Musings on India

Chew on this...

2007-10-17T21:54:00.000-07:00

If you get the CEOs of the top 500 companies in the world in one room then what you have in one small space is a representation of the best brains, skills, experience, etc, etc, that represents the corporate world. Objectively speaking, these CEOs would represent - knowledge, working the 'system', financial growth (also called as shareholder value a.k.a. as capitalism), HR skills, operational skills etc, etc. This collective group could be termed as the capitalistic brain trust of the world. Just the fact that these people are in this position means that they have mastered the game they play. As of now, no one is better than them.

Lets move over to the Indian parliament now.

It is exactly the same.

In the evolutionary game of politics, anyone who is in the parliament, is a master at the game. A complete master. There is no difference. If you think they are any less hard working or less intelligent than the top global CEO then you are mistaken. Quite badly. The game they have mastered is Indian politics and the rules of the game include - corruption, deceit, caste based politics...the usual things we associate our politicians with. THESE ARE THE RULES OF THE GAME THEY PLAY.

Australians dominate cricket because they have mastered the game. Their team is like a machine.

What is the point of all this?

If you want to see a change in your life then contribute in CHANGING THE RULES OF THE GAME ITSELF. India won 20/20 because Australians havent mastered the game yet. Corporate CEO's have been forced to have more ethical orientation because Sarbanes Oxeley act forced them to do it. Indian politicians WILL NEVER change unless the rules change. Instead of taking the most ruthless, the most brilliant masters of the Indian political game head on, simply change the rules. The masters know this and this is something they will always resist. Always. But the great wall of china was built by laying the first brick.

Can you think of any rules that can be changed? Simply?

I love my India

2007-09-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

Just came back from work and I am in a nice spiritual mood. Here's the story.

I was about 750 meters from my house and it took me about 45 minutes to cover that distance. The reason? The lights were not working during the rush hour and there was no traffic police monitoring the light. I dialed the emergency number (100) to ask for some police help to sort out the traffic but surprises of surprises....no one picked up the phone. I was confused so I checked the number I dialed. It was correct. I dialed again. No response again. Hmmmm. And thats when I got the spiritual insight. If after all this insanity, you and I are still alive then god does exist. We Indians are blessed. Each and every one of us.

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My friend's father got admitted in the ICU at the Max Hospital for heart problems. Here's this story.

My friend's father was a bit thoughtful about his heart so he went for a regular check up to Max Hospital. The doctors mentioned that he might have had a minor heart attack about 4 days back so they admitted him in the ICU and have been conducting some tests on him. I was telling some other friend about this and he mentioned that its a game private hospitals play now in India. His relative had a similar problem and he went to Max Hospital. The doctors later operated on him and put in a stent. Cost = INR3Lacs. Three months later the stent got dislodged (or something like that). They went back to Max. Another operation. Cost = INR 3Lacs. Hmmmm. This is not the first time I have come across something like this about private hospitals. So the choice seems to be between government hospitals where you have to probably wait 3 months to get a date for an operation and private hospitals where you might be getting operated on without there being any major issues.

Are you aware of any such issues with private hospitals?

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Back to the 750 meters in 45 minutes story. Imagine a situation where someone you love calls up the police because there might be a lunatic trying to break in and enter the house. Ring...ring...ring...no f##ing response. She tries again. No bloody response again. The lunatic has entered the house in the meantime. She finally gets through and the police registers the complaint and a police team leaves the police station to save the situation. 750 meters in 45 minutes!!!!

Have you ever wondered what YOU can do to help such situations? Have you ever spent more than a minute to think what the permanent solutions could be for issues such as this? Do you value anyone's life? Do you value your own life?

Cyclists...

2007-09-06T00:41:00.000-07:00

If you have ever driven on the roads of India then you might be aware of our lovely cyclists. They can perform "sudden emergence" tricks that could put the best magicians to shame. And their sudden, almost spasmodic turns can raise your blood pressure to almost 400. Recently I got an opportunity to look at the world from the other side.

I sprained my foot while running so the doctor advised me to "respect" my body and to stop running for a few days. Bloody hell! I was really surprised at that language. I looked up to see if the guy was looking at me in a condescending way. He was not much to my relief. :-) So for someone like me who needs a mild "sweat" fix on a regular basis (No sexual overtones here. I am saving myself for Jessica Alba or Deepika Padukone), I found cycling to be something outdoorish and a fun thing to do. So I borrowed a friend's cycle which I must say is not meant to be driven on the ruba daba dub dub ooh aah ouch roads of Delhi. The day after my first ride, my hind was hurting so bad that I am sure people must have mocked my funny walk. I am better now thank you.

My first ride itself made me realize that getting on a cycle is something like wearing Harry Potter's cloak of invisibility. You become invisible to any mechanized vehicle. Completely. So while you are constantly pushed to the side of the road by equally spasmodic drivers, the berm/side of the road is completely ruba daba dub dub ooh aah ouch . The thrill and adventure never ends till you put your bike in the garage, kiss the ground and thank the lord that you are still alive.

The red lights are the trickiest. There is no real place where I can be on the bike and wait for the light to turn green. Most of us cyclists are squished and we huddle together in our invisibility. The worst is when the light turns green. Just thinking about this is making me anxious. Cars, trucks, scooters, bikes...rush to quickly reach F1 speeds while taking spasmodic turns.

The best thing I like about cycling? There are no red lights for cyclists. We can never be given a traffic violation ticket. Ever. No registration number, no license, no pollution certificate, no insurance...f#*k you Mr. Policeman!!! Love it.

Australian backlash

2007-07-25T21:43:00.001-07:00

I received this picture from a friend of mine in Australia. This could very well have been made for India. But maybe there would have been two differences. First, the emblem on the left would have been Indian and second, the condom would have been fully defective with about a million holes! I wanted to specify the number of holes as 545 since that is the number of parliamentarians we have but then then I thought that they are not holes, they are a#%holes. :-)

Bollywood Police

2007-07-19T02:23:00.000-07:00

All of us must have observed that in Bollywood films the police comes exactly 10 seconds (that too in that strange blue 1950s jeep) after the hero has beaten all 100 villains into pulp and when the lovely damsel is giving loving (oh my hero) looks to the mildly hurt hero. The police is always bloody late. Have you ever wondered WHY??? I have found out the answer to that mystery. Just remember...you read it here first.

Its because the police was stuck in the traffic jam in the road outside and the traffic refused to give way!!!! The cars in front kept hearing the police behind them but the roads were so clogged that there was no way anyone could have let the police car go. So there you have it. Thats the reason why the police is always late and given the way traffic is in India, it will never be on time. I find this thing so sad that it's almost funny. Imagine this - someone you love is in grave danger and the police is just 10 seconds late.

What is the root cause? Poor infrastructure planning and no standards for infrastructure development. My friend AKD will again bring up our lovely politicians and I will agree with him wholeheartedly.

I want to puke

2007-07-12T03:41:00.001-07:00

I have been feeling like I am going to throw up any time. I have been wondering about the cause and thought that maybe I am pregnant. But given the fact that I am a male and with a single minded focus on saving myself for my wife :-) I ruled out this reason. Then I thought that maybe the reason could be a bad stomach. Hmmm. I dont think Kareem's food would do that to me. Then I finally figured out the reason after reading the morning newspaper. For the last one week the government of Delhi has been making life difficult for BlueLine bus operators. The "crackdown", as the newspapers call it has been making life even more difficult for commuters. I know this might increase the demand for the 1Lac car and I hate it but...anyways let me get back to my reason. You know I must do something about my need to digress. :-)

The government of Delhi has one again decided to deal with the symptom rather than the disease and we as citizens of India sit on the sidelines (yet again) and go on with our lives. The cause of deaths is poor infrastructure, no focus on the license issue process and poor judicial system. Its the same bloody story each time. Some people get crushed under BlueLines/Redlines and there is all this hoohaa created but not even once has anyone focused on the real issues. Aaahhh this churning in my stomach!!! :-)

Me...Me...Me...Me

2007-06-27T23:58:00.000-07:00

Yes thats all I care about when it comes to voting. I want to be empowered and I want to feel empowered. It doesnt matter whether I choose to use the tools available or not but I want to feel empowered. Please me. Indulge me. :-) What in the bloody world am I talking about????

This is on the same lines as my previous post wishlist which talks about how my expectations have changed as a voter. Here's something I have been thinking about. It might be a bit crazy but have you seen the state of affairs in our country?? There are places where incremental changes are good. And then there are places like India. :-)

I have been thinking of governance mashups. Its something like a mix of continually expanding searchable data which has participation from you and me (through RTI, internet, mobile phones...), government departments, private sector etc. Something that takes the idea of Outside.in 5 steps ahead.

For example:
- I would love to learn what government department has the most corruption cases pending and since when. Are there common themes that come up or common officers or common companies?
- I would love to learn which locations in India have had the most number of road accidents, what the causes were (was it faulty road design or traffic signal or drunk driving). This data can be mixed with the data available with insurance companies and the FIR data that is lodged. The same can be done with rail accidents.
- I would love to learn about the track record of police stations in terms of registering FIRs, women related cases, ratio of police/residents managed....

I dont know if it makes any sense but to me the possibilities of such data being useful seem endless. The government of India spents a particular percentage of each government department on IT. Do you think it might be worthwhile to get access to such information? Would you feel a bit empowered? Maybe I just want to hear a yes. Please say yes. :-) Just kidding.

Election time - wishlist

2007-06-24T20:49:00.001-07:00

Ya I know not yet but I was just thinking that unless our expectations change from the elections, its again going to be the same stupid, mind-numbing affair. I for one would like to see some changes this time. Changes like:

- I would like the election commission work with the media companies to make available all information about all candidates through multiple media. And not just make the information available but ensure that people use that information to vote. For example, a poor 70 year old lady who cannot speak english should be able to call up a number to find out about the candidate she is thinking of voting for. For someone like me, regular media (internet, television, print, radio) is fine. But ALL media should be used.

- I would like information to be made available which tracks metrics like - criminal cases, financial statements, tax returns, key achievements, amount of allocated funding used, linkages with people of criminal background, number of corruption cases pending in the candidate's constituency....information that allows me to learn how effective this candidate will be. This information is important for me. Please make it available to empower me. Its been 60 years. By now the govt. should know something about how to empower me as a voter.

- I would like to objectively compare one candidate against other. For all qualitative and quantitative parts. Just a 10 by 10 matrix.

This is part of my election wishlist. Dream on you would say but here is the thing...if one keeps doing the same thing, then its dumb and stupid to expect different results. My expectations have changed and I need some change.

Inspite of Gods..

2007-06-21T02:40:00.001-07:00

I have just started reading this book by Edward Luce called - In Spite of the Gods. Limited budget forced me to choose between three books. This one, then there was this book by Mark Tully (ex-BBC) and the latest book by Arun Shourie. Edward Luce's book seemed more entertaining so I bought it. It was the most expensive as well btw. I have just finished reading the introduction and have been happy with this purchase that I made. The guy seems good and he is funny. I am a slow reader so I will probably keep posting some things from this book over a period of time. Some amusing things from the introduction:

- "As the joke goes, 'In India you dont cast your vote, you vote your caste.'

- "And yet, much like in Italy, where, so the joke goes, 'the economy grows at night, while the government is sleeping,'

- There is this thing about our republic day parade. I quote - "'And this', proclaimed a soupy voice over the Tannoy system, in a tone more suitable for a beauty pageant, 'is the Agni II class nuclear-capable missile which has a range of upto 1500 kms'".

I actually never really thought about how the show of arms and the related pageantry might seem to others...objectively speaking. Just a passing thought - do we really need a republic day parade? I re-learnt through this book on why this day was chosen to celebrate and not any other day in the calendar year.

Quite amusing actually. Must talk to the author to give me referral fees for the sales I generate for him. :-)

US Presidential Nominee Obama....

2007-06-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

...apologised because he might have hurt the sentiments of the Indian American community. Hmmmm. I find that funny.

400,000 people die in road accidents in India and I dont see anyone apologising. Modi is the new face of Hitler and probably has negatively effected the mindset of millions of muslim and hindu kids and yet I dont hear any apologies. Petty politicians make a mockery of India's Presidential election and I dont think anyone is apologising. We live in urban slums where life can only get worse and I dont see anyone apologising...

You know what?? I for one dont need any apologies and F#$@ my sensibilities. :-) I only get those when I cross India's geographic boundaries in any case. I just need honesty and to see incremental progress from our politicians. I need to see them take steps in the right direction.

Jugaad infrastructure

2007-06-19T03:25:00.001-07:00

Thats the kind of infrastructure we have in India - totally jugaadu. Traffic is increasing - ok lets put up a red light. People speed on the roads - lets put a speed breaker here. Budget got sanctioned for a 3 lane road but a temple blocks two lanes - lets build a 3 lane road till the temple and let it be a one lane beyond the temple....Ju-bloody-gaad...jugaad. Our infrastructure epitomizes our jugaadu mentality. :-)

In this day and age when it has be been proven worldwide that we need standards then why dont we have world class standards for infrastructure in India? No reason not too. www.iifcl.org is a waste if we dont have world class, uniformly laid out standards. Budgeting, planning and investing on infrastructure is a waste if we dont have world class standards.

How can we even compare ourselves to China? We are leagues behind them them in terms of infrastructure. Leagues is probably an understatement. F#@$ the bloody comparisons. Who is stopping us to not have standards? I just dont get it. Is it you and I who are so used to jugaad that we cant do without it now?

Bill Gate's Remarks At Harvard

2007-06-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Brilliant. I hope you would take out 5-7 minutes to read this.
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Remarks of Bill Gates
Harvard Commencement

President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates:

I’ve been waiting more than 30 years to say this: “Dad, I always told you I’d come back and get my degree.”

I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor. I’ll be changing my job next year … and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.

I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, I’m just happy that the Crimson has called me “Harvard’s most successful dropout.” I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class … I did the best of everyone who failed.

But I also want to be recognized as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school. I’m a bad influence. That’s why I was invited to speak at your graduation. If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today.

To read the full speach go to -
Harvard Commencement Speach by Bill Gates

Dead and dying

2007-06-07T20:56:00.000-07:00

The Indian middle class. I am part of it. This group is stated to have so much intelligence and so much power that it can and probably will shape the future of the world. Wow!!!! Its so bloody sad its funny.

We, who live in cities that are no more than urban slums and fantasize about NYC, Singapore, Beijing. We, who look the other way, every time, every bloody time, we see or hear something negative happening. We, who are so caught up in our own life that we have forgotten what it means to be part of a community. We, who refuse to accept our own responsibility in making our own lives better. We, who dont realize what example we are setting for our future generation. WE WILL SHAPE THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD???? REALLY???

Move on your highness. This post does not concern you. You have a life to make and a life to live.

What if?

2007-06-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

What if you realised that your little niece's role model turned out to be a murderer? What if you realized that the school your nephew/kid goes to is run by someone who follows the "catch 'em young" motto? What if you realized your local MLA is using YOUR money to buy a new car? What if you realized that the policeman who you thought would protect you from that goon is actually in the goon's pay? What would you do? I know, I know, dont tell me...you will pray for Shaktiman to help you. No?

Getting softer

2007-06-07T20:19:00.003-07:00

I am carrying out a little experiment nowadays to figure out my tolerance towards natural elements such as heat, rain and cold. I have realized that I love it when it rains (humming suddenly), I enjoy winters but detest heat. DE bloody TEST. My own personal use of airconditioning in the car or at home or at office has increased over the years and now I think I spend more time in A/C than out. If I didnt love sweating while running so much I think I would want to have an A/C athletic bodysuit. BTW I hope this is not giving the impression that I am fit. Far from it.

Ok back to the post. So what I thought one day was that you know the heat in India has not increased or decreased, give or take a few notches. India has ALWAYS been hot. Also, I remembered that the number of power cuts used to be much more frequent and much longer. Moreover, I dont remember the widespread use of A/Cs when I was younger. So if the heat hasnt changed then its probably ME who has become softer. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I got about my "softness".

So then the experiment started. I dont switch on the A/C in the car unless I have to go meet someone important. I switch the A/C on for about an hour before I sleep and then switch it off and switch the fan on. My observation - its still bloody hot!!! But...but I am used to less A/C now. I am managing without it as much.

Whats the point of all this? Well its not about proving my "hardness". Well...maybe a little bit but only to myself. But its more about making a lifestyle choice that effects the environment. Just because we Indians can afford A/cs doesnt mean that increased power usage doesnt effect the environment. It does. Just because we can afford a car doesnt mean that our cars create less pollution than a car in the US. They create pollution.

I think this is the least I can do for the environment while lowering my own electricity/fuel bills. :-) I would like to leave things in a better state than I found them in (my room is not part of this statement).

Confession Series - 2

2007-06-04T03:11:00.001-07:00

Cultural imperialism. Whenever I read Compulsive Confessor this is the term that comes to my mind. I have to admit that this blog is probably meant for the fairer sex but I read it. And I enjoy it. :-) Its funny, its honest, its gross some times but its fun. Its a classic case of someone Indian who is totally influenced by the western media but is an Indian at heart with Indian value systems and now is a hotch potch confused mixed product of cultural imperialism. I think I am talking about myself here.

Competition

2007-06-04T02:55:00.002-07:00

Havent the times changed? Imagine this happening pre-liberalization? When companies compete - customers win. Government must get out of business and let the private sector do what it does best. Compete.

Here's a great example of Kingfisher, Jet and Go Air fighting it out. Guess who is going to be the final winner? You and I my friend, you and I.

some blogs I read

2007-06-04T02:41:00.000-07:00

these are in random order. i like them for different reasons. but all of them represent or talk about india in one way or another. read them when you get some time.

Apun Ka Desh - He might be my long lost brother :-), Compulsive Confessor, Great Bong, SilkBoard, Great Bong,

Dangerous Mindset

2007-05-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

You know we keep talking about the perils of the short-term, quartely financials orientation of corporates. One thing more dangerous than this mindset is the short-term election orientated mindset of our politicians. This leads to only short-term planning and budgeting. I am not talking about the planning commission here but about our city politicians. People who effect our life on a day to day basis.

"Elections are in 2 years. What is the use of sanctionining a flyover which will take 3 years to construct but will solve the issue better? I will sanction a smaller flyover which takes a year to complete. Faster solution, money for all people involved...lovely!!!"

How do you change this mindset? And what happens when the corporate world sleeps with such politicians? Luckily there are solutions. There are always solutions. Have you ever thought about them? Do you think you play a role in those solutions or do you think its Shaktiman time?

Boils down to you and I

2007-05-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

Lets consider a hypothetical situation (hardly) of a potholed road in front of your house. It is the responsibility of the Municipal body to ensure that not only are roads designed keeping in mind the needs of the city 50-100 years from now but to also keep the roads functional. So you assume that the municipal body will repair the road...one of these days. Well true to its nature, the municipal body doesnt repair the road, instead the local telecom company digs the pavement the 15th time in 2 years to...to...do something. You wait for your "one of these days" days. Your local area municipal councilor (wrong spelling again I am sure) and your local MLA sit playing the twiddle my thumb game. They look the other way. I am sure you curse them every day and say that "they are bribe taking blood sucking non-patriotic leaches"but you keep waiting for your special "one of these days" or maybe superman or shaktiman to come and do what you can do yourself. What can you do you might ask. Have you thought about it...ever...about what you can do?

Need for Standards

2007-05-14T21:26:00.001-07:00

One of my biggest grouse is bad infrastructure in India. A bigger grouse I have is that there is no vision for developing world class infrastructure either.

Here are some observations regarding this topic:
- The supreme court is involved in telling what Delhi govt should or cannot do in terms of planning.
- There is a citizens body in bangalore, chennai and mumbai discussing what the infrastructure should be like.
- We use pathetic infrastructure (roads, power...) day in and day out.
- We bitch about pathetic infrastructure day in and day out.
- We give suggestions about what our city, our gali and nukkad can do to make infrastructure better.
- We think about plans on anticipating infrastructure needs and what can be done to fulfill these needs.
.....the list is endless.

Well here is the thing. Unless we establish standards and constantly UPGRADE(not downgrade) those standards for infrastructure, we can bitch and whine as much as we want to but things wont get any better. It is difficult to argue when we know that all highways have to have 4 lanes for each side. Or 50 parking space for each X square feet of retail space and so on. And these standards have to be universally available and applicable. Not that bangalore follows its own standards and Meerut its own.

Its stupid not to have standards. Its totally dumb not to have standards that are not updated and upgraded regularly. What in the world does the Ministry of Urban Development do if it does not set these standards? How can the Planning commission allocate funds to infrastructure without taking into considerations such standards? How can we as people not see that we need standards and pressurize our local MLA/MP?

To Sell Or Not to Sell

2007-05-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

I am not sure what strategy the Indian government is adopting to finance infrastructure and the role private sector would play but here are two nice articles on the topic in case you are interested. Slightly longish but quite interesting.

Business Week Article on Private Sector in Infrastructure

Business Week Article on the Perils of Private Sector in Infrastructure. The comments on the blog are quite interesting. There is one point which says that if I pay taxes which pay for building roads, then why do I need to pay toll at toll booths? Hmmmm. Never thought of it like that.

Indian Politicians Win Nobel Prize for Medicine

2007-04-29T01:36:00.000-07:00

And you thought they were monkeys!! Come on.

The method discovered by our wonderful policians offers a completely new approach to prevent unwanted pregnancies and it is known as by far the best cure and the best preventive method to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS. Their tool/method/process involves a heavy dose of "INDIAN SENSIBILITIES".

Indian sensibilities are a million times better than pills and a zillion times better than condoms. Just instilling Indian sensibilities creates a situation where kids in school stop experimenting with their natural sexual curiosities and desires and their bodies develop these supernatural abilities to not get HIV & AIDS. STDs are gone. They are history now.

Take sex education out of school curriculum and add 3 courses on Indian sensibilities. Wow. I am just so amazed with these guys. They not only deserve this prize but I would personally like to present them with a one way ticket to Pluto.

9Lac New Jobs - Scary Truth

2007-04-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

I was reading this business magazine which was giving the "India Shining" spin to the number of jobs being created. The magazine was jubiliant that India would be adding 9Lac (900,000) new jobs this year. I think its great that the number of jobs is increasing. But my point is - JUST 900,000 JOBS!!!????

We all are consumers of statistics but a lot of times we consume stats without putting them into context. Lets try and put this particular statistic into context...very broadly. The assumptions are very broad and maybe based on info that might be completely dated. Still. Here goes..

There is a child born every 1.5 seconds in India (read it somewhere). If you have a calculator around then you might get a figure close to 20Mn (!!! is that right?). If that is the figure you get then 9Lacs is nowhere close to the number of jobs we require. Add to this the currently unemployed. The situation keeps getting worse. Also, if 20Mn people are added each year then how does that corelate with the number of schools and universities opening. Hospitals. Maternal care.

So maybe next time we get stats from the government stating that they have increased the number of hospital beds in India by 25%, we could think about the absolute numbers and the quality of operations. No?

I think we need to start questioning some (maybe most) of the statistics we are fed by the govt. spin doctors.

New Diet Fad in Europe

2007-04-26T02:32:00.000-07:00

It must be some diet I am assuming. Have a look at What are these politicians eating?

We must send our RAW and CBI to figure out what these politicians are eating and why? Why are their motives different from what motivates our lovely politicians? Who gives them the right to make us Indians feel that we are electing monkeys? Lets attack Belgium and Georgia for making us feel bad.

Confession Series - 1

2007-04-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

No I am not talking about the naughty film series which by todays standards seem like religious films.

You know I have been reading Compulsive Confessor and somehow I can relate quite a lot to it. No I havent discovered any feminine side after reading the blog. What the blog represents to me is my own confused state of mind about what it means when I say that I am an Indian. What the hell is it? Being Indian and all.

Its like a collission in my mental universe and I am not too sure what to make of it. The collision is between things which I have been told are typically Indian such as traditions(?), spirituality (?), value systems (ok i get that a bit), social structure (?) AND things that are considered western/developed/modern such as nuclear families, sexuality, partying hard, female sexuality, gender equality...you know what I am talking about?

On one hand I see my thinking getting aligned with the characters I see on television and on the other I dont think I have ever known the roots/things that make me Indian. There are times when I have taken a moral high ground and made broad sweeping statements like - yes we Indians are like this, we Indians are like that. But to be honest, I dont know what being an Indian means.

Maybe, just maybe, I am thinking the key is spirituality. Its not about being Joey or being Suresh (random name). Its about me knowing my own space in the universe. My own connection with my higher power. I dont know about you but I have just read about Indian spiriuality in books and can talk about it like a parrot if needed. Maybe its about spirituality. Hmmmmm. Food for thought. Getting too profound for myself. :-)

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Ok a small question for you. Is Globalization = Americanization?

Am I paranoid?

2007-04-24T01:39:00.000-07:00

A vibrant exchange of knowledge/information is the heart of a market economy. India is heading towards a free market economy. But what if someone with a dubious background controls a major conduit of this knowledge/information? I have been following Anil Ambani's investments in the media sector. Reliance Capital is a significant shareholder in a lot of leading media companies like TV18 (CNBC), TV Today (Headlines Today) etc. I dont think its a good sign. These could be just financial investments but I have a feeling they are not. Well ya maybe I am just paranoid but why dont you think more about it in the meantime?

I need some help Barkha

2007-04-24T01:17:00.000-07:00

Do you think this mail is something that might interest someone like Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai or Vir Sanghvi? Because I am a fan of her's I am going to address the mail to Barkha. So here goes:

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Dear Barkha (I like it already),

Read your last week's article in the Hindustan Times about journalism, media sensationalization and how the media actually has the power to transform India. I could feel your sense of shame (ya I am trying to make a connection with her. You got any problems with that? :-))

Personally speaking I loved the way Jessica Lal's murder case was positively effected by media's intervention. The case was sensationalized as well but it was amazing to see how the media helped align the interest of people like me with that of the executive and judicial system in India. Excellent job.

Well I have another lead for you. This involves around 400,000 Jessica Lals a year.

You might have read that the biggest killer in India is not AIDS but road accidents. About 400,000 people die every year. I believe thats more than the population of some of the bigger cities in the world. Big number. No? You probably drive in India (get a driver Barkha. You already must be so stressed. ;-)). You must have seen how the infrastructure in India is so poorly developed. It is pathetic. You must already know the idiotic process of giving driving licenses in India. So how many people should die before journalists like you realise that the government is killing its own people through this disgustingly planned infrastructure?

Also, a second case that could be linked to this could be the following. You and I pay taxes (I knew we had something in common). Our money is used to develop poorly planned infrastructure. And our money would be used to upgrade the same infrastructure. I think our money is actually going down the drain. If the government plans properly then you and I would probably get more bang out of our buck.

Basically, its my money that is killing 400,000 people a year. I am not too happy with that somehow. I hope you would be able to do something about this. I know that this might involve more than 3-4 days of sustained efforts to sensationalize so I dont know if NDTV would be able to sustain it. But I thought I'd bring it to your notice in any case.

Ok take care. I have many more thoughts I want to share. Lets catch up on coffee sometime. ;-) (one has to keep trying).

--------------

Killer Identified

2007-04-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

Its official. Road accidents kill more people than AIDs and Cancer in India. Dont know what newspaper I read this in but I think we all knew it already. So how many more deaths till our roads gets planned properly and licenses are given to only those capable of driving?

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BTW: Did you get the time to think about what is the one thing you would want to change which helps improve India? I am still working on mine.

For once lets forget our egos...

2007-04-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

....and be copycats. Lets copy all the knowledge that is already available in the world , developed and developing, modify it to suit our own needs, label it "Made in India" and make it available to anyone and everyone in India. Lets not re-invent the wheel. Lets buy the bloody wheel. What in the world am I rambling about? Infrastructure planning.

You know lets not tax our own brains on figuring out what planning is, how a bridge needs to be built, how many lanes a highway should have, how many car parkings in a market area...stuff like that. Lets just imitate the "west". Lets be cunning and conniving and pick and choose the best policies that other countries idiotically spent so much on to understand and develop. Its easy. We Indians have always been masters of copying. So why are we choosing not to copy others in terms of infrastructure planning and development?

Now this is metrics based performance!!!

2007-04-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

Wonder what the guy eats? Maybe we should feed the same to our politicians. Read Performance Based Governance

Story of an accident

2007-04-17T00:38:00.000-07:00

This is a piece of fiction but some of you might get this feeling that this is not fiction. Get a life!!! This does not happen anywhere in India. Its pure fiction. If this was happening, would someone not have done anything by now? Would you not have taken any action by now? Fiction...I tell you. Pure fiction. The story:
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Ramesh is a young, dynamic professional. In his late 20s or maybe early 30s. He is driving home from office listening to his favorite radio station. Suddenly this qualis (you can replace the qualis with an Indica or a truck or any vehicle that makes sense to you) comes from the wrong side and forces Ramesh to swerve. Before Ramesh can get back in control he smashes into the divider. Fortunately, no other vehicle on the road gets into an accident with Ramesh's car. The qualis driver, our lovely Mr. Yadav stops (!!!??? - told you its fiction) 100 meters ahead to come and see what has happened. Ramesh's car smashed into the divider and a sharp piece of the door is jagged in his right thigh. His head hit against the steering wheel and bounced back and hit the glass in his window. He is lying unconcious...bleeding.

A week later:
- Ramesh was lucky that one of his main veins in his leg was not cut. He is lucky that he just lost some movement in his right leg. 6-8 months of physiotherapy would ensure that he just walks with a minor limp for his entire life. He can resume running but tennis might be out of the question. He had to get 12 stiches on his eyebrow and he kind of looks cool with a white bandage across his face. A strange version of a pirate. Pirate with a white bandage. He got 4 stiches in the head. He considers himself extremely lucky to be alive.

- As for our lovely Mr. Yadav. Ramesh's friend complaint to Yadav's employer and Yadav lost his job. The police couldnt register a case since Yadav was a gentleman and stopped and he didnt hit Ramesh's car in any case. But the good news is that Yadav has got a job as a driver with a BPO company. This time, its an Innova.

-------
Whats the point of the story? Seriously?

- Did the training school where Yadav learnt how to drive tell him not to drive like this? You might ask - what training school? I have no answer to that.

- Did the license issuing authority ensure that they are not giving a license to a monkey? Ya I am totally joking here. We all know how one gets a license in India. :-)

- Did the police punch Yadav's license and check his previous driving history? Yes I am a bit delirious now. Its the heat I think.

- Did Yadav's employer check his driving record before giving him a job? Water...water...I need water. I think its dehydration.
-------

What is the point of increasing the traffic fines when the basics are not in place? What is so wrong with the idea of charging the transport minister and the licensing authority with attempt to murder here?

2K years of history V/s Globalization

2007-04-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

I have always thought (maybe assumed) that I am a strange mix of a typical Indian male (if there is any breed like that) and a, well for the lack of a better term..a non typical Indian male. One part of me is fine with my female friends partying hard and drinking harder and the other part is confused about Indian women who find it as easy to sleep around as males. The other day we (group of friends) were discussing about the changes that seem to be catching our society a bit off guard. Changes like increased number of divorces, one night stands, late marriages etc. etc. A friend mentioned a point which seemed very valid that we men have remained the same. We still want the basic things in life (you know what I am talking about :-)) whereas its the women who seem to have changed. Its like a war between two mindsets. First mindset - 2000 years of history telling us how Indian men and women are "supposed to be". Second mindset - globalization demanding us to consider everyone as equals.

So its like Padmalya Telefilms and its K serials against HBO (and others) and their Sex and the City and Friends. Saas bahu and pati against Samantha and Joey(right spelling?). I wonder what this tug of war implies for India.

======

BTW: What tempted me to write this blog? Read The Compulsive Confessor sometime.

Super Job!!!!

2007-04-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

No work. Great pay. Cant every get arrested for any crime. Super perks. Yes I am talking about a Member of Parliament (MP) here.

BTW I was forwarded this email (copied below). Any idea if this is true?

===============(MAIL)================

Salary & Govt. Concessions for a Member of Parliament (MP)

Monthly Salary : 12,000
Expense for Constitution per month : 10,000
Office expenditure per month : 14,000
Traveling concession (Rs. 8 per km) : 48,000 ( eg.For a visit
from kerala to Delhi &
return: 6000 km)
Daily DA TA during parliament meets : 500
Charge for 1 class (A/C) in train : Free (For any number of times)
(All over India )
Charge for Business Class in flights : Free for 40 trips / year (With
wife or P.A.)
Rent for MP hostel at Delhi : Free
Electricity costs at home : Free up to 50,000 units
Local phone call charge : Free up to 1 ,70,000 calls.
TOTAL expense for a MP per year : 32,00,000
TOTAL expense for 5 years : 1,60,00,000

For 534 MPs, the expense for 5 years : 8,54,40,00,000 (nearly 855 cores)

And they are elected by THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, by the largest democratic . process in the world, not "intruded into the parliament on their own or by any Qualification"

This is how all our tax money is been swallowed and price hike on our regular commodities.......

Think of the great democracy we have.............

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO ALL REAL CITIZENS OF INDIA

Revolution within

2007-04-04T05:58:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST CONTAINS A HEAVY DOSE OF RHETORICAL STATEMENTS. I SOUND IDEALISTIC AND MORALIZING.

I have a confession to make. There are days when I feel like a victim. I feel like THEY are the ones responsible for making my life miserable and if THEY were different and better, my life would be better and happier. By THEY I mean Indian politicians, Indian babus, Indians with a "chalta hai" attitudes....and so on. I want THEM to change.

But here's what I am begining to realize (yes I am a bit slow):

If each one of us just focused on imbibing the values we want others to have, if each one of us stays honest, does not pay bribes, stands up for our own individual respect and dignity, I think we would achieve a lot more than we think we might. I dont think that India needs a mass scale revolution. Its just not needed (and I think the stock markets might take a verrrrry long time to recover if that were to ever happen :-)) I think the revolution has to begin inside...within ourselves. Do you want to give it a shot?

Attempt to murder - PILs

2007-04-02T01:49:00.000-07:00

Attempt to Murder Public Interest Litigations (PIL) Waiting To Be Filed

- Ever noticed an electricity pole right in front of the traffic light? Do you think someone has died because of that?

- Ever noticed an electricity transformer or a tree in the middle of the road? Do you think someone has ever crashed into them and died?

- Ever travelled on a road that started out being a three lane but suddenly became a single lane? Imagine that happening in the US. Do you think someone has died in this amazing road merging game?

- Ever travelled on a road where you got the feeling that you have no idea whether you should stop for the red light, to drive on further..basically being completely baffled by the mismatch between sane driving rules and the way the roads have been built?

- Ever got the feeling that you can just pay a few hundred rupees to get a license and that once you have the license, no one can ever take it away from you? Do you think people who cant understand traffic rules/road signs should be given licenses?

- Ever been surprised by an unmanned police barricade that appears out of nowhere in the night right in the middle of the road?

Thousands die each year because of these ridiculous things. Brothers, sisters, sons, husbands, fathers, mothers.... For what? Could they have been saved? Of course yes. Each and every single life is worth saving. Anyone who dies is not an ant but a living human being. Why should anyone loose their life because of poor planning?

If I was ever filing a PIL I would put the attempt to murder charge on the President of India, The Prime Minister of India, The Union Minister for Urban Development, The Union Minister of Roads & Transport for taking the life of us Indians so lightly... for putting our lives in danger.

But do YOU think each and every life is worth saving or do you think that its ok as long its not someone you know?

Gen - We Us Me

2007-03-27T22:53:00.000-07:00

Without getting into the realm of economics and other intellectual stuff (which I know nothing of in any case) I think you might agree that nations and economies follow a life-cycle. India is also following its lifecycle. We, as a nation, were born in 1947. I dont know what stage of the lifecycle we are at as of now but to me it seems that our previous generation was the infant...the generation that took the first steps.

This generation's main purpose was to find a footing...to survive amidst all the change taking place. While this was happening there was another thing taking place which couldnt wait for any particular nation's lifecycle. This was globalisation. Back to the previous generation now...so the previous generation worked hard to get work that could help put food on the table, send kids to schools and colleges and to invest in a home. To put it in short, they provided a platform on which our generation could grow. And grow we did and growth is what we want.

Our generation is understanding the work the previous generation has put in and also putting globalization in context. We dont see ourselves as an isolated new born nation but as a nation with a growth platform in place...ready for scaling up. But...yes there is a but. I am sure you are aware of all those things that are not in place, things that other countries have and we dont have. So the questions for our generation are the following - Are we going to let all the effort our previous generation put in to give us a platform go waste? Whose responsibility is it to leave a better India in place for our future generations?

I think we all know the answers to these rhetorical questions. Some of us even get motivated to do something...something...but have we thought about what that something is that we will do? Have we spent even 5 minutes this year thinking about what we will do to leave a better nation for our future generation? Do we even think its our responsibility? Forget blaming others, what is it that YOU will do as an individual? If each one of us just did his/her own thing and contributed in our way, there is no way in the world India will not be where it wants to be.

So what will it be? A generation that spat responsibility in the face or a generation that made one small contribution at a time? How will you contribute?

Magic at a grand scale

2007-03-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

This trick is just something that Indian politicians could come up with. Amazing. Their talent...I mean I am speachless. They have been specially crafted by god. Ok what am I talking about? I am talking about the Commonwealth Games. So whats the magic trick there? Well there are a few of them.

- To convince an entire nation that the developing infrastructure for one of the largest cities in the world is related to some games that will be organised. Not based on the city's needs but based on the games. Hmmmm. I thought that infrastructure needs to be developed in any case. Are the commonwealth games being considered as a kick in the ass to make things move? Ya I think thats the mentality of the government. We need a kick in our ass to move. So I have a suggestion about changing the name of the event from Commonwealth Games to "Come lets kick some govt. ass Games".

- The other trick would be to actually develop the infrastructure in the next 30 months. I dont see that happening. Unless the Indian government has a giant Leggo sort of factory where ready made blocks of infrastructure can be just assembled together, I dont see how in the world they can do anything in 30 months. Lets wait for all the justifications that we hear from them. I love preditability you know. Our lovely politicians. So predictable. Love these guys.

Loosing my sani T

2007-03-19T03:40:00.000-07:00

I simply hate T-Junctions on the roads. They make no bloody sense. I am not a town planner but I know that "T-Junctions = Traffic Pile-ups". Why does all the vehicular traffic have to converge at a T-Junction? Why cant there be exits before the T-Junctions? This is so bloody basic. Who is designing/planning our infrastructure? I have a feeling that this Delhi High Court ruling about putting all the monkeys in delhi in one particular sanctuary might help this situation. I am thinking of going to the town planning department myself with a basket of bananas and leading all the monkeys sitting inside to the monkey sanctuary. Something like a modern day pied piper. :-)

=========
BTW in case you want to read more about this court order on monkeys visit Monkey Business in Delhi

Pursuit of Happiness

2007-03-17T21:41:00.001-07:00

I saw this movie “Pursuit of Happiness” yesterday and kind of felt compelled to write. It was an enjoyable movie. Inspirational at one level as well. It shows this guy’s courage and perseverance in achieving his goal which in the movie is – to get a stable job as a finance jock. Maybe there is a second goal as well and that might be - being a good father to his son. The entire movie shows this guy’s struggle and all that he does to get this job as a finance guy. The climax of the movie is the guy getting the job. This particular moment was defined as "happiness" and everything that preceded this was clubbed together as the “pursuit”. Hmmm. I don’t know if I completely agree with the definition of happiness in the movie. I feel happiness is an end goal, an integral part of the pursuit and a state of mind.

A SMALL DIGRESSION: Here are a few questions for you - A lot of us can freely talk about what makes us unhappy but can you spend as much time talking about what makes you happy? Have you ever thought about what makes you happy? Can you write down 10 things that make you happy? I tried doing this and was surprised to discover that I couldnt go beyond 6 things that make me happy!!! OK let me get back to the point I wanted to make. :-)

I believe that sometimes we get so caught up in thinking about happiness as an end goal that we stop pausing for a second and thinking about it as a state of our mind. I don’t think that the “pursuit” has to be unhappy or full of struggle. Infact if one is aware of what makes one happy and moves in that direction, I think the pursuit itself is happy. The struggle and the troughs are a part of the happiness. Dont know if I am making any sense. Am I?

Do you know what you are pursuing? Is your pursuit happy?

Pre-Fun Documentation

2007-03-09T00:40:00.000-08:00

Our group of friends had a good discussion yesterday. All of us left feeling a bit conflicted about trust, MCP quotient, values, egos, safety, choice, respect, love etc...the topic was - Would you ask your boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife to have an AIDS test before you have unprotected fun? There were multiple opinions like - men have big egos, indian men would ask you to take a hike, women would be too shy and might not interact further....but think about it. Are any of these things worth the risk? What would you do if your girlfriend/boyfriend/fiance asked you to get a test done? How would you ask them?

Infrastructure Growth = Constipation?

2007-02-27T21:53:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: SOME OF YOU MIGHT FIND THIS POST OFFENSIVE. MAYBE EVEN DISGUSTING.

I think you might agree that when people eat something heavy and dont drink enough fluids, they run the risk of getting constipation. :-) Yes you read it right...I am talking about bowel movement here. Why? Well here's the connection...

India needs infrastructure...badly. India is investing in infrastructure at a relatively fast pace. But it is not taking enough fluids which in this case means long-term planning. It feels super to see bridges, roads and so on come up but tomorrow morning.....CONSTIPATION TIME!!!

We seem to be so used to taking laxatives in the form of shoddy patchwork infrastructural development that we have forgotten that all we need to do is to take a breather and have some fluides (=improve our overall standards for infrastructure development).

=====
LoL

Numbness

2007-02-19T21:26:00.000-08:00

The blast in the Samjhauta Express clearly brings out the state of affairs of our intelligence community. Well you will soon enough hear/read statements from politicians across the board about the horrible act. BJP will call it an intelligence failure and will demand the govt. to step down. The congress will force the police to find someone they can blame....the story will continue and we middle class Indians will change the channel to watch something more interesting when they give more information about the blast. We are numb. We are immune to such things. So what if 70 people died? We have a billion more.

I read somewhere that the way we see the world is the way we think about ourselves. So maybe if we dont value people dying then at some level we dont value our own life. Thats quite sad I think. Its true of most things that we Indians are subject to. Shoddy infrastructure, corruption...what have you. At some level do we feel we dont deserve it? That we are not good enough?

PS: Do you think Freud would be proud of me? :-)

I dont get it...

2007-02-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

In 2004, the UPA government had said something about an urban renewal fund which will invest about Rs.125000 Crores to improve urban areas in India. I dont know whats going on with that. Anyone has any clue? If you have the inclination and interest in the topic (TOPIC: your life in your city during your entire life) then you could get some information through: http://www.indiatogether.com/2006/jul/gov-jnnurm.htm & http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/sep/gov-nurm.htm.

Well I had one small question. If S Jaipal Reddy (Union Minister of Urban Development) can go against the Supreme Court and ensure that Delhi becomes a bigger mess, then why do we need an Urban Renewal Fund? At the end of the day, its my tax that pays Reddy to screw the city and I am sure that it will be an additional tax that I bear to pay for the urban renewal mission.

Portable quality of life

2007-02-14T20:05:00.000-08:00

I think that the quality of life in most of the developed countries is portable. What does that mean? It means that you can move from one city to the other and you will find that the roads are just as wide and smooth, electricity is still available, you can drink water from the tap, there are schools, hospitals, entertainment venues...you name it and it is there in all cities/villages/towns. Sounds a bit boring at one level doesnt it? :-) So if one has to move from one city to another, its still is a big deal but you dont get stress ulcers thinking about electricity, entertainment, schools etc. So life is more or less portable.

Our politicians/planners/government (S.Jaipal Reddy - Union Minister for Urban Development) officials are also hard at work to bring this portability. But they have done some out of the box thinking and have come up with a unique solution to this portability situation. See the developed world has tried to make even the villages smaller versions of larger towns so that the infrastructure can scale up when the village/town grows. But it takes vision, time and money. So our own champions have decided to do things the opposite way. The template they are following is that of a village in India and their intent is to replicate that model across all towns and cities. This saves brainwork, time and money. Brilliant arent they? I love these guys. Talk about lateral thinking.

Yet again....

2007-02-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

...our politicians treat the symptom rather than the cause. We all know how most metropolitan cities are gradually moving towards becoming super slums. Adding a few flyovers here and a few stadiums there wont put us in the same league as China. Anyways let me get back to the point I want to make.

India has pockets where the wealth of people is increasing. But a huge proportion of the Indian population lives in towns/villages which dont have adequate number of job opportunities. This forces people to migrate to cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore (still cant get myself to call it bangaluru). These are poor people who are mostly uneducated but they work hard to lead a life which is many times better than the life they could have led in their own town/village. For them, their house in a slum is a palace compared to what they had in their own town/village. So when we middle class say - we dont need slums, lets analyse what we are implying. What we are saying is that we dont care that "these people" (as if they are animals) dont belong in cities and they should go back to their towns and villages and shit and spit in the open there. We dont care whether they can even get food for their family in the village. We just want the slums which are an eyesore out of our view. Hmmmm.

Well here is the thing. If they had opportunities in their village and if life was good there, I think they would never leave their homes. Do you think anyone likes leaving his/her own home? So then what does this mean? It means that the politicians and policy makers in their villages and towns should ensure there are jobs that are created. Unless UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, MP create enough jobs of there own, the number of slums in the top 10 cities in India will keep increasing. If YOU need a more beautiful city, it is actually other areas that need to improve simultaneously otherwise it wont work. So whether the sealing/demolitions in Delhi continue or not, the number of slum dwellers wont decrease any time soon.

And the cycle continues....

2007-02-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

The union minister for urban development, Jaipal Reddy and Babu Ram Sharma of Delhi Pradesh Cong. Committee have shoved the Delhi Master plan 2021 down our throat. It definitely sounds like a master plan which will take delhi towards super slum stardom. And you and I sit shaking our heads. Utterly frustrated. Some thoughts we share: "Well, look at these politicians. They have no concept of long term planning. This master plan is completely political. Why should we suffer? Delhi will never improve now. Listen can you pass me the tea please and the newspaper? I want to read the latest on Nithari." And so the middle class of India moves on...yet again...the politicians get the better of us once again. But the question is - is this over yet? is there something we can do? are we just completely dependent on the supreme court to deal with the politicians? what is it that we can do? any suggestions? what do you think you can do?

Screw real estate - here's the best investment

2007-02-07T06:30:00.001-08:00

You cannot vote in India without an election card. Different regions have loyalties to different parties. People in India are poor. Politicians are crooks. Politics requires investment. Politicians have the money to invest. Politicians BUY election cards of supporters of opposition parties. No voters left to vote against them. Win elections with thumping majority. Opposition is clueless. Wow!!! Lovely scheme isnt it?!!! Well this is what is happening in the state of Punjab. Now is this not a better investment than real estate? And you thought your politicians were dumb?

Guru - the movie

2007-02-05T07:57:00.000-08:00

Saw the movie Guru last week and one of the questions I had was - what price did Mani Ratnam get from the ambanis to make the movie? After all, Gurubhai's philosphy is that everyone has a price. :-)

To a large extent the movie seems quite accurate in letting us know that entrepreneurship is challenging and that India makes it doubly challenging with its dumb rules and regulations. So here we have this entrepreneur who wants to grow and on the other side are these government regulations which put roadblocks and minefields in his way. He is passionate about growth so he grows...come what may. Honesty, ethics....out of the window. But it is definitely something to think about. If you want to grow legitimately and the government stops you then what will you do? Will you break the rules or would you scale down your goals?

Then towards the end of the movie, Gurubhai is projected as this savior of Indian people. He is compared with Gandhi and his ways to India's freedom struggle. Come on!!!! Please dont mock our intelligence Mr. Mani Ratnam. No doubt Reliance's 30 lac shareholders became wealthier but 30Lacs is not equal to 100 Crores. Get your number s right. Gandhi changed the rules for the entire nation not for just a handful few. Let Dhirubhai be projected as a highly successful entrepreneur/businessman but dont say that he started a revolution. The only revolution he has probably started is by creating a negative role model for the youth of India who might have the tendency to think that end justifies the means.

What is required to bring about lasting change is not breaking the rules but changing them. I dont know how successful Gurubhai would have been in doing that.

I am an Indian

2007-01-27T22:16:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about what this statement "I am an Indian" implies. One implication is purely physical/geographical which means that I or my parents/ancestors were born in a demarcated landmass called India. The second implication has more to do with what being an Indian means. Here too I would tend to think that the definitions vary. There is one definition that the rest of the world has given us or is giving us. Intelligent, hard working, great programmers, high growth economy, large middle class....the basic "India Poised" statements. But I think there is one more definition of India which we would like to brush under the "India Poised" carpet. You dont think so?

I believe that the "India Poised" definition is for the collective India. No doubt a lot of positive things are happening but if you ask me, apart from going for my job and leading a "Friends" kind of lifestyle, I dont know what else I am doing as an individual Indian. I havent changed anything about myself that would make me believe that I am contributing to India. Forget changing, I havent even begun thinking about whether I need to change something. I am god's gift to humankind. :-) So when I see a rhetorical campaign by a tabloid which validates my status as god's gift to mankind, I say - YES!! Thats me and I am an Indian!! But inside I feel this strange sensation and hear this voice ask me - when will you stop taking credit for something you didnt do? what have YOU done to contribute?

A dream oath by an Indian politician

2007-01-14T04:59:00.000-08:00

Imagine an Indian politician taking this oath and signing an official document to standby this or face punishment:

- I have been elected by people to serve them and I will only have their best interest in mind. (I am finding this amusing already)
- I will never make any money illegally. I will file my tax returns every year.
- I dont have a criminal background.
- I am not supported in any way by any anti-social/criminal elements. If I am ever found to have any criminal/illegal linkages, I will resign immediately and support the police and investigation authorities in the case. (TOOO funny!!!!! :-) :-))

I am rolling on the floor already. This is funny stuff. Isnt it?

IIT Brain Drain

2007-01-12T10:17:00.000-08:00

A lot of us might have read or know that a significant proportion of IITians leave India and settle abroad. Media puts this in a negative light. There is this sense of guilt that I think the media and maybe some of us expect IITians to feel about settling down abroad. There are several things one hears and reads in the newspapers about this, things like:

- IITs invest a lot of money in IITians and if they leave then the investment goes down the drain.

- The government have produced these elitist institutions and spend so much money. The money would have been more effectively used if it was channelled elsewhere. Most of the population of India might never even enter a higher education institution let alone an IIT.

These are valid points. Very valid. Cant deny them. But here are some thoughts that tickle my noodle:

- Should parents force a kid to stay with them just because they spent so many resources bringing them up and making them successful? Maybe my ideas of parenthood are wrong but should my idea not be to provide the best opportunity to all my kids irrespective of what choices they make about their own future? I think I would be a silently proud parent if my kid did well in life because of the resources I invested. Man I sound old here!!! :-)

- Fine maybe we focus too much on the IITs and maybe we should develop a much larger number of institutes in the same league. At the same time who is to say that students from those institutes wont leave?

- Ok our education system is kind of sad and a major chunk of students drop out before finishing high school but that does not mean that we dont invest in the IITs. BOTH the strong K12 (kindergarten to class 12) education system AND the higher education system need to be robust. Its not an either or choice contrary to what we are told.

At the end of the day, there are multiple factors that an individual factors in before deciding to settle abroad. Patriotism is just one of them. I also think that someone settling down abroad doesnt make him/her unpatriotic. Its a matter of individual choice. Think about this - if an American decided to settle down in India, would his friends consider him unpatriotic? I doubt it.

I dont know why I chose to write about this because I am not from IIT. I guess I was just thinking about our sense of patriotism and the things I think I consider patriotic...ya something like that. Hmmm...good night.

Nice!!!

2007-01-01T22:30:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine forwarded me this mail and I thought I'd put it up. Great mail. Please feel free to forward the content as a mass mail to your contact list. I did and a friend of mine decided to sponsor the education of two kids after reading the mail. Neat!!! Nice!!! Yippeee!!!

Who knows whose life you might touch by forwarding this mail. Happy new year.

=======(Forwarded mail)==========

In 2007 ,

You could blow away thousands on alcohol and cigs and partying,
Or you could cut down on some of it and donate to charity,

This year we all could go out of town on every election and party
Or stay back and vote the right candidate,

This year we can still be the way have been all these years
Or chose to do something different and make a difference,

This year we can send every one sms's and wish them a happy new year
or just chose to send something like this that makes them think " what if I did something new this year that made a difference"

I did.... Hope you all will too.

Wishing you all a very happy new year and great life ahead. May all your dreams come true. May you help the less fortunate achieve theirs too.

Roll over and play dead

2006-12-30T21:02:00.000-08:00

Most of us are aware that some time back both the houses of the parliament unanimously rejected the bill regarding criminalization of politics. Thats it. Thats where that thing ended. They said no. Now we Indians are expected to roll over and play dead. I am sorry...I cant do that. I cant let someone who has even an iota of a shady background represent me. We desparately need positive role models. Forget others, I need a positive role model. No one who is not morally and ethically fit to be a leader should represent me. Simple.

So what if this was rejected once in the parliament? We should try again this year. If we fail this year, we should try next year. If we dont succeed the next year, we should try the year after that. We should keep trying. The way our politicians frustrate us, lets be one step ahead and beat them at their own game. All it takes is patience and collective will power.

We should not and cannot accept criminalisation of politics. Its time we made it go. We can.

Babel - the movie

2006-12-30T13:03:00.001-08:00

Just came back after watching the movie "Babel". I dont know man...I feel a bit dumb.:-) I mean I got some bits about communication barriers and international relations but I just couldnt figure out why the deaf and dumb Japanese girl was so "hormonal". Then I read http://www.infilm.com.au/reviews/babel.htm and a few other reviews and went - ohhhhhh OK! So thats what the movie was about. I guess I am one of those people who like the message to be delivered loud and clear. :-)

On a more serious note, I think we never loose an opportunity to point out that America is a self centered society that has never bothered to learn and respect other countries/cultures...But arent we Indians guilty of the same thing? Forget respecting other countries but do we really accept other cultures...castes...traditions present in India? What does Unity in Diversity mean to us? What the bloody hell does it mean in any case?

Madrasies, sardar, maaru, dilliwala, mulla - arent we familiar with all these labels? Do they signify that we understand these cultures or that we have created various distinct categories of people? Have these categories been created so that our communication improves with them or have they been created for other reasons? How do we react to these categories?

Why should we blame just the US for being insular when we ourselves could be one of the most racist/classist societies in the world?

Lalu Acquittal - Conspiracy???

2006-12-29T10:45:00.000-08:00

Manu Sharma. Santosh Singh. Lalu Prasad Yadav. All judgements very close to each other. Media and the public outcry against Manu Sharma and Santosh Singh. Manu Sharma - convicted. Santosh Singh - convicted. Lalu Prasad Yadav - acquitted. Maybe I sound like a conspiracy theorist but to me this sounds like very clever case of "deflective timing". Public was given Manu Sharma and Santosh Singh and Lalu was kept away from the media and public eyes. Very clever. We all think that at least two got convicted. But the fact of the matter is that one got away. NO ONE should get away now that we are more aware of our rights and power as individuals.

Its not that the money did not disappear from the Bihar treasury. It did. Where is it? Lalu was tried for having around Rs.40 odd lacs worth of undeclared assets. Forget Lalu who is a powerful politician, my neighborhood milkman can probably easily defend this piddly amount. Lalu Prasad Yadav is trying to slip away while we all pat ourselves (deservedly) on the back. Hmmmm.

You know maybe this is nothing but my paranoia but the bottomline is that we need to be vigilant all the time. A brilliant start has been made by all of us and all we need to do is to keep pushing and increase the momentum.

New Year Resolutions

2006-12-23T20:12:00.000-08:00

I never make any usually. The reason is that I never stick to them. :-) Come to think of it, I dont remember the last time I made a new year resolution. But here is one I am contemplating about:

- To either file an RTI petition myself or to get to know someone who has filed one himself/herself. I have a year to do it. Seems achievable. Maybe. Just writing this makes me feel - forget it dude. It must be such a long process...do I have the bandwidth for it?...what all will it entail?...what if the local politician comes and slits my throat while I am sleeping (:-))...what topic?...the list goes on and the inertia mounts. The inertia. Love this bloody thing...inertia. If inertia was money, we Indians would be 20 times wealthier than the US and I would be a millionaire many times over. But lets see if I can do something about this. Oh man....I feel the inertia setting in again. Its like the Hutch dog or trying to wake myself up on a winter morning for a run. :-) Maybe you could help by putting me in touch with someone you know who has filed one.

My battle with inertia aside, I wish you all a wonderful new year and beyond.

What makes us Indians think we are spritual???

2006-12-20T05:15:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I think about how we Indians use the notion of spirituality to explain the miserable state our country is in. Its tragic. I am no ascetic but I know what spiritualism is not:

- Spritualism is not about differentiating between human beings based on what caste they belong to.

- Spiritualism is not about treating males and females differently.

- Spiritualism is not about being content with foul air & dirty water.

- Spritualism is not about accepting unacceptable behaviour.

- Spiritualism is about seeing the positive in the negative things life brings but its definitely not about not having any wants/expectations. I think its about aligning our wants with those of some power greater than us. (strange sentence I think :-) Any english teacher here?)

- Spiritualism is not a dead weight that makes people accept crap.

- Spiritualism is not an excuse to not want a better future for our kids.

I think I repeated some points. Ya I think I did. Well alright I did. :-)

One Indian Hot & Sour Soup Please

2006-12-15T19:10:00.000-08:00

All of us have heard about the story of two frogs. First one jumped straight out when he was put in hot boiling water. The second one was put in cold water and then the temperature was gradually raised to boiling. The poor guy enjoyed the steamy bath and later became part of the frog soup that was the special of the day. We Indians are like the second frog. We have been gradually made so used to poor infrastructure, corruption, devil incarnate politicians and government officials and so on that we dont even notice the difference now. As far as we are concerned, its all ok.

Have you ever noticed that whenever anyone comes from outside India, their system seems to be in a state of shock for a while. Well they are like the frog put in boiling water. We keep telling them - no things are better now, they are moving...which more or less implies that we are like the second frog.

I have a feeling that we are being prepared or have already been prepared for a grand soupfest. Who is going to eat this Indian hot & sour soup garnished with a heavy dose of low expectations?

I think the guests of honor are we Indians ourselves.

Dead City Development

2006-12-15T05:15:00.000-08:00

Maybe this is not the best time to write this but I dont think any other time the blog would capture my frustration and anger with the infrastructure in India. I drove about 60miles in and around Gurgaon today and I feel dead. I have no mental or physical energy left. None.

If you go to Gurgaon, you are shocked by the speed with which residential and commercial complexes are coming up. Glass facades, new buildings everywhere. Thats where my fascination with gurgaon ends. Thats all that gurgaon has. Buildings. There are no roads, no sewage system, no drainage, no parking, no public transport, no electricity....I am not kidding. None of these things exist in gurgaon!!!

I feel extremely comfortable in saying that 2-3 years from now, Gurgaon would be a hellish place to live and work in if its not already. The only reason Gurgaon is growing is because Delhi doesnt have any space left. Its amazing politician, builder, government babu cartel ensured that Delhi cannot grow. The same is being done in gurgaon. There is no long term planning. None. Gosh its unbelievable.

Its extremely frustrating to see a new city dying in front of your eyes....frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I need a chilled one tonight. :-)

Love them? Hate them?

2006-12-11T21:52:00.000-08:00

Some time back I read some firang write about her experience in India. She said that one aspect of India she hated was the people and the aspect she loved about India was its people. I could completely relate to it. I hate the way people drive, the utter lack of hygiene, the anything goes a.k.a. "chalta hai" attitude....I think I could go on endlessly here. At the same time, I love the respect we Indians still have for our elders, relationships...there are genuine feelings or bonding we feel for each other unlike a whole lot of superficiality one gets to see in some other parts of the world. I love the fact that my 12 year old nephew doesnt treat another student who is poorer badly and treats him as a friend. I love the fact that our society, by and large, seems more inclusive....this list too can be long. Maybe not as long as the first one but nevertheless it can be long and exhaustive.

And this is what confuses me. This contradiction. How can I love AND hate the same thing? Isnt it wierd?

I guess I am slowly coming to a realisation that I have to see this in a way I would see any relationship. If I have an equation with someone, then there would be things that I love in the person and some things I just cant stand. There would be things one would compromise on in order to enjoy the positives of the relationship. At the same time, if my own personal boundaries, boundaries that kind of define me as a person, are crossed, then....then what??? I know the answer in the context of a relationship but what about my relationship with India??? Hmmmm. Never thought about that. Do I leave it? What if I dont want to leave? Do I try and make a difference? Do I compromise more than I want to? Do I...what???

Maybe, like in any relationship, there is no definitive answer. But I will say one thing, for me its a journey and I am trying to enjoy (some days its a major effort!!!) each day as it comes...contradictions or not.

Henry Kissinger's Quote

2006-11-28T02:41:00.000-08:00

"Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation."

I think in India you might have to change the 90% to 99.98%!!! Well maybe 99.99%. Ok that kind of sounds ok.

Billions!!!

2006-11-18T09:52:00.000-08:00

I think a significant majority of youth in India (or the world for that matter) might choose wanting to be a billionaire amongst their top 3 goals in life. I had some questions regarding that goal that have always tickled my curiosity.

First, is this in US Dollars or in Indian Rupees or in some other currency? There is a different of about INR4400 crores depending on the currency one is thinking in. :-)

Second, what will these people DO to reach that billion (whatever currency) target? No I am not fishing for a business idea but I want to understand if people have thought through these quantified goals in life?

Third, "ends will justify the means" - is this the philosophy the future billionaires will follow or would they adopt different means? For example, I think the Ambanis have made a lot of billions (whatever currency) but I am not entirely sure if they didnt/dont bribe people, use monopolistic business policies and other such "ends will justify the means" practices. So the question is the opposite of the second question - what will these people NOT DO to reach that million?

Quick ticklers:
Is this figure of billion (whatever currency) there just because it is easier to have that as a goal because of its tangible nature?
Is this billion linked to the individual's interests/passion or is it just about making money?
Would a billion allow you to eat gold or let you sleep 26 hours a day or let you live forever? :-) I know I know its a sarcastic one. Your honor or "Milaard" (as they say in Bollywood movies) please strike this last tickler from the list.

Netizen's Award

2006-11-12T21:45:00.000-08:00

We all have (or have had) some role models who posses certain qualities or have achieved some things that help raise our aspiration levels. I believe that India, on a macro level, has a significant dearth of role models. With one of the largest and youngest populations in the world, India needs good positive role models. Maybe its this lack of role models that are alive that makes us go back to "Gandhigiri" or to have so much faith in symbolic figures in religion. What do you think about a web based award to identify and annually award the top role models (alive) across India? For example some people might think that Kiran Bedi is a good role model, for some K. Sreedharan might be a good role model and so on. So we could have various segregations/categories (state/cause...) and could conduct online voting. Not only would this help create more awareness about many positive role models but would also help reward (I guess these would be just honorary awards and I doubt if the role models will be influenced if they did/did not get the award) these fantastic people. What do you think? Any volunteers?

Class...Values...Lifestyles

2006-11-10T02:24:00.000-08:00

You know someone had once told me I have middle class values. I thought that was meant to be a neutral statement but sometimes I wonder if it had significant classist undertones. Maybe it did, maybe it did not but its an interesting thought in any case. Some times when I find myself considering page 3 culture as very upper class, I wonder if I am not just as classist as the person who made that statement. What makes lower class, lower class in terms of values? How is it different from the values that a middle class person posseses? And how do a middle class person's values differ from those of an upper class person's?

Now that you are thinking about this, answer this...When did values/principals become dependent on any class? :-) Truth is truth. Love is love. Honor and respect stay honor and respect. No? Maybe the confusion is between Lifestyle and Values???

Here are a couple of questions for you to think about...what are the things you do or the choices that you make that can make you say that you have lower/middle/upper class values? What makes you think that people from another class do not have those values?

Shocking I think

2006-11-08T05:30:00.000-08:00

A gang of 5-6 young men which includes a 13 year old boy murdered around 27 innocent people in Gurgaon. All of them belong to one particular village close to Gurgaon which is being showcased as a model of India's development story. Without getting into details about the modus operandi or the barbarious nature of the serial killings, I just have 2 questions that have been going on in my head - what kind of a village is this where young men have become so desparate/hardened/hopeless that they have killed 27 innocent people for petty cash??? Is this one single village that is producing such hopelessness or are there other such villages???

27 people killed in such a short span of time. Killers from one single village. If I was in the media/government , I would figure out what is going on in the village. If the root cause of such hopelessness is not taken care of across India, then 27 is bound to go up to 2700. You can count on it. Scary shit.

Experimentation..Magic - Part 2

2006-11-04T23:35:00.000-08:00

I am continually amazed by the power of the RTI (Right To Information) Act. Well for those of you who feel like experimenting a bit, here's some more information.

PRAJANET (http://www.prajanet.org/doc.asp?docid=projects#BY_REGION) provides links to various organisations in various states that are working hard to spread the usage of RTI. Who knows, you just might feel like getting more information about the road that is constantly under renovation in front of your locality.

I checked for Delhi and Parivartan (http://www.parivartan.com/what_to_ask.asp) seems to be doing some excellent work.

IIM (A) - creating leaders?????

2006-11-03T03:56:00.000-08:00

Given what they just did, thats a scary thought.

Lalu Prasad Yadav gave a 3 hour long lecture at IIM (A). http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1800135,000600030005.htm. I dont know what the content of the lecture was but just the fact that India's top B-School invited someone like Lalu to address future leaders is ridiculous!!

I agree that none of the cases have been proven against Lalu Prasad Yadav. The other fact is that the Indian Railways has done well on several parameters since he has become the railway minister.

But what was the IIM (A) community (alumni, academics, administrators, students) thinking???? Maybe foreign B-schools who want to write case studies on Lalu dont know any better but didnt anyone at IIM(A) think about what example it sets? What about ethics? Are ethics not something pure and untouchable? Is ethical behaviour/credibility/honor not an integral quality of a leader? It definitely is!!!! Then what made the entire IIM (A) community ignore the fact that Lalu is a tainted man and allowed him to even enter the IIM(A) campus?

Maybe this just shows another way in which India's best academic institutions are controlled by politicians but maybe IIM(A) didnt know any better. Wow thats a thought isnt it?? Why would any world class institution put itself in this precarious position??? Way to go IIM(A). Good way to set an example. Sad. Quite sad.

Billion dreaming

2006-10-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

Quite similar to the previous subject line and maybe related to the content as well. I have been thinking about what I wrote in the previous post.

I strongly believe that we, as a country of a billion plus people, have a journey to go on. To me that is like a train journey that a billion of us take, together, where we start from a station called "Survival" to the station called "Dreams/Aspire".

Making an individual who is contemplating suicide because his/her family is going hungry to Dream about a good future is a long journey. Making a girl in Bihar (or any state for that matter) believe that she can have the same dreams as a Hillary Clinton, or a Priyanka Chopra, or an Indira Nooyi... and that its normal to have such dreams is a very long journey. Letting each one of us decide, on our own, the difference between our dreams and delusions is a long journey. Dreams are normal, dreams are human and maybe dreams are what make us human.

I doubt if this will ever make anyone's manifesto though. It should no? :-)

Dreaming Billion

2006-10-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a friend of mine today and we got talking about the "system" in India. We discussed how deep the rot is and how the acid has seeped into each and every single aspect of our life here in India. Not one single area has been left untouched. It frustrates most of us no bounds. There are times when some signs of hidden rage become visible but more often than not, we go on. Ok let me speak about myself. I go on rather than we go on.

Then I got thinking. Ya here he goes again. :-) But let me warn you, its a bit on the idealistic side so the cynics of the world might sneer but then again, this blog has never been for the cynics. Nothing in this world (nothing of significance at least) in this world was created in a day. I think the change in India has already started. You see it all around. The media is sensationalised but more active, the gen next seems to be bursting with nationalistic pride, our previous generation is supporting the changes, the politicians are slowly getting frustrated, babudom is still sleeping but I think there is some movement happening somewhere...At the macro level, the positive signs are there.

I doubt if there ever will be a revolution to change India. At least not a visible revolution. Heck, I dont even think a revolution is required. Its too strong a word. I think as long as we, as individuals, had a dream about a life we want to lead and took one step a day in that direction, we would get there. I read something really cool once which I have started believing in - what is important is "Progress not Perfection." "Just for Today" if I did the thing I should do, things should be fine.

Rechristening my house

2006-10-07T20:33:00.000-07:00

Ya I have been thinking about it for some time now. I dont know whether I should call it the Indira Gandhi House, or Rajiv Gandhi House, or the Gandhi House or Gandhi Gandhi House or Gandhi Gandhi Gandhi Gandhi House. Maybe you can suggest what sounds better. I figured that more than half of Indian real estate (ya a bit exaggerated) is already named after someone from the Gandhi family so its just a matter of time before the name of my house is also changed to some permutation of the Gandhi name. And its a good thing I think. I pay taxes to the government and they take such good care of the quality of my life. In return they should feel free to use my money and name projects meant for me to get political mileage.

SIDE NOTE: I think one thing that BJP failed to do was to realise the power of building a brand around someone the way the Congress does with the Gandhi brand. Maybe they are waiting for someone to pass away and then they might start building the brand. :-)

C2H5OH

2006-09-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

Thats the chemical formula for Ethyl Alcohol that is present in all the alcohol consumed by the human race. No I am not trying to show off my chemistry skills here but I have just returned after meeting a few friends at a nearby "watering hole" and I have come back a bit worried. No my friend this is not a drunk rambling but someone concerned about something else. My observation at the place while leaving was that majority of the people leaving the place were under the influence of alcohol and they chose to drive back home. I have done it as well several times. Since I am writing this then its pretty safe to assume that tonight was not one of those nights.

I dont know if you know but driving in India is like driving in a video game. Anything can come out of anywhere. It could be a cow, a cart, someone jumping a red light, a truck or a hole the size of Grand Canyon. Imagine tackling these obstacles while driving in a drunk state. Hmmm. Doesnt it make you wonder how we are still lucky to be alive after having been to some of these "watering holes"?

Now lets imagine you are in the USofA. Would you still drive after being drunk?

If the answer is NO then is it just the fear of law that makes you not drive when you are drunk or do you feel more responsible while driving outside India? OK here's an interesting question - Does responsibility come from within or does it need to be enforced? Forget what the rest of the world does - what is your answer to this question?

No Pain No Gain

2006-09-27T22:24:00.000-07:00

I wish I was saying this in context of my having joined a gym. But unfortunately, thats just wishful thinking. Day after day I see myself transforming gradually into the "laughing buddha". Ok what was this blog about?? Oh ya I remember now.

Day in and day out I hear about incremental improvements being made in India. Its amazing to see the momentum increase. But there are areas where I feel India needs a complete overhaul rather than incremental changes. The biggest example is the infrastructural changes being made in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. In my view these changes are superficial. The cities have imploded or are in the process of imploding. You cant build a bridge here, a road here and designate one area as a commercial center. Most cities need complete overhauls. Protect our cultural history and overhaul the rest. Its going to happen sooner or later in any case. There is no option. This might cause significant displacement of a lot of things. Are we ready for it? Are ready to go through the pain of displacement so that our next generation gets a better India?

This might seem like a question that does not concern us currently but think about it. Does your city need superficial changes or an overhaul?

Hope...

2006-09-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

Isnt it a wonderful thing - Hope? Its a word that makes me feel really positive. Anyways... enough of me trying to sound all philosophical.

I just finished watching a great movie - Water, by Deepa Mehta. Its a movie that questions some aspects of the Hindu religion where child widows in certain parts of India are forced to lead an almost hopeless life. I used to think that this practise is not followed anymore but the director claims that there are over 34 million widows in India leading a life devoid of any love, hope, laughter... Do you know what the population of Australia is? Its around 20Million. Ok another twist in the blog. I dont intend to write about this practise but about the last scene in the movie.

THE LAST FIVE MINUTES OF THE MOVIE

One of the seniors in this widow ashram feels that the only way there would be any hope in the life of the youngest new addition (a little girl no more than 5 or 6 years) is by giving the girl away to Mahatma Gandhi who is making a 5 minute stop over at the city's railway station. Its a scene which has built up this kind of lack of hope emotion throughout the movie and suddenly in the last 5 minutes you feel that this little girl (who has acted brilliantly by the way) will lead a good life if she is given to Mahatma Gandhi. The senior lady is convinced of that. I was convinced of that. Watch the movie to see what happens. But what the point I want to make is that is there anyone in Indian politics right now who makes you feel hopeful? Is there anyone who makes you feel that yes my child will be safe if this guy is around? Is there any politician you trust?..... Sad isnt it? I will leave it up to you to decide whether this situation is hopeless or if something can be done about it.

-----END----

Did I mention that I saw the movie on an imported DVD because the movie wasnt allowed to be released in India as it might have hurt religious sentiments?

Experimentation..Magic

2006-09-09T00:13:00.000-07:00

You know I dont know too much about the RTI (Right To Information) Act in India but what I think all of us have been hearing is that this act has the potential to change the face of India. I know that activists/NGOs can be passionate about their causes and can be sometimes more rhetorical than politicians but with me its one of those "WHAT IF" kind of feelings regarding RTI. What if these guys are right? Then my system did this internal calculation about the upsides and the downsides for myself. If this "What If" is accurate then the upsides are tremendous. I will finally be able to see proof of the crazy "system" in India becoming answerable. Thats amazing I think. Promptly my system asked - "What about the downsides?". Valid question.

Well I dont know what the downsides will be. Maybe some mental bandwidth to figure out what project I want information on. Maybe going to some office...maybe less...maybe more. I am not sure. But if the upsides are so cool then I think I am going to experiment.

I have decided that I will not choose a global problem but something that is completely local. Maybe I will choose to get more information about the pavement outside my residential complex. If there is one infrastructure project that is never ending, then this is it. Its constantly broken and rebuilt. Maybe once every 2 months. Or maybe I want to find out more details about the lack of parking space in a commercial complex close to my house which totally disrupts the flow of traffic near my house and makes my morning and evening drive painful. Basically small things that I feel could make my living a bit more comfortable. Nothing earth shattering. The RTI office is 20 minutes from my house. (You can find the office close to your house at http://districts.nic.in/welcome.html). And they say all I have to do is to fill up some form and then its like magic. I think I want to experience this magic. Dont you?

California = Delhi? Possible

2006-08-23T23:05:00.000-07:00

I know some of you might be thinking that this guy is going to write something on the lighter side otherwise comparing California and Delhi is like comparing Heaven with Hell. Not this time. I think all of you already know that California sets the standards for a lot of things in the US (if not the world). What starts in California, spreads to other states in some form or another. Whether its about vehicular safety standards, or emission technology or IT policy etc. California is like the thought and practice leader. I think that Delhi can easily occupy that space in India.

I have some thoughts in my mind why I believe that Delhi be the thought and practice leader in India and set an example that can be followed. These thoughts are on the following lines:

- Why should Delhi choose to be a thought and practice leader for the rest of India?

- Are there any specific areas that Delhi can be the leader in? Not thinking purely economics here.

- Are all the ingredients there to ensure that Delhi can be a leader?

- Is the question CAN Delhi set an example or SHOULD Delhi set an example?

Think about it for two minutes.

Bursting at the seams

2006-08-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

Isnt this what our newspapers say about our cities? Bursting at the seams!! Oh come on. Get real. The bloody seam got washed away in our filthy rivers 20 years back. What in the world are you talking about? Bangalore - No seam. Delhi - No seam. Mumbai - Seam? What is that? Pune - Roads? What is that? Chennai - No seam. Gurgaon - Ha! Kolkotta - Ha! Ha!

I have a question or two for those of you in denial about this "bursting seam"situation. How would you rate Mumbai v/s New York? Or Delhi v/s Beijing? Or Kolkotta v/s Shanghai? Chennai v/s London? Pune v/s Frankfurt? Why? Why should we not benchmark our cities against these cities? Do we not pay taxes? Are we not allowed to dream of beautiful cities for our children? Rather SHOULD we not dream of beautiful cities for our children? India belongs to Indians. Whether it goes down the drain or becomes a heaven to stay in, it depends on us...you...me. Deny it all you want. So either we...you...I can accept crap or make a difference. Its our...yours...my choice.

Fragile Egos

2006-08-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

Yes I think thats what we Indians have as global citizens. Maybe we are also a bit insecure at some level. I think I am going to ramble a bit here. Maybe some rambling makes sense and maybe some is what it is meant to be...rambling.

Have you ever seen how happy some of us feel if a firang gives us a compliment? Somehow its seen as something different from an Indian giving the complement. I dont even want mention our fascination with white skinned people. I think Karan Johar in his "K"whatever movies really touches this aspect in every Indian's soul. We go out of the way not to stand out and try and ensure that we blend with whichever society we are a part of. I am not talking about cultural adaptability. This is more on the lines of the fake accents that we acquire or considering who cant communicate well in english as not "with it". We Indians wont think twice criticising US policies to an American or Blair thrashing with a Brit but dare they say one thing about neo-nazis heading state governments or corrupt politicians handling the largest employer in the world (Indian railways) or our filthy cities and we get on the backfoot. We get defensive. We get aggressive. We rationalize. We justify by saying things like we have too many poor people. We were destroyed by the British and its been just 60 (!!!!!) years since we gained independence. We are too culturally diverse....justifications ad nauseum basically.

Any truth here? Or was this all rambling? If there is any truth in this then any idea about why we do it? Are we really insecure about our place in the world?

And its back!!

2006-07-21T09:14:00.000-07:00

If terrorist use roads to reach targets they bomb then lets shut down roads across the country. This is the logic the government used to block major blog hosts. Is that dumb or is that very dumb?

But here is an opportunity for the entrepreneurs amongst you. The probability of India ever going to war against any country because it has been attacked is very low. Therefore, it will rely on intelligence/surveillance to counter and tackle this threat. Since this is an area of national security, the government might not permit foreign technology companies to set up shop in India to help improve the intelligence systems. It seems like a good opportunity for an entrepreneur.

Sidenote: I am not sure if you all have heard of In-Q-Tel (www.in-q-tel.com). Its a venture capital fund controlled by the National Security Agency or the CIA I think.

Crap! Shit! Bullshit!

2006-07-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

I dont know how long we have to put up with this. I am talking about the real thing here. Excreta!!! Its everywhere in India. I know, I know this is not something you want to read about let alone read first thing in the morning. But its just disgusting. Isnt it just amazing how we have been putting up with this for so long and I think we now accept crap on the roads as much as wineyards in the french riviera.

I have some simple suggestions:

1. Toilet train all animals who want to share road rights with the vehicular traffic. Or maybe the Unilevers of the world could develop animal nappies! Now thats a market they have never even considered I think. :-)

2. Let the animals/humans use public space to add to our visual and smelling delight but maybe some agency could collect this and supply it to a bio-gas power plant to produce electricity. Wow! I have suddenly killed two birds with one stone. I am on a roll today.

3. Get the hell serious about using my tax money and sort this out. NOW!! I pay as much tax as any individual from a developed country so why the hell should I accept this? I wont.

The thought for the day for you is if you are satisfied with crap all around you. Well if you are, then India is probably heaven for you but if you are not then what are you going to do about it?

Religion!! What does it stand for??

2006-07-01T22:40:00.000-07:00

Indians in general are considered extremely religious. But my question relates to what it means to each and every one of us. Do we all have the same definition of religion and believe in the same thing or do we all interpret religion in different ways? I am guessing that like art and other things that are very emotions based, every person has a different way of connecting with religion. I personally believe in the values and principals that religions stand for but I dont think I consider myself a religious person.

Have you ever thought of how you define religion? What if you took the physical manifestation of religion (gods/scriptures/symbols...) out of the picture? Would your definition of religion change? Who or what are you more connected to - physical manifestations? values and principals? or is it just your need to feel complete in some undefinable way? Would the time and energy you spend related to religion change if life was a lot easier? What does religion mean to you????

Reducing air pollution

2006-06-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

What is fuel ethanol?Fuel ethanol or anhydrous alcohol is produced by dehydration of rectified spirit or extra neutral alcohol. Ethanol used as part of the fuel, by blending with petrol, for a motor vehicle is called fuel-ethanol.
How it is mixed in Petrol/Gasoline?Ethanol could be blended in various proportions in petrol. Ethanol is usually added 5 to 10% by volume of petrol for such application. In Brazil, ethanol is added 24% by volume in gasoline (petrol).
How does it help in reducing pollution?Use of ethanol in place of tetraethyl lead or MTBE which acts as anti-knocking agents will prevent dangerous and poisonous emissions containing lead or MTBE from petrol.
Will I have to change the engine of my Car?Many states in the US have been using 10% ethanol blend in gasoline (petrol) for use in their cars. Brazil has been using up to 24 % ethanol in petrol. Engines of cars do not need any change to use petrol with up to 24 % ethanol in it.
Will the engine of my vehicle get damaged?Ethanol has, apart from carbon and hydrogen, oxygen in it. This oxygen acts as oxygenating agent during combustion in the IC engine of petrol cars, two-wheelers and three wheelers thus preventing formation of carbon monoxide. Gasoline with ethanol as anti-knocking agent will not cause any damage to the engine.
Can it be used in Two-wheelers/Three-wheelers without any change in vehicles?Yes! Of course you can use gasoline in Two-Wheelers/Three-Wheelers as a normal fuel without changing the engine or any other things.
What are the functions of fuel ethanol? Octane enhancement / anti-knocking agent
Oxygenating agent Fuel extender / fuel replacement
Where it will be made available?The oil Companies will blend the petrol/gasoline with fuel ethanol and this blended fuel will be made available through petrol/gas stations.
Can it be added in Diesel?Ethanol is also added to diesel. Usually, 3% by volume is added. Tests have been conducted satisfactorily with up to 10% by volume addition.
Which are the other countries, which have promoted fuel ethanol?Many states in the US have been using 10% ethanol blend in gasoline (petrol) for use in their cars. Brazil has been using up to 24 % ethanol in petrol. Engines of cars do not need any change to use petrol with up to 24 % ethanol in it.Fuel ethanol programs have now been initiated in countries like Australia, Nepal, Columbia, Poland, Sweden etc.
What is the experience of countries who have promoted fuel ethanol?Reduced oil imports, improved trade balance, reduced reliance on imported oil, increased ethanol production, more cane price to farmers, direct and indirect job opportunities, saving fossil fuels are some of the experiences.

Ultimate choke point for India

2006-06-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

What is that one component of our democracy which, if overhauled, could change the face of India?Some hints:

- A politician who is corrupt or commits a crime gets caught. What happens to him?
- A businessman who runs away with yours or a foreign investor's money. What happens to him?
- A man rapes a girl. What happens to him?
- A policeman/government official acts in a way that is against the law. What happens to him?
- Poachers and loggers destroy natural flora and fauna in cahoots with the govt. machinery (policitians/officials). What happens to them?

I am sure that you can keep adding to the list. But let me ask you, what is common in all these situations?

The one thing that is common and that needs to change is the JUDICIAL SYSTEM. Every bloody thing in a democracy depends on a fair, efficient and an effective judicial system. There is a lot of good work that the judiciary does but on a day to day basis, justice is very far from you and I. The judicial system is the ultimate choke point for India.

Is there something we can do? Redundant question. It seems to be a speciality of mine I think. :-) What do you think? Do you know who H.R. Bhardwaj is? Do you know what he stands for? Do you know who is helping shape the future of Law and Justice in India? Do you know what other Ministers of Justice have stood for? If you do then thats great because I have absolutely no idea what they believe in and what they stand for. Isnt that dangerous?

The single most important element of our democracy in the hands of someone we dont know. What if he has a history of assisting politicians or big business houses? What if he is pro-Oil lobby?...Who the hell is our Minister of Justice and what does he stand for?????

Flower on cowdung!

2006-06-14T02:57:00.000-07:00

Some name for a blog but when I look at the infrastructure being developed in Indian cities, this is the analogy that comes to my mind.

Indian cities dont need piecemeal efforts of building flyovers and subways. I think anything less than complete overhaul of cities is useless. The infrastructure being developed right now is what one can call "political infrastructure". It is something that is visible and will have positive effects in the short term but in the long term, this infrastructure would probably just hinder growth.

We hear corporate CEOs taking flak for having a short term perspective to achieve quarterly numbers but what in the world can we do to keep politicians in check? Anything that comes to your mind? Politicians are like the AIDS virus no? No bloody cure in sight but everybody is effected by them in some way. :-)

Petrol price hike. Time to act?

2006-06-10T00:12:00.000-07:00

No this post is not about lamenting the increase in fuel price. It was going to happen sooner or later. If we are moving towards capitalism then we cant really have a socialist mentality and ask for subsidized oil bills. This does not mean that the increased fuel cost doesnt hurt our pocket. What is this blog about you might ask??

I read some paper somewhere on oil dependence of consumers. The gist of the paper was that the usage of oil doesnt really go down with increase in oil price. I think thats a valid point since I dont think I will stop coming to office if the price of oil was too high. So what this means is that not only do we constantly keep polluting the environment by buring gasoline but this is accompanied by increased cost for us. Hmmm. Doesnt make sense.

What does make sense is something Vinod Khosla has been working on for a while. Vinod Khosla (http://www.khoslaventures.com/people.html), as you must know, is the founding CEO of Sun Microsystems and is rated as one of the best venture capitalists in the world. He is putting his weight behind "bio-fuel" in California which happens to be one of the largest guzzlers of oil in the world. When I read what he was doing, I felt like saying - here is one of those "rich beyond belief guys" who has suddenly found religion and is now doing social work. But Vinod Khosla is not that kind of a character. He has an established track record of identifying global trends early and building world class companies around these trends. So if he says that "bio-fuel" is the future, I will definitely take his word for it. Just to give 2-3 bullet points about what he says: (for more details, I seriously recommend you go through this presentation by Vinod Khosla http://www.khoslaventures.com/presentations/BiofuelsMay2006.ppt)

- One doesnt have to work outside the system to start using bio-fuels. You dont have to start buying new type of cars and oil companies dont have to re-invent their business.

- Bio-fuel is cheaper AND tremendously environment friendly.

- Brazil is a leading user of bio-fuel and has cut down its dependence on oil by around 50Bn barrels of oil per year!!!

- Using bio-fuel improves rural GDP growth by allowing farmers to benefit from this trend.

The list goes on...

With India on a fast economic growth, should we not switch to bio-fuel not only to save money individually but also to reduce dependence on imported oil while helping cut green house gases???? Its a no brainer from my perspective. What do you think?

Is wrong = right?

2006-06-08T01:47:00.000-07:00

You know I can be one of those people who tries to follow all rules and regulations. Because of the extent I can go to sometimes to do this some close acquaintances consider me wierd some times, actually most times. But you know its not because I want to set an example or anthing. My system is kind of very black or white. If something is wrong then its wrong. If something is right then its right. Simple. But we Indians, including myself, are getting very comfortable with shades of grey when it comes to right or wrong situations.

One thing I know for a fact, through practise is that the systems and processes in India are geared towards taking the wrong decision. It would be a lot easier taking the right steps if one was not considered stupid for taking the difficult but right path. If one tries to go the right way then one stands out. I am an average person with no interest whatsoever in standing out so I have been letting the grey blend in in my life. Its so much easier that way. But is that the right way?

RAHUL MAHAJAN!!!!

2006-06-07T02:29:00.000-07:00

I am so bloody fed up of this name. He is Pramod Mahajan's son. Pramod Mahajan died recently. His son parties and maybe he is a dopehead. Maybe the group he hangs out with leads a debauch lifestyle. But I want to understand why Rahul Mahajan in the news so much. Why in the world would I be interested in someone's son doing coke with his friends who party too much and waste a lot of dirty money? So why does he deserve headlines in a newspaper daily? Am I missing what the big news is here or does all this represent something else here?

If this alone is meant to be the main news then it is amazing the way media wants to provide exciting "masala" to audience compared to real news. Its crazy. But maybe this represents something else which I dont understand. I want your views on this. Maybe this represents how deep a morass BJP is in. Maybe this is the way someone powerfull is hitting out against some other powerfull person. Maybe its the congress using the event to create more distance between itself and BJP in terms of showcasing how both parties have no leadership depth. Maybe its some powerful middle class lobby retaliating against the page 3 culture...what do you think?

Indian cities suck!!

2006-06-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

And they might suck a bit more, a whole lot more in the future if something drastic is not done immediately. There has been one scheme after another to develop urban infrastructure. Now the government is setting up the National Urban Renewal Mission (NURM) which to me sounds like a superlord of beaurocracy (is that how its spelt?).

http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/sep/gov-nurm.htm gives an idea of how nothing that the government has tried to do has worked to improve yours and mine quality of life. What I dont understand is that does India really need to work so hard to figure out what might work best for them? India is probably at the bottom of the pile in terms of infrastructure and urban planning. Just copy what has been done elsewhere. Even if you factor in all the "diversities" that the India is supposed to have, you still might be able to draw from what has been done in the past in other places.

The issue India faces is not about planning skills but its about having a good vision, having good benchmarks and execution skills when it comes to urban development (or anything for that matter). So the goverment can put in 24 other superlords in place for everything but unless it has proper benchmarks and strong execution skills, things wont change. But you know ultimately it again boils down to you and me. Do we ourselves know what quality benchmarks we want and how badly we want them?

Racial Ghettoisation in India

2006-06-04T21:43:00.000-07:00

I think its human tendency that we are drawn towards people who we think are like us. To put it differently, people who exhibit certain commonalities, bunch together. Friends copying each others' dressing style is one way of exhibiting this "bunching" together. People of similar communities living together is another way this tendency manifests itself. It points to some sense of identity.

There is another reason why people "bunch" together - security. We feel secure in the company of people who we consider similar to us. Similar to the rest of the world, marginalized communities bunch together in regions to feel secure against the majority. India constitutionally is a secular nation. But when "Hindutva" is on an uprise, we will see the case of ghettoisation of minorities increase. Please read this interesting article on the ghettoisation of the muslim community in India - http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-sikand070206.htm. I dont think that it is just muslims who are being "ghettoised". I think Hindutva is doing that to other sects such as Sikhs as well.

For me personally what it means is that the anxiety pangs I get when I pass a muslim dominated area represents my lack of understanding about the entire issue. It is my lack of awareness about such things that will allow our cunning politicians to exploit me.

What makes Indians like me angry and for how long?

2006-05-16T23:48:00.000-07:00

Everything and 3 days. These are the answers to the 2 questions. Dont believe me? Ok here are some examples.

- Mention reservations and our anger flares up. If Lalu Yadav got married again tomorrow (!), and the media started covering that more, we will put the reservation issue on the backburner and get involved in planning the wedding.

- Mention corruption and most of us will nod our head and say that corruption is eating India alive but we have forgotten the Lalu's and the Jayalalithas of the world.

- Talk about sensex and we forget about farmer suicides in many states.

- Cut our power supply this summer and we will forget it by Novembor 30th (thats not 3 days but I think you get the point).

- Discuss MCD and we forget DDA....

....this can go on forever. But the point is that we have very short-term memories. I think the main problem is that we have no concept/view of how good we want our lives to be. How are these two things connected?

Well, if we keep taking a piecemeal view of things and dont see how things effect our life, throughout our life, then we basically are not leading as high quality a life as we can lead. For example, I dont remember one single summer where regions of India have not faced power and water cuts. But each year we forget that. Each year.

If we really bothered about leading a good high quality life over a long period of time, then we would make a sustained effort to bring about some change. Change will not come overnight. It might take sustained and focused efforts towards an end goal. But right now I am not sure if we are even aware what the end goal is. Are we even aware what our definition of a high quality life is?

Driving Blues

2005-09-27T21:45:00.000-07:00

As if Monday morning blues are not enough to deal with, one has to live with suicidal cyclists on the Indian roads. You knw there are times when I enjoy the excitement associated with driving on Indian roads with all the mayhem and chaos and it gives the impression that you are playing a video game! But most times, I would like to just reach the destination without having to worry about how many people I might have killed or how many times I survived being hit by a truck/bus. I mean what is with the traffic in India and who is why is it so bad? Is there any hope of it getting any better or would I be wise to have my will ready?

My conversing car – Part 1

2005-09-25T23:21:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I have been trying to make sense of driving in India. While I have been trying to figure out the method in the madness (finally I got to use this clichéd statement somewhere!) I suddenly realized a new feature in my car. It converses with me. Yeah I know it sounds extremely schizophrenic. But it is what it is. So what does my car talk to me about? Well, its usually about its experiences and its feelings. Hmmm. Schizophrenia or loneliness I wonder some times! Anyways…

Ok so there was this time when my car was telling me about the difficult time it has understanding the traffic lanes system on the roads in India. She (yes it’s a She). The problem was that she was having difficulty regarding physics. Physics??? Yeah Physics.

See the thing is that someone seems to have told our traffic police (or whoever is responsible for making lanes on roads) that there have to be three lanes on the roads. From what I understand, the lane on the extreme left is for commercial traffic, for traffic that moves slowly and for people who want to take a left turn. Whereas the other two lanes are for faster (relatively speaking) traffic. The confusion my car had was regarding the extreme left lane. See in order to meet the criteria of having three lanes, the road management people ensure that the two right lanes get their share of the road but the third lane gets whatever is left. So lets say as per a city’s master plan a road has to be 30 feet in breadth with each lane getting 10 feet. But of course the width is never 30 feet. It’s anywhere from about 20 to 25 feet. The rest of the road is taken up by encroachments or any other corruption induced activities. So this leaves just 2 to 5 feet for the third lane.

This is where physics comes in. My car was distressed with its inability to change its form to fit this change in lane width in case it had to follow the “stick to your lane” traffic rule followed the world over. It just couldn’t do it no matter how hard it tried. It tried everything but its matter didn’t change shape to allow it to follow a traffic rule. Now I have no idea how to help my car. Either it learns how to defy the laws of physics or it breaks traffic rules. So I am guessing that the city planners, the municipal commissioners and traffic commissioners are quite ok if my car and me break traffic rules and change lanes at random. Nice. I told you its fun driving in India.

Rich City, Poor City In The Same City

2005-09-06T01:36:00.000-07:00

Due to multiple factors most cities in the world usually have affluent areas and the not-so-affluent areas. So it would not be something unusual if a similar phenomenon existed in India. How wrong can you be? If there is something bad in the world, we in India can develop something worse! How? Well let me quote two cases but the same practice is seen across India.

Case 1- New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD):
The city of Delhi has two municipal bodies working simultaneously to cater to the needs of the city. Please visit the two areas that fall under each body. NDMC caters to the needs of an area that houses the rich and the famous and the rest of the Delhi is managed by the MCD. Now I don’t have to tell you the difference between the way both these separate areas look. The moment you leave the MCD area and enter the NDMC area, you feel like you are in a different and a much more developed city. The roads are super, there is relatively less water and electricity shortage, the roads are tree lined…I mean the works. By the way I must let you know that MCD is probably one of the most inefficient government organizations in the world so you can imagine what condition the rest of the city is in.

What does this imply? This simply implies that the salaried class that stays in the MCD area pays its tax to the state government which provides better living conditions to those living in the NDMC area which houses politicians, beaurocrats and the affluent class. I know some of you are going to say that NDMC area pays taxes as well but I am pretty sure that the proportion of taxes paid by people living in the MCD area is probably way higher. Huh! No no this cant be right. Well my dear friend it is true and rumor has it that this fact is probably going to be submitted to Riplyes Believe it Or Not (just kidding).
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Case 2 - North Mumbai and South Mumbai:
Same case. South Mumbai is the rich Mumbai and North Mumbai is the middle class Mumbai. During the recent monsoon related flooding in Mumbai, South Mumbai fared much better than North Mumbai.
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India’s constitution talks about equal rights for all but I think that’s what it is – talk. The reality is something completely different. The cliques between politicians, bearocrats and the rich have created mental and physical distortions in our country that are deeply embedded and would require nothing less than a complete overhaul. But who is going to overhaul the system when you and I sit and let things happen? I wish I could answer that by saying “divine intervention” but do you really think that will help? What will help? What will you do to help my friend?

Police Games – Part 1

2005-09-06T01:34:00.000-07:00

We must give it to some government agencies in India for the tricks they play with us Indians. Most of these tricks are so bloody clever that you really have to cut layers of lies/tricks/deceit…(or whatever you want to call them) to uncover what the trick is all about. Let me give you an example of one of the tricks that the Indian police uses with great facility.

Imagine there is a spurt in the crime rate in a city in India (nothing unusual by the way). The media, politicians and people create a hue and cry (usually a temporary phenomenon in India) and the police is basically clueless about what to do. So the first thing the police does is to install barricades all over the city. Of course there is logic behind putting barricades all over the city. Let me tell you what it is. Hmmmm hang on. There has to be some logic. Ok let me think again. No answer. But I do have some questions.

Can putting up barricades all over the city stop rapes? The Indian police seems to think so. I mean how does the police measure the effectiveness of using barricades? I think the sole effectiveness measure is the money policemen can extort from two-wheeler riders and nothing more. These barricades are nothing but an optical illusion used by the police. The illusion makes people feel that the police is monitoring crime in the city. With rising volume of traffic in most cities, the barricades disrupt schedules of a larger number of people therefore more people feel that police is getting more strict. Lovely trick. Seriously man this is a genius of a trick. Just put up barricades. You don’t even have to monitor the traffic (which the police doesn’t in any case!!!). Nothing. You don’t have to look inside vehicles, you don’t have to check documents (unless you feel like making some money)…nothing. The people would just perceive “policing effectiveness”. In the mean time, the police will use regular intelligent methods to try and catch the terrorists/rapists/thieves.

Wow!! I am amazed, stupefied, stunned…whatever. I can never imagine the New York or London or Tokyo or Frankfurt police to put up barricades to check crime in the city. Its completely and totally useless. So on top of pathetic road infrastructure we have to deal with petty and senseless tricks. Awesome! This is exactly what I pay my taxes for. Don’t you some time wonder how this is ever going to stop? I think the common man in India is waiting for divine intervention. Sure. God is going to come down and tell the police and politicians to stop playing these games. Great. OK lets just wait till then.

Colorblind Nation

2005-08-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

If you have ever travelled anywhere in India, you would observe an illness that afflicts the entire nation. Its an epidemic of mass proportion. Color-blindness. The peculiar scenario in India is that people cannot distinguish the color red from green and are a bit confused about the color orange as well. The evidence for this epidemic can be seen on every road and at every traffic intersection in India. I drive in India as well so I have been trying to develop a system which will allow me to avoid accidents at traffic lights. Some rules of this system include:

THERE IS NO COLOR RED. Yippeeee!! When you see red, it usually means orange which means you slow down or stop for a second and speed onwards again. In an equal number of circumstances red also means green which means that you can go forward without stopping. Infact one correlation I was able to find was that the bigger the vehicle you drive, the higher is your tendency to see just the color green. How exciting!
Red and orange equal green after 10:00PM in the night. Stopping at a red light after 10:00PM is equal to lunacy.
There are times when the traffic lights themselves are a bit confused about what light should be on. So when you see more than one light (red, orange or green) then assume its green. You can always argue with the traffic cop about the confused traffic light. You will ALWAYS win in a confused traffic light situation with a traffic cop.
Finally, if you are one of those sticklers who just have to follow all rules and if you reach a traffic intersection where the color confusion confuses you then just stop at the intersection. If you are wrong then you will be corrected by blaring horns from behind you and/or verbal bouquets thrown towards you by passing drivers. You can proceed safely after that. Its a confirmation that irrespective of what color is on, we in India are assuming it to be green at the point of time. So much simplicity. Dont you just love it?

Hopefully you will benefit from these small but extremely usefull driving tips for India. Before I forget let me mention that while driving on the roads in India, forget who is accountable for this color blindness and what will be done to correct it. We are too busy building roads and too busy getting from point A to B to bother about trivial issues like color-blindness. So just see the color green and move on.

Roving Eye - Mumbai v/s India

2005-08-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

I know you must think that this man is now going to write about something to do with either Bollywood or the stock market. Borrriiiiinnngg!! Well I want to write about something that I am extremely curious about - the roving eye!

Ask any woman in Mumbai and she will extoll the virtues of living in Mumbai and one of the top reasons is the safety factor. Women in Mumbai feel a lot safer compared to those in any other place in India. As always, I am not backed by any statistical data so if you were looking for hard numbers then you are reading the wrong blog. Ok back to women feeling safe in Mumbai. Now this is something that has made me extremely curious. What is it that makes women feel safer in Mumbai? Its not that men's genetic/mental constitution changes in Mumbai or that Mumbai's women are not visually appealing. So then what is it that makes a woman's life difficult while walking alone on the streets anywhere in North India but the same girl can have a great time out and return alone late in the night in Mumbai?

I have been given several reasons by people which range from the role organised crime plays in stopping petty crime to people thrashing eve teasers. Could it also be some culture related thing? I doubt if its culture since Mumbai is probably the most cosmopolitan of cities in India. I dont think its the police either. I think one of the things we Indians can be proud of is the consistency across states in terms of inefficiency of the police. So then what is it?

It would be great if we could figure out things that can be replilcated across India.

Infrastructure v/s Intelligent Infrastructure

2005-08-17T22:17:00.000-07:00

I am sure you have been reading about how much importance the government is putting on infrastructural development in India. This outlook is commendable no doubt but what seems to be lacking is a long term vision for developing this infrastructure for which you and I are paying for. As an example lets consider the case of constructing flyovers in Delhi. Anyone who visited Delhi 5 years back would be shocked to see the number of flyovers that have come up in the city. The traffic is a lot smoother and there are fewer bottlenecks. But (of course there would be a "but" here!!) are these flyovers sufficient for the traffic needs for the next 50 years? Most of us would be quite content with the status quo and say - "who has seen whats going to happen 50 years down the line?". Excellent question my friend but if you ever understand that its your own money that is being used to make these flyovers, you might seem a bit more interested I think. I mean if you can bargain for higher "Value" with MNC companies, shopkeepers..then why do you have trouble doing the same with the government?

The point is this - It is your money being spent now and it will be your money spent later on as well. So what do you think makes more sense - spending less money in the immediate future but paying more over the long term OR paying considerably less money over a longer period of time? But you might ask what the relevance of all this that I am talking about is. Well let me get back to the flyovers in Delhi. If the flyovers are not going to be sufficient for the growth of traffic in the future then have the infrastructure plans provisioned for scalability? What do you think the answer is going to be? In all likelihood its a resounding NO.

The question is this - If India does not have to reinvent the wheel and can easily follow worldwide best practices then why not do it? In this day and age I find it hard to believe that we cannot get "intelligent infrastructure" if we are paying for it. I mean I dont want excuses. I want results. There is not one single alibi anyone can give that cannot be solved. Whether its money, expertise, demand..whatever. Give me my money's worth or get the hell out.

I just re-read my posting and I sound exasperated!! Well I am. Time for my morning cup of tea now. Also I think I should clarify that this exasperation is pointed both towards the government and towards all of us who let others define our quality of life.

Roadkill - Part 1

2005-08-05T02:44:00.000-07:00

Roadkill - Part 1

I am still debating whether I should continue trying to rhyme the titles of my blogs or not but today I am going to not bother my grey matter which such serious thoughts. You know while epidemics/contagions/natural calamities take their toll and continue to kill Indians every day, there is one really really big cause of fatalities which is completely avoidable that is being completely overlooked. ROAD ACCIDENTS. I am quite sure that the figure of Indians dying in road accidents is probably in the top 5 causes of unnatural deaths in India.

I dont want to believe that I am a government basher but I think that the biggest culprit that causes these deaths of your loved ones is the government. The first step in building a process which helps avoids accidents is developing a filtering system through which only those competent/responsible enough to drive are given the license to drive. But the way one acquires a license in India is a joke. Who doesnt know that? What the government of India is doing is the same as putting a raging bull in a China shop. The only difference is that the loss is irreparable for those who loose someone.

The issue here is to figure out the priority for the government. The government's responsibility does not end with JUST providing a license but it STARTS there.

Actually I have a question for you. If the government does not have the infrastructure to test drivers properly then should they issue a license? I think that just because the demand for licenses is going up then that should not mean that the government reduces the quality of the licensing process. In fact it should be the other way round. More cars implies a higher probability of accidents therefore the drivers need to be tested thoroughly before giving the responsibility of sharing the roads with other drivers.

If the government cannot maintain the quality of the licensing process then it should not provide licenses. It is playing with people's lives if it gives licenses to people who might cause accidents. Its like giving a gun to a psycho killer. If you are not sure what the psycho might do then why hand him the gun in the first place? Is it not the government's fault that the guy they certified kills someone you love?

Hire, Hire – Put my money on fire

2005-07-16T01:36:00.000-07:00

Hire, Hire – Put my money on fire

I don’t know if you have noticed but I have been trying my hand at poetry and trying to bring some rhyming sense to the titles. I think I suck at it! Ok get on with what you have to talk about dude.

Ok imagine your boss (yes your boss) running a really large company. I know that’s not a vision you feel too thrilled about but please indulge me a bit here. Maybe as usual I don’t have a point but who knows, I might surprise you today. Imagine him hiring people left, right and center. Then imagine him set up 45 different departments. 5 departments out of these do the same things that previous 8 departments did. His hiring policy is quite innovative. He finds people who only join the company because they cant fit anywhere else and are probably the laziest people on the planet. Now he ensures that they cant be fired for anything other than for killing the boss which they would never do since they love the system he is creating. Then our champion leader starts transferring whoever is not part of his coterie. Well what about performance measurement you ask. Hmm says he and hires 12 other departments to do that. Suddenly he remembers that he doesn’t even know what performance measurement means. So he instructs all 105 departments (I hope you are not counting) to hire consultants to measure their performance. Oh and did I mention the most important thing? Every one person he hires increases your tax by Rs. 100. Awesome!!

Well what would you do if this were actually happening? Would this be another point to bitch about during tea breaks or would something actually be done? Is it possible that you might make an effort to find out how to improve this system so that you don’t have to support this moron through the taxes you pay? At what point would you say that enough is enough and that if no one else is doing anything then you will take that first step. How do you take that first step? Any guesses?

Running the race – measure my performance

2005-07-16T01:34:00.000-07:00

Running the race – measure my performance

I won the 100 meters today!! I feel so bloody good I cant tell you. Now all those who have seen my fitness levels nowadays would definitely ask me about who I was racing against. Excellent question I’d say. Well I increased my performance 20% since the last time I measured it. Well then the smart ones out of you would ask me again to let you know who I was competing against and now that I have told you that my performance increased by over 20% then what was my previous time for the distance. Another excellent question I’d say, smile at you and then I will ask you to consider that I started running just 10 days back. OK wow you’d say but the even smarter ones out of you would get a little pissed and ask me to not play games and just give some straight answers. Hmmm. Aren’t you a little demanding? Why should I tell you that I was competing a couple of chubby 14 year olds and my last race time was 45 seconds for the 100 meter dash? Are you happy now after having burst my bubble? Cant you just be happy with what I told you?

Well forget this race scenario and my fitness levels but the thing to note here is that every time I said something about my performance some of you questioned my frame of reference for my data. If you can do that about my racing skills then why don’t you ever question the statistics that are fed to you by the government? India’s literacy improved by Xmillion%.. Crime rate in Delhi down by 5zillion%…Corruption down by 23freakillion%….this list of statistics is just endless. I am pretty sick of this mindless, senseless junk data that is shoved down my throat by the government every day. Some intelligent man (I do know who. Honestly.) said that everything is relative but do we ever question the data/statistics the government gives us? Why not? Are we too busy feeling happy about the rosy picture that is painted for us? Or just too arrogant and in denial to see that things can be a lot better?