which - in no way, is a credit to their kitty. They feel they have done enough and the citizens prefer cursing and ignoring, over fighting and contesting. Of all the years I lived in areas near Aundh and visited Payal and Kaushal in Viman Nagar, the Holkar Bridge had been ‘under renovation’. After more than six years, I hear it’s finally ready! I’m confused whether to feel happy or sad.

4. Administration: With Pune Municipal Corporation (and PCMC too) having adopted e-governance, it just seems they’ve invented a way of e-corruption. Even after meeting all the eligibility criteria, including owning a residence in Pune, I could never obtain a Voter’s Card. I guess I was too alien to decide which criminal be elected representative of the area I lived in. (I could simply bribe and get a ration card! Dumb me.)

The Pune Traffic Police top the charts in corruption in their fraternity; they appear only to loot someone in the name of some God forsaken traffic rules. The only other instance they surface is when some lady President or foreigner President of the Ruling Party is visiting the city.

Police Department is no less. There was one occasion I had lost my mobile phone and thought local police could help. (Silly me!) Even after producing required original documents and providing clear information, they kept asking me some complex questions in Marathi which were beyond any normal human’s comprehension. I vaguely recall they were trying to prove that I was trying to raise a fake theft case. On another occasion, I had lost my SIM card and I was sent to three police stations since it didn’t fall in their jurisdiction. (As if they would've moved their issues had it fallen in their jurisdiction.)

5. Civil Awareness: All these points pertain to the system, its limitations and flaws. But how about ‘we – the people’? Driving in Pune is a unique challenge and they should reward an extra brownie point every time you reach home alive. Wearing helmet is rather a formality than responsibility. The city is flooded with vehicles and the prerequisite for driving/riding them is an ability to honk unremittingly. People seem to get some sick pleasure out of honking for no reason – including that outside hospitals and schools. Hygiene in public places is yet to be introduced in school curriculum, let alone setting an example to other cities!

(6. Bonus Point: Virtual Socialites: This may not concern to many, but one thing I love about Bangalore is that its virtual space is not filled with/dominated by some wannabe socialites. Most influential people I’ve come across have same bio on Twitter as they are in real life. This is specifically in reference with the woman-beating-investment-banker-slash-DJ from Pune. Errr.. Ney York City!)

I used to curse Narendra Modi’s Gujarat Government (and still do) for their complete failure in providing appropriate employment to hundreds of thousands of Gujarati IT professionals like me. Most of us are settled outside Gujarat, because there’s no other better option. But then, what better has Maharashtra government done to me? And I’m talking about Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC and PCMC). Week-on-week, the cost of living keeps getting higher; roads don’t get any better; even an hour’s rain blocks major routes; we are far from having a world class airport (managing with some charity from Air Force instead) and even if these things fell in place, honking and undisciplined traffic is unlikely to go away. If it wasn’t for Commonwealth Youth Games, we wouldn’t even have these acceptable roads in some parts of the city. So, where does my tax money go?

I visited Pune four times during the first half of my stay in Bangalore. I was still getting used to this new lifestyle in Bangalore. But then, it took me 8 months to visit Pune again after that. In 2012, I visited Pune only once. Why should I deal with this mess in Pune when I have an option of a better living in Bangalore? I know I’ve ignored some vital statistics and parameters. and I may have generalized things. But that doesn’t change the fact that Pune has to get better.

I conducted a brief survey on Facebook to understand which city people thought was better. Pune emerged as a winner with whopping 73%! I can only ask them to take a road trip from Bangalore to Pune, and experience the real difference.

So here’s asking all the Punekars – locales, migrants and faithful admirers like me: Can Pune ever become the best city to live in India?

Image Source: hindustantimes.com

Hypocrite That We All Are

Rahul Desai — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:30:00 GMT

Paradox and Hypocrite happen to be two of my favourite words in English language. I’m assuming it’s because I can relate to these terms quite closely. While I tend to find, notice and remark irony out of most of the practical situations, I feel I’m strongly responsible for their very existence. Thanks to some distinct contradiction between my speech and action, I manage to produce interesting whirls in many affairs I’m directly involved in. Such behaviour – often unintentional – is usually amusing and beneficial; however, the only honest word to define is Hypocrisy.

Much as I try to introspect and implement stronger life-ethics, I’ve observed I often (unknowingly) take a path of pretence – something that conveniently works my way. Not that I’m proud of it, nor has it played any role in the little success I’ve achieved in my professional and personal life; I can only be honest that I haven’t always been the most neutral person one should ideally be. And so I thought of resorting to someone I know who’s always stuck to her/his stand in everything s/he had to say, someone I can learn from – like my parents, teachers, close friends, relatives. Drifting as my thoughts could be, I was led to think – Most of us are Hypocrites – at one or the other level.

Isn’t saying one thing, and thinking/doing different thing hypocrisy? May be it’s my lack of courage or confidence, but I often nod in agreement even when I don’t agree. And then, end up ‘doing’ what I agree to, or what I believe is right when it comes to acting on it. But don’t we all (or many of us) get caught up in this situation more often than not? One of my college professors who taught us ‘Going green in IT’ used to bring a giant SUV with barely 6 km/ltr efficiency (if at all it can be called ‘efficiency’). One of my ex-bosses preaching time-management and punctuality never turned up on time for a single meeting.

I for sure know it’s a natural human tendency, and not geography specific. However, Jug Suraiya hilariously put the ‘double standard’ by Indians to be specific. In his own words from a recent editorial:

"Indians, by and large, have an aversion to anything dark. Whether it's sugar, flour or skin complexion, dark is out and white is in, the whiter the better. The exception to this colour-coded scheme of things is money. Indians, or at least some Indians, have a distinct preference for so-called 'black' money over 'white' money."

Jokes apart, unless we stop ignoring this approach, it’s a serious concern. For instance, my stand about cricket has always been questionable. I feel as a sport, cricket’s ruining all the opportunities for any other sports/sportspersons to grow in India. Every time Indian Cricket team plays a grand semi/final match, our country bears humongous financial loss. But then, I didn’t miss even a day of the recent Test Series against England.

I was of strong opinion that India would win the World Cup much before the event started. Not because India was the most deserving team, but I had my reasons to believe the whole World Cup was staged. It made the best sense for a team like India to win and pleasing a billion+ spectators (and consumers of the sponsors’ products). My opinion apart, I didn’t miss a single ball in any of India’s matches.

That reminds me, I basically wanted to share these amazing videos some creative person shared during the ICC World Cup 2011.

Video published right before India-Pakistan Semi Final match:

After India winning the Cup:

More and more I feel having wasted time and energy on Cricket, I often find myself glued to the TV watching some really worthless matches like a recent one in Champions League.

Such randomness! And I thought again, aren’t we all hypocrites at many levels?

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5 Workout Tips That Work

Rahul Desai — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:00:00 GMT

When you learn, teach. When you get, give. - Maya Angelou (US Author & Poet, 1928).

I’m no wizard in exercising or dieting. We have gym instructors and nutritionists for that. However, with consistent (read futile) attempts over decades, I’ve attained the inside knowledge of why common people often fail to adopt a workout routine. I feel I must share the secret in the interest of humanity.

Starting way back from 6^th grade in school when my parents took up ‘family lifetime membership’ at a Health Club at home, to Kota, Pune, Bhopal and now Bangalore. I’ve made generous donations to some of the biggest players in the ‘health and fitness’ business in these cities. And they’ve failed to get me what I want. Actually, I’ve failed to understand what I want – or rather, what I need to do. All I’ve gained is some more weight and increasing BMI, learnt some creative excuses not to exercise.

One doesn’t necessarily need to go to a gymnasium to exercise and stay fit. Agreed. There are swimming pools, treadmills at home, jogging, walks and other nicer ways. I’m trying to represent the mass, the bigger part of the population which relates workout with going to some place. Here’s how you can do it right:

Presumptions: You’re not the most regular person when it comes to exercising. It takes you a lot of efforts, planning and motivation to take up workout routine, and most usually it doesn’t materialize. By ‘working out’ I mean, driving/walking down to a gymnasium and do some significant physical activities. I’m also assuming you understand the fact that spending money for health and fitness is not expenditure – it’s investment.

1. Purpose of Workout: We do things for some reasons. Like, we eat to live (well, most of us do). Unless you’re convinced that staying fit is not optional, you’ll never be able to justify the time, money and energy you’ve been putting. Even with a perfect physic of 21-22 BMI (Body-Mass Index), it takes efforts to maintain it. If you’re in agreement, pull up the socks and read further.

Have a Target. Short term and long term targets – with deadlines. Only a feasible short term target will allow you to achieve it. Achieving it in time will build confidence and boost your spirits to go for the bigger goal. Importantly, set a meaningful deadline, like – ‘I want to lose 9 kg and have a toned body before my best friend’s wedding in Jan 2012’.

Targets should be realistic. For example, a most common and attainable aim would be of weight-loss and fitness, improving stamina. Muscle building isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Muscle-gain can optionally be a long-term target. Point is, you need to work to make exercising a part of your routine – you must not handle it as one time project to complete and forget about it once done.

2. Selecting the Gym: In my learning, distance from your home is the most important factor in selecting a gym. If you have one in your own building/complex, I have no idea why you aren’t typing this article in my place. If you must go out, 5 minutes’ walk is the maximum you can afford. Anything more than that can eventually shape into an excuse for dropping out.

Standard equipment-set of good quality (branded) would be the second most important thing. The last thing you can afford is permanent muscle/bone damage thanks to some unreliable exercise equipment.

Amenities like Jacuzzi, Yoga, Aerobics, etc. are completely optional, I feel. They need to be accommodated outside the routine workout plan, if and when feasible. I’ve experienced in the past, these other things often distract the basic idea of workout. You take off well, may be achieve some initial targets, and start thinking you’re ready to include more activities. The next thing you know (quite often) your routine workout has also gone for a toss. Revisiting Point 1 – be realistic.

3. Personal Trainer and Workout Plan: Many people – including some of my closest friends – feel it’s not worth paying extra for a personal trainer. I can’t deny this fact – the professional gyms already charge high enough, spending almost the same additional amount for a trainer must have a good business justification.

One of my managers once gave an interesting analogy. While others in our team were like regular gym instructors, my role of a specialist was similar to that of a personal trainer. More qualified, experienced and groomed for the very requirement of my role and that of the client. Can't this analogy be used the other way round? If you feel the personal trainers are no better than what you or your close friends already know, you’re terribly mistaken. They’re qualified, trained and expert in ‘helping us’ exercise to get the best and possibly the fastest results - most importantly, without getting hurt.

If you can financially afford hiring one, I’d strongly recommend you to have a personal trainer. They’ll help you set some achievable targets to start with, and then assist you actually achieve them. If you can’t afford one, I’d suggest you find a way to save some more money or simply earn more – just for this. Keeping your body fit and healthy isn’t optional, just like breathing, eating or sleeping isn’t.

You can also consider involving the personal trainer right from the day one. Ask her/him to help you design a workout plan that suits you. Usually they’re considerate enough to address the fact that you aren’t the most regular types. Still, explicitly express your limitations and make sure your workout plan covers them. My suggestion, include more cardiovascular exercises in your plan. They’re easy to get used to and that will help you adopt the whole workout regime in general.

You can optionally take up swimming in place of cardiovascular exercises. You can also consider daily swimming replacing the whole workout idea. However, my concern is the time and preparation needed before and after swimming. Most of the times, it takes same or more time than the actual swimming. I find it very redundant and there’s no way you can cut down on this additional time needed. Anyway. Your call.

Nutritionist consultation also comes free with most packages in gyms these days. Free or not, you should consult a professional nutritionist at least once to understand what you need to start eating and (more importantly) what you need to stop eating, drinking or consuming (junk food, cold beverages, etc).

4. Timing and Duration: Most of us have long workdays taking up 9-10 hours at work, 1 or more hours for commuting and tons of other personal/social commitments to cater to. And as of now, there are only 24 hours in a day! We’re talking about taking time out of the same routine and accommodating an entirely additional task. Worse, this activity involves physical effort and may add to the already-piled fatigue (initially).

So how can one do it? Most importantly, you have to be convinced that this is something you must do – for yourself, for a better today and a healthier tomorrow. It won’t take much to figure out where you’ve been spending extra time and which particular daily activity you can do differently to save an hour a day. YES. An hour a day – that’s the maximum I’d give to workout. Upper limit.

A workout of 30-45 minutes a day should be good enough to keep you fit. You may add some more time eventually, but not to start with – no way. It’s important that you aren’t exhausted after the workout. You can save some time by not changing, bathing, etc. at the gym. Dress at home, go/walk to the gym, put your gym shoes on, exercise, change the shoes back, come home, take shower and get back to routine. With your house less than 5 minutes away (Point 1) this should be quite doable. Trust me, this whole carrying a big gym bag and doing all these other-than-workout things simply stretches your workout window. It may also break your rhythm at some point.

At least 3 days and maximum 6 days a week is what we’re looking forward to. You be the judge. I’d suggest you workout on at leaast on one of the weekend days, just to make sure your body doesn’t get too stiff to go back to the gym during the weekdays. We all know it – this does happen. Every time.

You can possibly find some additional motivation apart from your very goal to keep you boosted to go the gym, that too at a fixed time. It can be anything – like some pretty girl you may find in that specific batch/timing. It helps. For me, I wanted to earn some foursquare badges. Having a friend to accompany you may help initially, but you certainly can’t count on that.

5. Family/Friends' Involvement: Last and certainly not the least, involve your family members and close friends. Tell them about your whole plan – the goal, the deadline and how/why it’s so important to you. Tell them about your limitations and how you’ve always started with great zeal and then struggled to stick to it. If you already had strong determination, you never needed to read an article like this.

You need someone to keep you going. And if you’re like me, you’d only listen to people close to you. Keep them prepared that you’ll most definitely fall off the wagon at some stage and it’s their lookout to get you back on track.

You can use technology to make things better. Track your progress. There are tons of web-based tools and mobile apps to input your daily workout activities and track the progress in graphical manner. I have used Health Month and Runkeeper. There are at least a million others. What is important is to know where it’s going. Equally important – keep your family and friends informed. They’re an important part of the game!

(6. Bonus Point) 45-60 Minutes of Disconnection: Use these few minutes of the day as a recess – to disconnect from all the worldly attractions, obligations and liabilities. Let the workout time be all about you. Leave the mobile at home. Assuming the gym would be close to your house (Point 2), you should never be too far in case of any emergency. For gadget and social media addicts, this may not be easy. You may need to fight the withdrawal symptom initially. But we are fighting a way bigger battle here. Mobile at gym – a big NO.

Whether you read the entire 1700 words article or only the bullet text, I hope you agree to these points. All (not just any) of these points, when put together, can add fitness to what you already have. You probably knew it already. I did.

Why can't I cross that 1 month mark then?

30 Odd. What is it like?

Rahul Desai — Sun, 15 May 2011 19:35:00 GMT

Exactly 5 years ago, I had written an article on how great deal it was turning 25 – stepping into Grihasthashram. Apart from the poor response and less-welcome comments, it had content that seemed completely irrelevant lately. I deleted the article.

I had to wait for 5 years and another milestone of my age to write this article. It’s an interesting stage from 'numbers' point of view.

While I turned 30 today, both of my parents are 60. In ITSM terminology, combined, our age is 150 years. If we were to bill God (or nature?) for everything we do on day-to-day basis, we would have billed for 150x365x24 man-hours. Of course, I’ve gladly ignored my sister’s existence for this hypothetical example. But I like this landmark. Anyway.

Quite recently, my father wrote about turning 60, and I wonder how it is compared to my life at 30. Apart from the change to the age-group of 30’s in online forms, and being taken more seriously for the number 30, I’ve had a few things on my mind:

Like most other ‘friends’ lovers, the first thing flashing in my mind is the episode when Rachel turns 30, and she’s like “Can I keep the presents and still be 29?” I’m pointing at the ‘presents’ part here. I don’t want anyone to buy anything for me – but if you get one, I’ll accept. Like I accept the fact that I’ve turned 30.
So 30 it is. What’s it like? Interestingly, I’ve been trying to feel, think and act like a 30-year old for quite a few years now. Wonder what I was trying to get to. What should I try to get to? Introspection is in progress. Best part being, I don't have to 'try' anything - I am 30. For real!
They say one shouldn’t run after materialistic goals. I don’t fully agree with them, but I know it’s true. It’s a mirage. With all that, I can proudly pronounce I have already achieved, ‘acquired’ or at least touched everything ‘material’ that I’ve aspired. Now is the time to step forward. Do new things. Do all the other things – do them more frequently.

I wish I had written a book like Mark D. Csordos’ “35 Things I Learned Before The Age of Thirty” or possibly done something similar. But then, I’ve done other things. We’ve all had plans that may not have worked out, but there’re also unplanned achievements.

I'm surrounded by people I love. I’m happy. And excited!

Fuel To A Journey Called Life

Rahul Desai — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 06:01:00 GMT

For months, I had completely disconnected from news and newspapers simply because of the extent of negativity they concentrate on. I do have all the respect for media – paper and electronic – much more than what they deserve; still, I feel what we’re witnessing these days is the all-time-worst decline in journalism standards (so in India, at least).

Fortunately, we also have some quality options like Times of India – Crest Edition (thanks to Kaushal for referring this to me, I’ve been a regular reader again). I was recently reading about Security and Privacy (something I’ve been twitting about a lot lately) in their recent issue (Cover Story: Dec 18, 2010). Putting aside Wikileaks and Assange’s method of reaching out to the truth, the message is clear that balance is disturbed. Bad is weighing over Good and if the Karmic Law is to be believed, we’re in for a big trade here.

I turned pages and appeared 2G scam. People in the West are moving to 4G and our ministers (and Telcos) are spending billions to make sure we don’t move to 3G as well! Surprisingly, amidst extreme pessimism and negativity, somewhere I could sense the ray of hope. As they say, this too shall pass!

Probably the reason is something I’ve been noticing and trying to pen down through an age-old (incomplete) article; something I started typing back in 2007 and never published. Here’s the deal before you read further: You have to take a scratchpad and pen/pencil before you continue reading (or simply open ‘notepad’ on your computer). Just ponder upon this title (Fuel To A Journey Called Life) for a minute and write down everything that passes through your mind, thoughts. Also write what you think is the ‘fuel to the journey of your life’. (Write. Don’t write. I’ve written a full article. Made me feel great. It’s your call now.)

I recently realized (with some repeated experiences) that I’m not the only good person out in streets and really felt the need to write about it. Humanity, even outside the text-book chapters, has a great significance to one’s being – as great as food, clothing and shelter. Though many people really enjoy living an insignificant life with no emotions associated, nobody can deny the positivity of a smiling face and a helping hand. At least, I can’t. In my recent routine interactions I came across some people who really meant and cared to be human.

1. Aging back in December 2006, I had to visit Bilimora (my home-town, in Gujarat). From Pune. Unplanned. Thanks to Yogi, I had a confirmed reservation in Ahimsa Express. At 6 PM, I was still stuck in an auto-rickshaw near Khadki station – at least an hour away from Pune Station considering the traffic. I decided to take the road, crossed the railway line running with big heavy bags in both the hands. (I like to describe this part as ‘like Shah Rukh Khan’ during in-person conversations. Anyway.) I reached the Old Highway, with less than half an hour left. I was screaming, crying for the lift. But even autowallas didn’t stop, let alone private vehicles.

To my great luck, three workers (laborers, mazdur) were returning from their work on bicycles. With axe, saw, big hammers and other tools already loaded. They stopped by even without me asking. One explained how I wouldn’t get any vehicles there; the other two loaded my bags on their bicycles. First one asked me to sit on the rear ‘stand’.

In less than ten minutes, we were at a Traffic Signal in Shivaji Nagar. They dropped me saying they had to take another route, and just went away before I could even thank them!

I was feeling relieved too soon. My problems weren’t over. I was still halfway with no means to make it to the Railway Station in time.

Enter, a Sudanese Student on a moped (a bicycle-like low-powered two-wheeler?)! He (too) assumed I needed lift – he adjusted my bags in little available space, asked me to sit wherever I could and we took off. He managed to slip through crazy traffic in Shivajinagar and dropped me right outside the station – 5 minutes before departure! He told me his name, but I couldn’t understand his accent. By the time I took out my business card, he had disappeared in the traffic…

2. A few months later (on April 20, 2007 to be precise) I was in Ludhiana for two of my very close friends’ wedding. (They were getting married to each other, that is). It was supposed to be a great Indian-fat-wedding experience for me. Instead, an a$$ from work asked me to prepare some document and send it to him the very day. (You see, usually people don't carry laptops when attending a wedding.) While others were approaching cocktail party, I had to look for a Cyber Café in the unknown land. I was standing by the road side, in the outskirts, looking for someone to guide me. And two guys on a scooter (Hamara Bajaj!) emerged!

Apparently the closest internet place in the city was at least 10 KM away. And the scooter was in no great shape even to carry one person – let alone three of us. Eureka: one of the guys stayed with me, and the other went back to their home. Brought his car this time and dropped me at a Cyber Café in the city. They were willing to wait till I get done, but I just couldn’t take more favor from them.

I finally sent the document and I was in the same catch again. I needed some transport to a remote place outside the city. Came to my rescue a Sardarji on a Bullet! He just looked at me (upar se neeche kinds), assumed I was an outsider-attending-a-wedding-in-Ludhiana-outskirts. He was like “Bahar se aaye ho? Shaaddi me? Auto dhoondh rahe ho? Bullet pe lift chalegi?”

I can’t recall what I replied, but quite shortly, I was high and dancing over some amazing Punjabi numbers…

3. I’m still using the Television my friends gifted me a few years ago. Emotions apart, it was one of the most advance and cross-technology-compatible TV back then. Thanks to this new TV, I was finally getting a chance to setup some complicated configuration – connecting TV, Laptop and the Audio system. I needed an S-component chord to realize this dream.

We, the Pune people, tend to turn to Lakshmi Road for any ad-hoc requirements. We need something and don’t know where to look for it, we end up at Lakshmi Road/Tilak Road. And we’re never disappointed. Anyway.

I was at Lakshmi Road with no clue where next to go. I checked in some random Electronic shops with no help. In my desperate attempt to find this rare electronic item, I also checked with garment shops and Mithai shops. Appeared one of the attendants at a sweet shop (Kaka Halwai), who thought he knew where I could find such a thing. He offered to walk me to this small shop.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have S-component. But they did have an idea of another shop in Shaniwar Wada, who had it for sure. The Shop-guy took me to this other nano-size shop in a real interior street. It was one inexhaustible source of electronic spares – including the S-component! I offered the shop-guy some money for his great help; but he politely refused.

There’s another story of how cabbies and autowalls in Bombay went out of their way to help me reach Bandra – Band Stand from Goregaon in heavy rains – for practically no money.

I guess we get the point here – it’s not just about how lucky I had been on different occasions; I’m glad there are people willing to stay human and act like one. Humanity isn’t extinct as yet. And it’s our responsibility to carry this legacy to the future generations.

Coming back to ‘Fuel To The Journey Of Your Life’, if you had jotted any points do share them here. In fact, why not write an article altogether?

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5 Reasons Not To Be On Facebook

Rahul Desai — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:00:00 GMT

Being a Social Media-addict, it's never easy finding reasons to NOT like Facebook, or sorts. There've been really strong reasons, however, behind writing this article. We all 'Facebook' for a reason or the other. But there may be many others, why we shouldn't...

Earlier today, I was going through a photo-album and ‘tagging’ people. (That’s what we’re supposed to do, right? ‘Tag Faces’? ‘Face’ book?) So I did. To my surprise, I could recognize two extremely opposite sets of people:

People that I never imagined would use a computer, were on Facebook. (I wouldn’t have imagined this, say, five years ago. But not anymore. They’re quite active. They do ‘like’ my comments and photos off and on. They’re very much here to stay.)

People that could be on Facebook weren’t really there.

One of my cousins, to be specific, fell in this second category which raised my eyebrow(s). He’s computer-literate (well, much more than that), uses internet and it shouldn’t be any tough for him to adapt Facebook. His wife’s already there. We are a Facebook-recognized family, with almost everyone there except him. Being a devotee I felt the urge to ask him to join the fraternity.

Thanks to my partial (and very little) study of Bhagwad-Gita, the first thought was to challenge my own view. And in no time, I came up with these five first reasons why my cousin should NOT join Facebook:

1. Primary Communication Channel: Facebook on computer, and eventually on mobile. Soon it becomes the first (and only?) method of contacting a person. We tend to contact people via ‘posting on wall’ or ‘sending a message’ on Facebook instead of calling, SMSing or emailing normally. We assume the other person will also check her/his Facebook account the first thing in the morning, way before brushing the teeth or rushing to loo.

Very recently my college-friend Jeeva was in Bangalore; he ‘sent a message’ to me on Facebook (instead of sending an email or SMS or call) which I failed to check in time. And what we missed could’ve been one of the greatest evenings in six years, pending since the graduation.

2. He, Who Is On Facebook, Only Exists: People (we all, that is) start becoming judgemental about others (friends and family) based on their Facebook presence. If one’s not here, s/he may not actually exist. It straight away adds to her/his social crisis. Obviously, if you’re NOT on Facebook, you’re at least one point less than others who are. Duh!

3. You Are Your Facebook Profile – And NOT Vice Versa: By now, we’re clear that if we have any life, it must reflect on Facebook. If you recently got married, your wedding pictures must be up immediately. No matter you’re out on honeymoon, you’re slow if you waited till your return.

We need not remember birthdays and anniversaries, because if one has any, s/he would share it on Facebook. And if she hasn’t shared it, why wish her at all? I once hid my birthday and some of my friends (on Facebook) missed wishing me. They later blamed me for not ‘sharing’ it – of course, by one ‘writing on my Facebook wall’ and the rest ‘commenting’ on it. Can’t clearly recall, but a few mut have ‘liked’ it as well! (My cousin - not on Facebook - called and wished me the first thing in the morning!)

One famous story goes as, a girl insisted her boyfriend to change his ‘Relationship status’ from ‘Single’ to ‘In a relationship’ one evening. The guy joking denied and the girl committed suicide that very night (thinking her boyfriend was cheating on her). Well, there’s positive side - she’ll always be there with us - on Facebook.

4. The Matrix World Is The Reality: Any avid Facebook user would agree with me that the Facebook addiction often goes beyond reality. We become so involved and obsessed with our virtual identity, that real world starts seeming less important. Our relationships and approach start getting defined based on Facebook recognition – one must like and compliment his wife/girlfriend’s profile picture. No matter he can’t remember the last time he bought her real flowers.

What more? 'He didn’t comment on my wall-post. Mean!' 'He didn’t like my vacation album. Attitude, eh? I’ll never take his calls again.'

5. New 'Me' No More – Only New Facebook Profile: Those deeply involved in ‘The Social Network’ often start suppressing independent thoughts. We start thinking from ‘Facebook’ framework. ‘This must become my Profile Picture’. ‘I’m so gonna write this for my status message’. No more introspecting; if something isn’t on Facebook or doesn’t fit on my profile, it’s not important. Death of ideas. The only change will be the change in Facebook design. The only thing new, is the new profile picture – you haven’t changed it in a while, your life’s lame.

These are just the first few points I could jot down. There surely are a thousand others.

And I’m sure, somewhere deep within, we all are convinced that Facebook has touched and affected our lives quite closely. Causing a significant damage on times. Do tell me your story!

Please add to these points - who knows some day we may get convinced to walk out of 'social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them'.

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Original, Originality, et al.

Rahul Desai — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 02:51:00 GMT

How to produce/create original content? As an armature blogger, like millions others, I must know the answer to this burning question.

In my recent conversation with someone very close and frank to me, I got an honest feedback that my last few articles weren’t so charismatic as she had expected. I can’t blame her. I was so indulged in urge to write something – absolutely anything to start with. I partially (or fully?) failed to justify the topic. But what else could I have possibly written?

I have picked information from forwarded emails, anonymous quotes, newspapers and books to write inspired articles, in the past. Many of them were gladly received, read and commented on. But did I really deserve that? At least I wasn’t satisfied. And when I managed to break out of the shell, it had a direct and tougher competition with my own writing of the past.

In fact, it didn’t exactly start there. A few more days earlier, on our way back from work we happened to discuss how tough it must be for the music composers to come up with new-harmonic-catchy tunes every time. And so for the lyricists, to write something new, acceptable and still commercial. Advertisers, to come up with conditionally creativity that can sell.

Thinking in the same line, there are a billion blogs out there in the wild today. (Considering 200 Million, that someone counted in 2005.) Not that they’re in competition with one another, but it’s an obvious wish/attempt to write something better than others. Newer material. Something that has never been written before. Something Original.

Talking of myself, it’s never easy for me to part from this attitude of picking ‘trending’ topics and writing-patterns that ‘work’. I refer ten websites to confirm what I’m writing is correct/valid, and most usually, my freedom of omni-directional thoughts is killed brutally. Unfortunately, it’s usually goes unnoticed. If I were allowed to generalize, we as Indians are basically more used to references – proven, successful models. Our work-culture, television, music and reality shows, usually are influenced. (I just can’t overlook the fact how my favourite Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai is inspired from Everybody Loves Raymond.) We’re fine and welcoming to Indian counterparts of American shows (American Idol, Millionaire, etc). It’s not a crime, agreed. But is it really so tough to come up with something original? On the same time, is it really wrong/bad not being original?

Coming to blogging, writing original/fresh/new content or an original topic has always been challenging. One reason being, we (I?) often link originality to exclusivity which in turn leads to copyrights, and other repulsive words like that. And just then I realized the ‘secret’!

The ‘trick’ lies in the ‘individuality’. Originality is Individuality.

While they can be influenced/inspired by other content, the individuality remains. It’s the individual view/opinion/thought that’s unseen, unheard before. If I decide to write about Blackberry (the gadget), the key is my opinion - that combined with Blackberry makes an original-unique combination.

Originality is all about the beauty of uniqueness, that it’s constant in itself. The blogs, topics and readers may be finite. But when it comes to combining them with individuality opinions, things go beyond counting and computing. Probably that’s the business model ‘Information’ or ‘Content’ industry runs on. I wonder if Mashable.com ever discusses/writes about any of their inventions. And still over two million ‘followers’ look forward to their twits – for something ‘new’. Original?

Evidently, I didn’t mean to convey any message or prove a point with this article. I recently completed five years of blogging through rahuldesai.com and little over that, of blogging in general. I'm just attempting to grow. I meant to address a thought through this article and still remain original (if not amusing).

It remains an open forum and I’m looking forward to discuss/receive comments/inputs.

Home Is Everything...

Rahul Desai — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:52:00 GMT

Yet another absurd title, considering what I’m planning to write about. I still hope it’s justified (by itself) by the end. I started 'typing' this article back in mid-2006 (on July 2, 2006 - to be precise). Not sure what stopped me from completing and publishing, I guess I had to move to Bangalore to realize the need.

Talking of the background, I thought of writing over this whole ‘home’ context soon after I happened to watch two of the greatest Hollywood movies in a very short span of time – Syriana and Munich (thanks to Pushkar’s keen interest and faith in Hollywood). They’re independently great movies with very limited things in common. One thing that attracted all my attention though, was the element of ‘Terrorism’ and its aspects portrayed in them.

Syriana showed the ‘making’ of individuals turned to terrorists, while Munich briefly discussed why one would take the tough road of terrorism – that would lead to a life full of hatred, violence, blood and painful struggle. In one of the scenes in Munich (not so surprisingly – a Steven Spielberg movie), one of ‘those’ guys tells Avner (the lead actor – Eric Bana) how ‘they’ did it all for home and how they were willing to continue and stay away from home for centuries to follow – just to ‘save’ their Home from the ‘bad’. He concludes with saying ‘…after all, Home – is everything!’ and Avner – fighting the terrorists – is speechless. Anyway.

Completely away from this context (and now I can’t even recall why), but somehow, this led me to thinking about all those people living away from home, still trying to stay connected. Speaking of Indians abroad (NRIs - as named officially), I’ve always had the due respect for them, less the fact that they are NOT in India – the Home. Watching these movies somewhere made me rethink if it (settling away from home) was really so unjustifiable as I always thought.

I soon moved to Pune the same season, and surprisingly, this whole line of thinking just evaporated. Probably because, all these years in Pune, I never felt being so far from home. Having recently moved to Bangalore, I have all the time (and distance) to realize what it’s like being away from Home. Be it one of these recent occasions I couldn’t attend to, or the Gujaratis (and NOT Gujarathis, please) in Bengaluru trying to simulate the same Navratri tempo and aura. Not that I was forced into being here, moving here was a completely sane decision and it has made a great sense. And it brings me back to thinking – and ACCEPTING – the fact that people take decisions for some reasons. The idea is to ‘accept and respect’ their decisions – whatever that may be, rather than challenging it, compelling for justification.

Probably, I’m still getting used to not being in Pune. It may actually be a mix of emotions and other external factors acting on me. The infrastructure. Public transport. One more being this ‘Disney OSTs’ CD I’ve been playing in my car, for quite some time now. ‘There’s a place called home’ from ‘Christmas Carol’ has been stuck in my mind. Same songs, same car, different roads!

I know it will only get better with time. Patience is the key!

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Propeller Confessions

Rahul Desai — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 11:26:00 GMT

Ever tried locating your house from an airplane approaching your ‘home’ airport? I’ve tried that. I do that. EVERY TIME. While take-off. Landing. Hovering. And fail to find anything. EVERY TIME. I can't even locate/recognize a specific area, let alone a building or a 'house'.

Talking in Facebook terms, 'this is on my mind right now' while on my way to Bangalore in a Propeller (as the airline people usually address those smaller 'Commercial Carriers' from the French Company ATR - Avions de Transport Régional. In any other person, it would be that fan-like part of an aircraft that helps the plane to move forward – cutting the air.) Apparently, I didn't know much about a propeller all this while – that being 'the only other thing on my mind'.

With my recently improved Time Management, I was at the airport at 4:20 AM for a 6:15 AM flight (that's considered well-in-advance in Pune). All my 'advanced planning' and 'preparation' went in vain when one of my closest friends working at the airport arranged direct entry, pre-checkin, quick security check, lounge access – all of this in less than 15 mins. I had an hour and a half to observe and enjoy the recently 'upgraded' Pune Lohegaon Airport. That's not the subject here though, but certainly a good one for a separate article. Pipelined.

So, the Lounge coffees, sandwich and call for boarding! We actually walked down to the aircraft - aircraft that looked more like an aerospace-project for a prodigy science student. There were reasons -

We decided to take a walk (instead of a shuttle). I didn't know that was allowed for pax.
'The Sun' (didn't that sound like Jet Lee's 'The One'?) was still to rise.
I realized I hadn't taken a walk at that time of the day (outside my house, of course) in long time.

So, we walked and my friend started spilling the beans. (It was an eye-opener. I had never come across this ‘technically well-aware' aspect of her personality.) What followed was going to be some real 'Knowledge Transfer' from an airline official -

Propellers (ATRs, for us) are 62 seated while other local carriers are 175-ish. (They can however be designed to accommodate up to 78 seats. Impressive.)
Propellers are more fuel efficient (2 tons of fuel is good enough for Pune-Bangalore fleet, compared to 4-5 tons needed for others, averaging for the same number of passengers.)
Their ground clearance is much lesser (for obvious reasons) and that's the reason they have a mechanical arrangement - Wheel Impact Load Detectors. (Basically a hanging rod below the aircraft – near the staircase and right under the luggage area - to keep a manual/mechanical check on the overloading. Should the rod touch the ground while loading, you know you're already doomed! They're doomed! Or something really really bad.)
It's a small carrier. Loading of luggage and passengers boarding have to be watched very closely. Only one person can board the plane at a time.

Maybe most of us already know that. I didn't, till about an hour and a half back – April 22, 2010 (6:05 AM). It was so enlightening; I felt the need to share. There's so much around us, we know, there's always a lot of new things to learn about. Things like -

Propellers (ATRs, that is) are 2x2 sitting compared to horribly congested 3x3 domestic carriers (Economy Class, of course).
They're slower by more than 100% - take two hours plus to reach Bangalore (from Pune) compared to 55 mins otherwise.
The take-off of Propellers and its 'feel' are a different world altogether – it feels like you're sitting on the back seat of your own car (I was on A1) and it suddenly starts flying! (It's a weird new experience, unless you're already used to it.)

I know this is little too specific and too technical information to write for an article. Probably I'm influenced by this book I just started reading. (I buy books from airports/rail-stations as my part of Social Responsibility. It's my way of charity. :-s) DORK – The Incredible Adventures by Robin 'Einstein' Verges. It's a diary-turned-book. We all should write diaries. Or an offline/online Blog. Personal Blog. Or whatever Blog.

Nirav, Kaushal – I feel you should start writing (more frequently). Pappa, Meha, Khushboo, Audi – do continue writing and you can probably publicize things more.

Remember, if your life is worth thinking about, it is worth writing about. - Robin Sharma (Who Will Cry When You Die?)

And so will I keep writing.

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Vacation

Rahul Desai — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:12:00 GMT

It must have been due for a while. Especially for the things I’ve done (rather, things that happened to me) in last two weeks,

Completely unplanned holidays
Unexplored exotic beach(es)
Colored my hair red
Football – FIFA World Cup Live in Goa!
Busted bladder with Breezers
Explored amazing Music (Instrument) Stores, on foot
...followed by some Asian-style Foot Massage
Day long train journey (in a real Indian way) - Konkan route!
And then the fastest bus ride (like the ‘Fastest Indian’. MSRTC rocks)!
Finally visited Ravi's house (again unplanned, or in fact, accidental)
Long drive(s) – of a few hundred kilometers!
Socialized (to the core)
Caught up with cousins (1st, 2nd and more)
Interacted with my new relatives (No confusion - I'm talking about my just-born nephews and newly-wed cousins' spouces)
Danced (like a crazy) in the rain
Saw Maradona (meaning, Argentina) losing :( and Janak winning :)
Tones of movies (well, not literally)
Unlocked some more badges
Donated blood
Redesigned (re-defined?) my website
Completed some pending articles (including some unplanned ones)
INKED! Got tattooed. Just like that.

...I really feel I needed this break.

For a change, I don’t want to refer Wikipedia for the ideal and theoretical details. And in trying to explore my own meaning, I feel a vacation would be the time when we wouldn’t complain of not having time – for the family, friends, the self. A time to do things we wouldn’t/can’t do otherwise. (Like playing a saxophone!?)

A vacation would be an attempt to take time away from the routine, so that we can get back to the same routine, but with different (higher) energy-level. It should be fun enough that we can gladly forget the stress at the work place (and more so, at home); relaxing enough that we can actually offload the pains and recharge our spirits (literally with spirits, on times :D); and should be long enough that we feel the crave to get back to routine, the work and our comfort zone – something we all like the most, fundamentally – for better.

I couldn’t think of a better time-off for myself. Friends, Family, Fun… what else would I want? (Don’t even answer that! I know what you’re thinking. :D)

Rejuvenated. Guess I’m ready for the work – and the new role! :)

To The Himalayas - The Great Indian Quest For Peace (Part I of Many)

Rahul Desai — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 09:18:00 GMT

To Himalayas, via McDonald’s at Lonavala: Just like all my previous whacky trips, this too had to start on an odd note. For the flight at 6 AM from Bombay, I was still at work in Pune at 1 AM. With the grace of God (and pressure/torture from Nirav and Kaushal), we hit the highway by 1:40 AM, reaching Khapoli Highway Foodmall by 2:50 AM. Deadly ‘Tum Tum’ tea with some fries, pizza-puff and a few egg-do’s, we suddenly realized we only had an hour and a half and crouching Bombay-traffic before reaching the airport. Kaushal and Nirav were already sleeping on the rear seats; I didn’t have anyone I could confess to – that my situation was no better. We still made it to the airport by 4:30 AM. I’m good! So far, no pictures – we actually didn’t have any time for that.

Torture: As direct customer-facing representatives, what could possibly be the toughest ‘handling’ situation for the onboard staff? An irate customer crying for a seat-change (for a completely unreasonable reason); or a group of terrorists politely disclosing their ‘goodwill’ to hijack the plane? The onboard crew is trained to handle such situations. But how about a kid bursting into a ‘loud’ cry every time the airplane is in motion? Can you beat that – that kid had a problem with the airplane moving? (“It” probably belonged to the airport and NOT the airplane.)

With an hour and a half advance arrival at the airport, this was just turning into one of my most-well-executed travelling plans so far. I was the first to clear security check, almost first to board the plane… for WHAT? This ‘crying machine’? S/he just wouldn’t stop!! I had to catch some sleep. I had earned it.

Surprise: I was struggling for some good sleep, when I suddenly witnessed the greatest combination of colors. I realized it’ just not easy to capture the beauty of the dawn – especially when there’s a bright full moon right on the top! With the proud smile (for my photography skills) and a great sense of satisfaction, I gracefully fell asleep and also started dreaming – I was on a plane from Bombay to Delhi when the captain decided to emergency land in Jaipur (for some ‘confidential’ military reasons). (Dreams – they can get really filmy!) It’s less than two hours from Bombay to Delhi anyway. It’d be better to fly back, than emergency land in Jaipur. Jaipur just didn’t make any sense to my limited available-senses in the dream. And I suddenly felt a massive jerk!

The plane had actually landed in Jaipur – in reality – due to heavy fog in Delhi. (Air traffic issues in Delhi during winters are pretty similar to flood issues in Bombay every monsoon. They know the problem - somehow it’s not on their priority list to fix, as yet.) So we landed. In Jaipur. In reality. We weren’t the first to commit this crime – there were 13 others in queue awaiting a landing opportunity at Delhi airport. What followed was to be my surprise encounter with Jaipur – and what a time to be here – my mobile-free-computer-free-just-with-myself vacation! Not that they allowed us to walk out, the pink city looked equally pink even from inside the airplane. Felt like calling up my Jaipuri friend Vaibhav Goswami! (Which reminded me of the sad fact that I had lost my mobile just a couple of days ago. :-| )

Coming back to Jaipur, maybe it was the pleasant 14° C morning out there (Gulaabi thandi), I was feeling fresh and energetic. Positively. Unfortunately, the pleasure was ephemeral, for the captain consistently kept reminding of the fact that it was just not the fog; there was also some serious technical failure in Delhi. On any other day, it would have added to the fury. But I was enjoying the unanticipated sight out of my window! By the way, I realized one ‘good’ thing during this halt here – Pune’s Lohegaon airport isn’t the smallest one in India. We also have Jaipur!

Two hours, two A4 sheets, one sandwich, one tea and one coffee down, we were finally ready to take off again. I must thank my whatever-duration life in Bombay (and Pune, for this instance), I don’t get furious on traffic-jams and flight-delays any more. Say I’ve adopted the reality, or given up on any hopes of improvement. I just don’t get disturbed/panicked on such situations – which is the good part. (I still can’t tolerate irresponsible and rash driving. To me, rough driving and traffic jams should be mutually exclusive, and NOT symbiotic.)

Final call for take-off. 5 minutes before “ATC” gives clearance, I deserved one more coffee. I had ‘written’ (and not ‘typed’) a lot, in long time. (I’m still equally-good at cursive writing!) Pens down!

25 Things About Me (You May Not Know)

Rahul Desai — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:30:00 GMT

One of my closest friends - Tanya - once ‘tagged’ me in a note (on Facebook) unfolding some of her secrets. The idea was to write some equal number of random things about me as well, tag her with all the other people I wanted to read these 25 things about me. And so it finally comes to a shape today! (In this Facebook-age, the better suited title would be "25 Things On My Mind".)

Here’s my story (barely random and significantly long - I spent almost an hour to list them all):

I love reading. I read absolutely anything that comes handy. Of all, my favorite book is “Indian Muslims – Where Have They Gone Wrong?” by Dr Rafiq Zakaria. With all that in place, I feel my vocabulary is limited to a very small set of words.
I have full faith in Indian government, their initiatives and efforts. I know the future is even brighter.
I some times feel people (/Indians) not living in India should not be allowed to crib about issues in India. (If you can’t see the brighter side, be equally blind to the darker one.)
I wish India and Pakistan were never separated. I would’ve loved supporting a cricket team with opening batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and opening bowlers like Wasim Akram. (And Sania Mirza could marry Shoaib Malik with peace - without making any political news. Shashi Tharoor could also mind his own business.)
I hope Indians do equally great in other sports (than Cricket) in future; in Hockey to start with. We are better than China in many ways. Why not in Olympics then?
I love Banana milkshake. Any day, any time.
The cook at my parents’ place is just great. But I specially go home, just that I can wake up to the tea my Mom prepares.
Pune is the best city I’ve ever lived in. I just wish the citizens had better traffic (and civic) sense.
I don’t like pets – dog, cat, fish, birds, just any of them. They’re better off to their nature-defined habitat.
Believe it or not, I’m quite shy. And I don’t lie, as far as possible. With the spread of world wide web and people’s momentous presence online (Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, etc), I feel it's practically impossible to lie about anything. Nobody, but Rajinikanth, can hide from Google's Search Engine Spiders.
My family’s my life and my friends are my life-support. No wonder I’ve survived not-so-pleasant phases of my life, so effortlessly.
I’m quite selfish (and self-centered?) compared to my friends. I guess my friends know that too. They still love me!
I owe my financial and social independence to my teachers (/trainers) and my employer. (My parents are my teachers. My sister, is like my mother.)
I’m not a foodie. I can barely sense/differentiate tastes. I’m just not into junk-food and given a choice, I can live with all-boiled, no-spice food (satvik aahar) for the rest of my life.
Something’s terribly wrong with the way I speak/talk. Somehow, on first, most people feel I’m arrogant/have an attitude problem.
My likes of profession is pretty unrealistic. It's a mix of some random things I’m good at.
I love writing with fountain pens. (It’s one of many other things I try and copy from my Father.)
I am not superstitious. But there’s certainly some magic in the shooting stars.
I have an OCD for hygiene – especially that in toilets, kitchen and the dining area. I guess I also have an acrophobia.
I prefer: Facebook over Orkut, Tea over Coffee, Pune over Bombay/Bangalore/Surat.., Windows over Linux, Red Wine over White, Test-match over ODI/T20, Vada-pav over Burger, Scotch over Vodka/Rum/Beer, Animated over SciFi/Action flicks, House over Hip-hop music and Sambuca over Tequila.
I believe in Karma and the ‘Karmic Law’.
I hate cooking. I hate it more, when people expect me to cook.
It really surprises me that some people are still stuck to hard cash, and worse, they believe that plastic money/cheques are bad.
Internet (on Mobile phone) is the best invention ever. Swimming is the best exercise ever.
I do play Tabla and Harmonium. I’m formally trained in Indian Classical Music (vocal) and my personal favorites are Raag Kaafi and Bhairavi. I’ve turned to the western music now. Starting with Saxophone.
I sincerely feel people should wear helmet/seatbelt without any exceptions. We’ve lost some precious lives due to this ignorance in the past, and I hope everyone understands that her/his life is much more important than s/he thinks.
I can’t compromise with my ‘space’. I get quite upset (and annoyed) if the entropy of my house changes. I love my freedom at my new ‘home’. But I do feel quite lonely on times.
In my free time I like making random changes to my website. I’ll always be obliged to Pritesh (and Dharmesh-bhai) for this great gift!
I always over-do things, like I couldn’t limit it to ‘25’ (or '15' in Quick 15 Books...).

I’m a narcissist. I feel I possess a perfect human life, with no regrets for the mistakes in past. I’m blessed, in many ways.

But I really want more.

My 'Tweet' in Newspaper!

Rahul Desai — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:16:00 GMT

Wooppiee! My tweet got ‘published’ (as in ‘printed’) in today’s Times of India – Pune Mirror (Feb 2, 2010 – Page 31 Variety). Boy, am I excited to see my name up there! Probably my trip to Shirdi did some trick… (I just can’t stop blushing – as if I had won the Nobel prize for World Peace!!)

Always wondered what Twitter or Tweeting’s worth? Besides growing your business (with the help of some serious corporate-gyaan from Hubspot on utilizing Social Media and Inbound Marketing), you can actually get your name printed/published in a local newspaper!

I drove 600+ KMs during the weekend... mainly in and around Pune city. And I wonder why I hated driving to work this morning!
— Rahul Desai (@RahulDesai) February 1, 2010

I had stopped reading Pune Mirror ever since they dropped ‘I love Pune/ I hate Pune’ section. Now I realize I had been missing on some good stuff from good people. Thanks a lot Dev for bringing this to my notice. You made my day!

Understanding And Pursuing 'Clarity Of The Self'

Rahul Desai — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:16:00 GMT

History repeats itself. Earlier today, in the evening, I was sitting at home sipping the best coffee in the world (I made it); and it suddenly felt if I was getting back to my good old routine.

Well, talking of ‘repeating’, the only thing in common was the coffee in the evening and The Economic Times – Editorial page. But that too was good enough for me to plunge into the days in Bhopal. I can still remember how I finally grew the habit of reading The ET, thanks to Raghu (CEO, iBranch.in). The better, I am now at this new home (/house/flat/apartment) of mine with absolutely no looking back.

So I landed up at the spiritual column - ‘Cosmic Uplink’. Although the article could've been more interesting compared to regular ones, this one part of it made great sense to me:

“…the pursuit of atmasuddhi involves freedom from all aspects of one’s past and present, which have the effect of sullying his soul, reflected in unnatural developments or situations, obstacles, shallow relationships, fruitless transactions and such irritants, which most persons are heir to.”

Munch the rest of the article at this link.

Quick 15, Favorite 15

Rahul Desai — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:31:00 GMT

There was this note by my cousin - Khushboo on Facebook some time back about listing fifteen books (in really short span of time with some other wacky (whacky?) ‘rules’). One of the rules talked about listing ‘the first fifteen books I’ve read’. One, it was real hard remembering fifteen book titles, let alone having read them. Two, what's the point?

Anyway, so here’s the list of first fifteen book-titles I could recall. I’m afraid I haven’t completed reading them all, but that’s not mentioned as mandatory in the ‘rules’. So I’m good. Here’s the list. (Oh, here are the ‘rules’ for the convention sake.)

Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. List fifteen books you've read that will always stay with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in less than 15 minutes. Tag friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends choose. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your 15 picks, and tag people in the note - upper right hand side).

Bedtime Mailbox - Dr A Bakthavatsalam
Being Indian – Pavan K Varma
Buddha, His Life and Teachings - Osho
Business Lessons for Entrepreneurs - Mark D Csordos
Company of Women - Khushwant Singh
Death at My Doorsteps - Khushwant Singh
Dhirubhaism - A G Krishnamurthy
Five Point Someone - Chetan Bhagat
From Sex to Superconsciousness - Osho
Gandhi: A Sublime Failure - S. S. Gill
Ganghi, Gandhism and the Gandhians - Thomas Weber
India Unbound - Gurcharan Das
Indian Muslims – Where Have They Gone Wrong? - Dr Rafiq Zakaria
Notes to Myself – Hugh Prather
Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - Robin S. Sharma
Train to Pakistan – Khushwant Singh
Wings of Fire - Dr A P J Kalam

(Oops! That makes it eighteen. Chuck the rules!)

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Road To Healthy Life ‘09

Rahul Desai — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:57:00 GMT

Article title courtesy: Symantec Road to Cutting Edge ’09. The big difference being, when I write ‘Road’ I actually mean ‘Road’. Lately with my highly conscious efforts to get into some good shape (other than ‘round’ shape), I had to make some serious commitments. One of that happens to be my daily (evening) visit to Air Life Studio (the gym) around 7 PM.

I now know what they mean when they say ‘road to success is not easy’. My 3 km journey from my current residence to the gym is ‘that same road’ they’ve been talking about. While I can be home in less than 5 mins on my way back, reaching the gym during the evening peak-hours takes me at least 25-30 mins. ‘Deadlock’ jams at Parihar Chawk traffic signal (one of the most prominent, busiest, narrowest junctions of Aundh suburb) starts testing my patience and willpower. If waiting at the signal for ages and crawling at less than 10 kmph were not enough, the other day a bicycle-rider gladly slipped through small gaps, bumped onto the pedestrians’ path to ‘cycle-track’ and disappeared. While I was still stuck in the traffic at the same place and envying thinking how lucky he was, he passed back in the opposite lane – probably done with his work (out).

Pune. Poona. The cultural capital of the state of Maharashtra. IT-hub, Auto-hub, and what not. So where do we stand as citizens of such a significant city? Even after overnight facelift of the city (God bless Commonwealth Youth Games 2008 committee) the situation isn’t that different. With new wider roads, we have wider traffic jams. Honking seems to be a habit, and people seem to get some blissful pleasure in blowing horn even during a normally moving traffic. I was once reading this age-old article in Times of India and I’m afraid the situation is no better.

Stepping out to the city streets is a courageous task. And after all this struggle, you don’t just reach the gym - you practically achieve ‘Nirvana’ every day.

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Memories... 'Forever'.

Rahul Desai — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:55:00 GMT

It’s like I waited my whole life… for this one night…
It’s gon’ be me, you and the dance floor…

It’s so amazing how we unknowingly manage to find things that can bring smile to our faces. Take this random video I ended up with. What's more, they can actually make us write an article.

Okay, before you get impatient and click on the video link – here’s a brief history: Discovering this video was accidental and completely unintentional. I was actually browsing through Twitter Feed and realized Dharmesh-bhai had been tweeting from Twidroid during an American Idol meet (or something similar – and better). Restlessly finding a better alternative for TweetDeck, I thought I had finally found the solution. Not to my surprise, I found the application was no good for my computer use and instead found this youtube.com link on the top of their list. /* End of History */

And so I saw this video once. Saw it again. A couple of times more. I kept thinking what was it about this video that made me feel so good about and… Eureka! This entire video had great (and complete) relevance to Pritesh-Shilpi’s wedding and mainly Pritesh’s jaan (Sorry Shilpi, you missed it!).

I can clearly recall that winter evening in Surat (Gujarat) – Kirsten-bhabhi, Hilde, Dharmesh-bhai (can’t specifically remember him dancing though), Vipul-bhai, Eva-bhabhi, Chintan, Bina, Paul (American/Indian Dancing Idol), Bhavana, Shivani, Dharmang (the rising star), Krupa, Maya-aunty, Mahesh-uncle, Janak, Yogesh, Vaibhav.

For that matter, the eve of the wedding… and some out-rehearsed dance performances! Given a choice, I want to re-live those three days again. And again.

By now, I’ve seen this video at least sixty times (including at least ten times at work – ten being an understatement). It kept feeling like I had been trying to look for something inside that video… and then it struck my mind: I am actually eagerly looking forward to Yogesh and/or Vaibhav’s wedding. (I’m equally cool with Khushboo or Meha’s wedding as well).

I need to attend a wedding (Read jaan) ASAP.

Link to the video

Congratulations, Jill-Kevin!

Thank you Chris Brown for ‘Forever’!

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Cloud Computing - Taking Us Green

Rahul Desai — Sat, 30 May 2009 15:12:00 GMT

‘Go Green’ seems to be the Mantra of the moment. Not sure if it’s an outcome of the recession, every organization is talking about it – big time. I recently happened to attend one of Microsoft’s technology conferences - Tech.Ed 2009 (SHOW TIME!! :D), which had lots to say in this regard. (I'm curious on learning more about Symantec's role in this line. Anyway.)

And while I thought it was just big enterprises’ business, I recently came across a very nice ‘Special Report’ in The Economic Times, all about ‘going green’ using technology. While their purpose was to elaborate the potential of a concept called ‘cloud computing’ as an eco-friendly option reducing some direct expenditure for SMEs; my interest is to highlight the understanding of the three keywords:

SME
Cloud computing
And, Go Green.

Although the article talks all technical stuff, they’ve neatly explained the concept. Go ahead – it’s not so bad.

The dramatic economic meltdown over the past few months has proved to be a veritable tsunami for the Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs). However, the turn of events has induced the SMEs to revisit their existing business models that had helped them to survive and grow in the past.

In the process of achieving this objective, Information Technology (IT) has emerged as one of the most critical elements of growth. The era of ‘making-do’ with an accounting package, a payroll application, and a bunch of spreadsheets populated with unreliable and irrelevant data, from a management perspective, has now ended. In today’s scenario, real-time information based on transactional data being captured at an operational level across functions and locations, triggers and alerts from the management’s dashboard, and re-designed business processes and workflows that are enabled electronically are all becoming essential in order to survive and grow.

The IT budgets for SMEs have been increasing significantly over the past few years. However, large portions of these budgets have been earmarked to procure ‘tangible’ products like PCs, servers and networking hardware. SME offices and factories have undergone tremendous change from their previously traditional ‘paper-and-files’ formats to an upgraded ‘Monitor-Keyboard-Mouse’ environment. Furthermore, open offices have now transformed into an air-conditioned maze of cubicles.

Impact of IT usage on environment

India’s increasing expenditure on IT and its resulting influence on the environment needs no further emphasis. The software hubs in India have been experiencing firsthand, year-on-year increase in ambient temperature. The impact due to the increasingly unmanageable traffic caused by the commuting of IT/ ITeS workers is also extremely tangible, and needs no further elucidation.

However, what needs elaboration is the fact that the overall environment change we have witnessed of late is primarily due to the increase in IT usage by relatively few large business enterprises-primarily in urban areas. The potential carbon footprint of the coming wave of increasing IT usage by literally millions of SMEs across the country is definitely an environmentalist’s nightmare.

Cloud computing

The challenge lies in providing a solution that addresses the SME’s need for IT-based solutions at extremely affordable prices, while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact dramatically. Cloud computing is increasingly becoming accepted as the only way to address this dual challenge. Cloud computing is an offering that involves a ‘disruption’ in the way IT is delivered to customers and consumers. Cloud computing envisages huge data centers hosting software that end-users can access through the worldwide web in a safe and reliable manner. However, the SME would need to invest in providing simple, low-cost, low carbon footprint internet access devices (also called thin-clients, netbooks, etc.).

Affordable options for SMEs

Instead of incurring capital expenditure for procuring servers and software, and then incurring additional revenue expenditure for managing these on-premise installations, customers would now be required to pay only for accessing this software as a subscription on a pay-per-use basis. The offering would not only obviate the need for an SME to incur any capital expenditure, but also eliminate the need for recruiting, training, and retaining expensive IT professionals. This “sachetisation” of access to IT with the resultant ‘pay-per-use’ affordable pricing-is expected to enhance IT penetration in the SME segment positioned at the bottom-of-the-pyramid.

Environment-friendly for the SMEs

From an environmental perspective, the low-cost devices that the SME would need to procure would each need only 10 to 50 W of power as compared to 150W+ required for a typical PC. As these devices would have no moving parts and would not become obsolete in a couple of years, the resultant increased lifetime would mean phenomenal reductions in potential e-waste generation. In addition, as end-users could access their data from anywhere and at anytime, the amount of commuting and travelling that information workers are required to do could reduce dramatically.

Environment-friendly at the data centre

The preclusion of millions of power-hungry servers, and the resulting reduction in additional air-conditioners and UPS/Battery combinations will significantly reduce the impact on the environment. Significant R&D in server technology-blade servers, multi-core processors, developments in basic semi-conductor design that
reduce the need for heating and cooling-is also driving data centers to become more environment-friendly.

Cloud computing effectively addresses the needs of SME customers and enables them to manage their businesses more efficiently, and in an affordable manner. Not only does it offer SMEs the option of pay-per-use without upfront capital expenditure and high-cost IT professionals, but it also enables the SME to access the latest technology while ensuring that the carbon footprint generated is minimal.

Cloud computing is in – how about you?

The Divine Self Lives Within You

Rahul Desai — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:41:00 GMT

Done with all the books you have in your collection and wondered what to read?
Hate fiction, and need a break from philosophical/idealistic books?
Ever felt that urge of reading but not sure what to read?
(With my limited collection of books, this is the permanent challenge I face every now and then.)

Well, The Economic Times Editorial page is the place for you. Of all the articles, ‘Cosmic Uplink’ has always done wonders to me. Without dragging it further, here’s a short story I recently read in that column. The message of this short-story is much shorter than the story itself – however, it channels us to ‘the ultimate’. I liked it, I hope the same for you.

A seeker once went to a Master and asked to be initiated into enlightenment. The Master replied, “Tat tvam asi - you are That. The divine self lives within you. Meditate on that Self, merge in that Self, realise that Self.”

“Is that all?” said the disappointed seeker. “But I already know that. Please reveal to me the inner secrets, the real stuff!” The Master replied, “That is all I know. This is the entire caboodle. I have no other secret. But since you don’t seem to be satisfied, try the Master who lives down the road.”

The pupil hurried to the other guru and posed the same question. “I do not part with my teachings so easily,” replied the teacher. “You’ve got to earn them with sincere sadhana for 12 years.”

The seeker agreed at once and was assigned to clean the cowsheds as part of sadhana day after day. Thus the years went by, with the seeker dreaming of enlightenment as he shoveled cow-dung every day. Finally, the great day arrived and the seeker ran up to the Master who said, “Oh Son! How well you’ve served me. So here it is: Tat tvam asi; Know it, meditate on it; merge into it.”

“Is that all?” cried the enraged seeker. “But that’s exactly what the first guru said.” “Well,” the guru replied. “The truth hasn’t changed in 12 years!”

Time for introspection!?

Listening

Rahul Desai — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:20:00 GMT

Suhas and Hiral – one of my closest friends and one of his closest cousins, resp – recently brought this amazing game from one of their (common) closest cousins, a game called OSHO – Heart to Heart Tarot (A Unique Tool for Spiritual Quest).

The ‘tool’ had a big set of cards – big in size, like those real (stupid?) tarot cards. Every card had an amazing picture painted on it, with a word/virtue linked to it – things like wholeness, patience, deathlessness, and eighty odd such cards. The other thing was the book - the instruction book, which had detailed description about the attribute written on the card. Like any other simple ‘game’, one had to pick a card (spread upside down on a table, next to a magic crystal ball – just kidding) from the bunch and the ‘Reader’ would read out the significance from the Instruction book (or just speak out of mugged up knowledge). Simple as that!

The interesting part, it was a ‘game’ for all of us - the night Suhas and Hiral brought this ‘tool’ in, it was pretty late and I was half asleep. They still made me pick a card and it read ‘Listening’. Then someone read through the instruction book, and I was quite impressed by the excerpt, I had to tell Kaushal about it. Kaushal is an insanely crazy Osho-fan. He dropped by my place, I showed him the cards, he made me pick one and guess what? Of eighty odd cards, I happened to pick “Listening” again!

Considering these coincidences and the motive of the ‘tool’, I fondly started believing that it was a ‘message’ and I had to pay attention to that. Probably God wanted me to ‘listen’ to what He had to say about ‘Listening’. (Now that sounds/reads dramatic. I know!)

Whatever be the reason, I felt it made great sense –

Listening:

Listening is one of the basic secrets of entering into the temple of God. Listening means passivity. Listening means forgetting yourself completely – only then you can listen. When you listen attentively to somebody, you forget yourself. If you cannot forget yourself, you never listen. If you’re too self-conscious about yourself, you simply pretend that you are listening – you don’t listen. You may nod your head; you may sometimes say yes and no – but you are not listening.

When you listen, you become just a passage, a passivity, a receptivity, a womb: you become feminine. And to arrive, one has to become feminine. You cannot reach God as aggressive invaders, conquerors. You can reach God only… or it will be better: God can reach you only when you are receptive, a feminine receptivity. When you become yin, a receptivity, the door is open. And you wait.

And how true is that!

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Dilemma

Rahul Desai — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:52:00 GMT

Talking of Dilemma, a few things hit my mind:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilemma
http://www.howstuffworks.com/morality-located-in-brain1.htm
That monophonic Dilemma – Nelly ringtone on Afshaan’s mobile, back in early college days.

The context in this article is slightly (or completely?) different. It’s the dilemma whether to stay back in Baroda or go back home.

This must be a great deal; it motivated me to ‘write’ after a long time – more than five months. I’m on my way to Baroda (Vadodara) Railway Station from Chintan-Bina’s residence. On one hand, it’ll let me spend one extra day with my parents before I conclude my three weeks long vacation. On the other, I’ll get to spend one more fun-filled Uttarayan celebration in Baroda.

Overwhelmed by their hospitality, it made more sense to stay back. This isn’t the first time I got an opportunity to spend quality time with Chintan’s family, at their residence in Baroda. And it’s always gotten better. First opportunity to familiarize with Bina in her ‘Bahu’ avatar and let me testify – she rocks! Or should I give credit to Chintan’s parents? Or does Chintan run entire show? Whatever it is. I loved it. Touch wood! In all senses, a reason to stay.

Another reason, Uttarayan in Baroda! If you know about it, you know what I mean. If you don’t, you’ve been missing on something. Uttarayan in Baroda has a lot more to it than just kites! Really loud music (barely annoying on the given day), absolutely all citizens on their roof-tops or out on the roads, sky full of kites (despite not-so-great wind) and everyone screaming to her/his peak, assaulting their vocal chords. I had never seen this celebration-aspect of this festival before. (It’s not even a public holiday in Pune, for that matter.) With Bina-Chintan’s BIGG friend circle gathered in a not-so-BIGG terrace of an old tall building, it just couldn’t get better! The kite-flying continued even after the sunset. A never-ending bash of fireworks followed, which took over the kites covering entire sky with light and colors! A whole new experience.

All the good reasons to stay back, the choice was simple. I had already made up for all the missing fun with Bina-Chintan, in last fifteen days. It was time to share the joy with my parents. But, this certainly was the best Uttarayan ever. And it’s likely to remain so!

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How To Deal With Change?

Rahul Desai — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:00:00 GMT

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power." - Alan Cohen

“The key to change... is to let go of fear.”

‘Change’ as they say, is the only constant. It’s inevitable and it’s here to stay. So how do we go about living with changes (unpleasant, unwelcome in most cases)? I don’t have any magic mantra for that. My knowledge is limited to this webpage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change

However, one of my friends happened to find more. Here are some points from the email she forwarded. Thanks, Neha!

Most people appreciate change — as long as it's happening in someone else's life. We all admire those who face major challenges in their lives and grow from their experiences to become better and stronger people. How brave and exciting! What a terrific story! But when we face change in our own lives, we feel very different emotions: we feel doubt and fear, annoyance and anger, sadness and guilt.

The current economic downturn has forced many people to make major changes in their lives. Some have had to change jobs; many others have had to change their spending habits. But regardless of what the economy does, our lives change all the time, whether we like it or not. And if we want to be happy, we have to accept this reality with some degree of calm and courage.

Change is called for whenever we're required by circumstances — both internal and external — to step out of our comfort zone. That's when we have to let go of our old familiar ways and customary habits. Sometimes this challenge comes in dramatic forms as when, for example, we're struck by a natural disaster or a serious illness. Sometimes there's less drama but there can be just as much trauma if, for example, we change jobs or decide to go back to school or start up a personal business. Of course, regardless of the size of the challenge, some people decide not to take control of the situation and they stay victims for life. Others, however, call on their inner strengths and find a way to come through better equipped to handle life's next round of challenges.

Let's look at a few concepts that can help you deal with change.

You have what it takes. We all have the strength to meet our challenges. This is a birth gift that we all received. But the only way to find our strength is to accept the challenge and face down our fear of change.
Get inspiration from others, but know that you have to meet your challenge on your own. It's fine to look to others for tips or for inspiration. If they can do it, so can you! But trying to copy what others have done to resolve their challenges may end up draining you instead of empowering you.
Learn from your past. If you look back at your life, you'll see that you've faced plenty of challenges before. Now ask yourself some questions. What got me to change then? What skills did I use to deal with the challenge? How did I feel after I changed? What have I learned from that experience that I can use again?
You're going to have to let something go. In order to bring something new into your life, you will have to let go of something you've grown accustomed to. If you want to start your own business, you're going to have to give up the security of the paycheck you've been getting. If you want to get healthier, you're going to have to let go of the pleasure you get from eating whatever you want. No matter how much you may want to fight this truth, change means giving up one thing in order to get something else.
Take responsibility. The single most important element for a successful change is commitment. You have to accept that you can and will change, and that the choice to do so is up to you. You may not be able to control the outcome and you may have to make adjustments in your plans, but there is no one to blame if you don't make the effort yourself.

Makes sense?

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A Class Analogy: Ant And Grasshopper

Rahul Desai — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:03:00 GMT

An Old Story:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

The Indian Reality:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.
Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities.
Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.
The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance).
Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for 'Bengal Bandh' in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.
CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.
Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.
Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.
The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes,it's home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.
Arundhati Roy calls it 'A Triumph of Justice'. Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden'.
Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later...

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley.
100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India,

..AND

As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the grasshoppers,...

India is still a developing country...!!! :-(

Blog And Blogging - Explained In Plain English

Rahul Desai — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:12:00 GMT

Blogging these days is more of a style-statement than actually a habit, necessity or a need. While more and more people (including myself) are trying their hands, it's important we understand the fundamentals well.

Some humble soul aptly understood this need and has put this video on Blog, RSS Feed and the dynamics of Blogging.

Presenting, “Blogging - explained in plain English”

Let's 'Blackle'

Rahul Desai — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 10:54:00 GMT

What is Blackle?
It is the black version of Google.

Why Blackle?
A few months ago, TreeHugger Mark Ontkush wrote a post on his blog EcoIron titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year. The post lays out the following train of thought. "An all white web page uses about 74 watts to display, while an all black page uses only 59 watts." Google, which has a white background and gets about "200 million queries a day" could reduce global energy use by 750 Megawatt-hours a year by simply changing the color of its homepage to black.

How Blackle?
In response to this post a black version of Google emerged called Blackle.com. According to Blackle's homepage at publication time, 4,408.917 Watt hours have been saved by. Nice ideas. But how does the search measure up? Very well indeed. Give it a whirl yourself and start saving energy one search at a time. :: Blackle.com

Also check: http://www.bloogle1.com