pointReturn

Good News India always used to give me a lot of inspiration. Here is an update from Good News India to Point Return

Why is Good News India Not Updated?

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Beautiful Sunday

What a beautiful sunday december afternoon today
Sweet gentle breeze is blowing all around
Doesn't feel like a winter at all
I stand outside my balcony and look at the sky
It is azure! It is serene !It is clear
I close my eyes and feel the wind
I feel the serenity around and the peace
I feel like going by the lake side
And just meditate!sit quietly and do nothing
It is such a heavenly feeling
Makes me think
That nature has always been beautiful
It is onto us to maintain it and nurture it
And keep it beautiful
In return it keeps us peaceful
creative and happy

3 days of choking and now outrage

They may not be my relatives. They may not be my best friends. But still they were my friends, my brothers and my sisters. We were all related by our country, our motherland India. And when I heard their horror stories , their trauma, their suffering for three days, I could feel it. I could feel the pain within me. At moments, my throat would choke. My eyes would fill with tears. Why are these beautiful, peace loving innocent people of this beautiful country going through such a traumatic punishment?

I saw the story of the son calling his father and asking him to turn on TV to see what is happening and then bidding him good bye.

I saw the story of little Moshe being rescued only to be informed a few years later that he was orphaned during the bloodiest terror strikes on the beautiful Indian soil.

I saw a choked person explaining on NDTV how he has lost six members of his family while he went to park a car in the parking lot at CST railways station.

And there are many more stories. Initially there is pain in everyone’s hearts. And then comes the outrage, the anger that says enough is enough. Is it surprising anymore? Is it surprising that people have completely lost their faith and hope in the establishment that is responsible for their security so that they can do well and pay taxes and take the country forward? People have tolerated it for too long. For too many times. The anger and outrage were quite evident this time. And it was clear that people will tolerate, rhetoric and routine bullshit from the establishment. Those who tried the routine rhetoric and playing down exercise had to face the heat and will face it much more strongly if they do not understand. Shivraj Patil, Vilasrao Deshmukh, R.R. Patil et al.

Is the whole political establishment getting mindless?

How mindless can you be to say Badi Badi shehron mein chhoti baatein hoti hai?

How mindless can you be to announce Rs. 1 crore for soldiers died fighting the terrorists while their families and the whole country are still mourning?

How mindless can you be to achieve political mileage by visiting the house of Late Sandeep Unnikrishnan? So is it surprising to see the behavior of Sandeep’s father? My father would have done the same thing.

Even as we are struck in the middle of an awful security crisis, our politicians are behaving worse than children. And they are blaming the media for antagonizing the people against them?

As a citizen of India who was excited to vote, I am no longer interested in voting at all. Because I do not see alternatives. I do not see anyone worth my choice. It will be an insult to my judgement. What were Mr. Advani and Rajnath Singh doing by not attending the all-party meet? Campaigning? Don’t they realize that they have completely antagonized the people with their behavior. That was such a foolish move. People were expecting them to show up and reassure their citizens that we are all united in this difficult hour. They could have shown their camaraderie by being constructive and suggesting concrete changes. They could have shown their leadership. These were the real moments where they could have displayed leadership and responsibility. But they didn’t. Because they didn’t care. Is that the behavior of a leader that L.K Advani claims himself to be? And they expect our votes?

Hence, here we are, the people of India, in a quagmire. Left with no options to vote. Because no one deserves our vote.We are outraged, we are angered. We are kind of feeling hopeless unless we take concrete action where a common citizen has more role to play than mere voting.

This is the moment, may be, when we think of redefining our constitution. Where, we make sure that our vote goes to one who well deserves it. The one who shows to the world, our love, our might and our pride.

This is the moment, may be, when each one us starts thinking each of us as a part owner of this country, beyond tax paying and voting. And the first ownership we should display begins from who we choose to head our country and thus demanding accountability on a very determined and regular basis from them.Thats a pledge we must take.

I hope this really is the beginning of a movement, a people’s movement where each one of us will participate in.

I hope I really do not forget and get into my comfortable 8 hours job.

I hope I start dedicating a part of my life towards a better India.

I hope whenever I am disappointed I will get back my motivation by thinking about the great sacrifices that the heroes have made.

And every one is asking : How can I contribute? How can I get out of my cocoon? How can I make sure things are not taken for granted?

I am thinking too.

Perils of Street Advertising and Their Impact on Me

"Shaver Set Sir..."
"Imported Leather Purses..Imported Leather Purses..."

"Can I have a minute?...I am not a Sales Person Sir..."

This is what I face every day while walking up and down road between my house and office. And my response is similar :

"Sorry... I am in a rush..."

And everytime I tried to listen, it has been severely disappointing.

But it seems, that has made a negative impact on me finally. Or rather was about to make an impact that I always wanted it not to. About to because, I finally did not commit the grave mistake. The grave mistake of not helping a person who was genuinely looking for help.

This morning while I was walking to my office, I was approached by a person carrying a similar file that those representatives carry. I thought to my myself "Damn they are starting so early huh." Because it was really early in the morning at 7:30 a.m. And in my typical response, I said " Sorry I am in rush." Was I in rush? Absolutely no. But that is my only way to avoid hearing the crap.

And after I said I am in rush, he did not try to pursue and started walking away. And to my horror I realized that he was not someone advertising. He was merely looking for direction. I sincerely apologized to him and gave him the directions. After giving the direction, I again apologized to him for the my mistake.

I kinda goofed. But I was also happy that this event reminded me of my own commitment that I will deal every event on a case by case basis and not generalize and not act on a general perception ever.

I was happy that I did not commit the mistake. Otherwise I would have felt really upset.

Moral : Do not generalize ever. Always listen before making a decision.

Can 21st Century India throw up an Obama?

Well!! That was the question posed on IBN Live news channel yesterday. A very interesting question indeed. Suddenly Obama is a role model that every country wants to produce and every channel wants to discuss and debate upon.

Oh by the way I have been myself thoroughly impressed and inspired by the kindness, humility and openness of Obama movement who quite expectedly became a phenomenon by touching the hearts of the people where it soothes and reassures the most.

Coming to the question, I feel every nook and corner of India has produced Obama at the grassroots movement. The problems and intricacies of India have produced several Obamas.

There are so many names that come to my mind.

Who in this country does not know Kiran Bedi? She touches the same chord when people think of her.

How about Aruna Roy? The architect of Right to Information
How about Medha Patkar?
How about Baba Amte?
And there are several others.

There are several leaders in this country tirelessly working for the oppressed.

Our political system is so established that you have to work in a party system and it is such a catch 22 quagmire. Number one is, you cannot join any of the existing parties because they are so rotten. At this moment, when the elections come, good God, I cannot even think of who to vote? BJP? Congress? JD(S), CPI(M)? I just cannot think of anyone. I am pretty confident that there may be good people in these parties like some diamonds in the ocean. But they hardly make a difference.

And then, when someone thinks of starting a party, do they get money backing? people backing? encouragement? Rarely. The first question that comes to mind is, "ahh!! why the hell do they want to start a party? must be some evil intentions". This is because people are tired of the filth in the politics in India. People are tired of divisive politics. Tired of caste politics. Tired of language politics. We ask, are we moving towards a mature democracy or an immature one?

And the real leaders of this country today rather work in the small pockets and make real differences there without entering the big picture of politics.

So, I feel we have several leaders. I will not call them Obamas. Rather I wonder if Obama got inspired by them. The bottomline is, I get inspired by both.

There needs to be a movement and an upheaval and may be there will be one when the cumulative goodness that believes in no separation, that believes in unity, that believes in inclusion, that believes in healing, to stand up and take on the onus of cleaning the filth.

And when we will be proud to say : We are Democratic!! We are Mature. And many Seema Goyals need not have to go on record on TV saying "I am not proud of my country".

Happy Durga Pujo and Shubho Bijoya

Wish everyone very happy pujo and shubho bijoya. This was my 2nd year in Bangalore celebrating the pujo in a small way. Nevertheless, I got the chance to do 2 pandal hopping and enjoy some yummy hot Khichudi, Alu-Potol, Bandhakopi, Tomato chutney and paayes. The pujos were small in grandeur when it came to comparing with those in Bengal but still sweet experience. There were some nice little cultural events around.

But what makes the pujos so special is the excitement with which we wait, and the openness with which we enjoy the 4 days. Oh yes the food plays the most significant role.

So here are pictures from Bangalore Pujo.

Blogging back

Just came back from a trip to Austin, TX and Savannah, Georgia. Was in the middle of different things (not necessarily important) and was also not sure on what to blog. Hence this extended delay in the posting. Well, I will make it up with some cool pictures from Savannah where I was attending a conference of the Institute of Navigation.

Amazingly Motivational Story :: A Guy who got into Google

Read this :

A Guy Who Got into Google

NY Times Article :: End of Black Politics?

I was reading this article on NY Times. Pretty intriguing and displays some unusual complexities. As I read through, I felt how just a different perception can add a complete new dimension of complexity.

Is Obama the End of Black Politics?

Very interesting read. Pretty Long though.

Using Plastics for Waste:: Work of Dr. Alka Zadgaonkar

I read this very interesting article on goodnewsindia.com. If this is so successful, I wish it comes to every corner of the country and the plastic is taken away as soon as it is dumped down.

Alka Zadgaonkar Wrings Plastic Waste for Profit

Advanced Management Courses

Watch Chak De India
Watch Swades
Lalu Prasad Yadav's Railway Success

The above can easily run into semesters with students' perspectives etc.

OK!! Apologies for being sarcastic. :-) But it caught my attention this early morning when in a TV channel it was being shown that some management institute had screening and group discussion on Chak De India as part of curriculum.

Remember "Yeh 75 minutes tumse koi nahin chheen sakta..." ? a.k.a "Nobody can snatch these 75 minutes from you.." ?

Its Uncertain I tell you

We were all working peacefully this morning and the discussion was still on about why the heck is this diesel crisis and power crisis and will the Air conditioner stop working in the completely closed room. As usual, the possibility of conspiracy theories behind the power and diesel crisis were also being discussed.

And then there you go. Someone comes and says there were couple of blasts at a stone throw distance from our workplace. And the whole focus shifted. There were 9 low intensity blasts this afternoon in Bangalore and quite a few were pretty close (< 1-2 Km) from my house and my office. And then there were discussions, a little panic and little philosophy. To be honest, I was the philosophically boring one. I am sure my colleagues were like "Oh no not again" :-) Buts that's alright.

But I guess its high time we throw that panic out of door since its no help getting panicked. Its just a sense of excitement unfortunately. We should get this straight. Our lives have become uncertain. We might be here today. We may not be tomorrow. The home minister may condemn. Critical IT establishments may be brought under Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). Great fine. But, you cannot guarantee where a trigger may go, from a common man's security perspective.

I was having this discussion with a few colleagues some time back and they were not definitely satisfied with my point when I asked , is it better to die suddenly with a sense of security until then or is it better to live every day without any sense of security and fearing that some mindless attack may happen? I think I would go for the former.

Unfortunately, a common individual must get this that we must live life without panic and be ready to accept that one never knows when they may be at a wrong place at a wrong time. That's what happened with two unfortunate souls who died today in the blasts.

Buses, railway stations, malls, movie halls etc. are so many soft spots. Will we stop going to those places? Ofcourse not. We believe that the people in charge of the security of the community have done their pre-emtive job.

Until then blasts will happen. Innocent people will keep dying. Our ministers will keep condemning and promising not to spare the guilty.

It must have been a normal morning for the poor woman who had no clue that a blast was in store for her. It could have been you. It could be me. And we start taking these things as part of life.

Unfortunate!!

Diesel Shortage in Bangalore

Today, we got an email informing us that there is a severe diesel crisis in Bangalore. And as you know, power cuts are a common phenomena and hence many times, the offices are working on generators. And these generators work on diesel. So, diesel cut means, the generators cant sustain for long and if they cant, well!! then your guess is anyone's guess. Thats right. The work in Bangalore can come to a halt.

These so called modern offices are built with nice looking windows only to be not opened. I wish they could. That way we could turn off everything in day time and opened the windows. Its anyways fabulosly pleasant in Bangalore. But alas we cant.

We have already gotten emails asking us to shut down our systems when we go back home. And guess what !! I forgot :-) :-(

Is it possible that all offices in Bangalore might come to a halt if this crisis grows? What other ramifications can this have?

Unimaginable crisis!!

Ex-VP of IBM/HP Facing Charges of upto 10 years in prison

This is absolutely scary. If you are wondering what the heck I am talking about, then go to google and search for the keywords "Atul Malhotra", "IBM" or "HP". The news article will pop up.

Now, coming to the brief intro and the analysis, Atul Malhotra was with IBM for almost 7 or 8 years. While at IBM he gets some document containing sales strategy etc. The document was sesitive. He was not supposed to share it with anyone. Then he moves on HP. He shares it some VP at HP. Lands in trouble. HP fires him. Reports him to cops. He pleads guilty of leaking IBM trade secrets. Faces a prison term of upto 10 years in prison. Also faces a fine of $250000.

When I was reading the article on some news website, I also saw lots of comments so eager to see him punished etc. And then there some comments citing racist politics.

No doubt this guy has done something wrong.

But this issue seems to have been blown leagues and bounds out of proportion. I think, this guy never realized that what he might be casually doing might land him in such a huge trouble. Is HP trying to show, through its action, that it is some kind of honest/altruistic organization believing in complete transparency? I am sure that will be too nice a music to the ears. Several questions remain unanswered (or may be there were answered in court) :

Why was this guy so badly cornered?
Why wasnt he just warned and told that this is unacceptable and that document destroyed right there?
How does one ensure that the document is not destroyed now?
Is he being made a scapegoat? Could he be a victim?
Could it be possible that there was this casual meeting and he just casually shared the document that he thought is pretty innocuous and based on trust?

While I accept that he has done soemthing wrong, but he for sure does not deserve such a inhuman punishment.

I am pretty sure that in today's world, the organizations are structured in such a way that, some folks act in a way, buckling under the pressure of their superiors, which might land in trouble. In such cases, should those poor folks be severely punished?

Reminds me of a classic Cadence-Avanti case few years back.

These stories for sure scare the hell out of any corporate employee because they are never sure whether what they are doing is right or wrong, to be honest.

Being Busy

An interesting point is "We are always busy".

Why are we being so busy?
Is it normal to be busy?

By being busy, are we in control?
By being busy, are we exploring what we are made for?
By being busy, are we just being a machine ?
By being busy, are we taking time to introspect?


I want to be less busy :-)

BJP Claims Karnataka

That was the headlines in the morning when I turn on CNN-IBN. That has been the headline in all the channels since then and much to the chagrin of my wife, I have been glued to my TV since then. It is definitely the fun time to watch the TV. Complete Entertainment.

As usual, media predictions went which way I do not know. But definitely not the right way. And if you notice, there is a trend here by the way. Media exit polls have been going horribly wrong since quite sometime that I remember. To many this might be coming as a surprise but somehow to me, this is not coming as surprise. Because, as I watch more and more of CNN-IBN and NDTV these days, the analysis seems to be significantly lacking in objectivity. Conducting loud mouthed debates not letting everyone speak, coming to own conclusions have been some noteworthy observations that I have made. Finally, Sagarika Ghose puts it that Media has things to learn. I ask, Isnt it obvious Sagarika? Watch your own folks in debates in your channel where you do not even let people express their opinions completely. And what opinion polls are these? What basis are these being conducted? Has this been asked?

To clarify before I begin this next paragraph, let me be clear that I am not at all a BJP sympathiser. In fact, I used to be long time back. But after what happened in Godhra and how things have been handled since then, it would need some miracle for me to ever vote for them unless some other good deeds of them convince me. Inspite of that, it was so obvious to me since the beginning that this has to be BJP in Karnataka this time. How could it be not obvious?

Does that mean, people have suddenly started loving BJP? Absolutely not. And that is something, the master craftsman Arun Jaitley, the CM to be Yediruppa etc. need to keep in mind. The bottomline is, people had nothing left but to choose someone and turns out BJP was the best in the rotten lot. Forget about Congress. Dharam Singh did all his best during his tenure to ensure that a common man would never vote for Congress. Then comes the Betrayal saga. After that, it does not need too many experts, expert opinions and judgements to figure out that majority is never with people who they cannot trust. This is a fundamental philosophy of life that will stand out for ages that once you lose trust you will lose everything. That is precisely what JD(S) got.

Congress can say several things like secular vote got divided, BJP won on caste vote, BJP won on sympathy vote etc. The bottomline is, BJP is the winner and the Congress is the loser and the JD(S) is the super loser.

While this is an amazing opportunity for BJP to again prove that it is indeed a party with the difference and does not belong to the same breed of high promises and low executions.

Arun Jaitley should stop making comments like Congress is on the decline. Venkaiah Naidu and Rajnath Singh should stop making comments that BJP will rule Karnataka and India. The "rule" itself sounds like monarchy.

Infact, Yediyurappa displayed lots of humility. I hope he continues to be humble and gets some good work done fast, not only in Bangalore but in the whole of Karnataka.

In the run up to the general elections, it is completely in the hands of BJP to either capitalize on this opportunity and lose it by their own immaturity.

I hope BJP does not get swayed away by caste politics, reservation politics and religion politics. By focussing on simple things like development, infrastructure, convenient life for every individual, ease of access of everything to every individual, they will for sure ensure they will win the hearts of the people of Karnataka.

And then they will not have to rely on Expert Opinion Polls. They can be sure then that Expert Opinion Polls will predict their failure. And that will mean, they will win :-)

RTI Directory

Take a look at the following website :

http://www.rtidirectory.in/


There were two basic ideas which spurred the starting of this website.

1) The idea that two persons within close proximity to each other and
not knowing each other might file an RTI for the same piece of
information. In that case there would be some wastage of energy and
time.

2) Once a person finds information through an RTI, which is of public
importance then very few people actually get to see that information
since there is no means to disseminate it widely.

The Right to Information Directory is open for uploads from any city
and town in India. We look forward to an enthusiastic response form
applicants and browsers alike and look forward to your feedback.

The website is started by Mumbai based civic and environmental
activist Rishi Aggarwaal and developed by Wherrelz IT Solutions

**********************************************************

Interaction with the Auto Guy

This morning, I had a fantastic and a pleasing experience. So you know, when people talk about the auto guys, they portray them as mean, whining, fearsome, frightening individuals trying to rip you off. Right? But I have always disagreed with them. I have always maintained that it is very unfair to portray them like that. We must appreciate how much stress they go through. Furthermore, to me it seems, the educated folks are most maniacs on the road.

Anyways, the above whining can go on forever. Coming to my point, today I took an auto from my home to my work which is less than 2 km and hence it comes to Rs. 14.
When I got down, I realized that I have only Rs. 13 in loose change or the only next one I have was Rs. 20. So I gave the guy Rs. 20 and asked him to give me Rs. 5. He said he didnt have change. I told him that I have only Rs. 13 in such a case and I dont like giving less.

The auto guy immediately tells me : "Saab kam chalega. Rs. 13 hi de do. Kitne baar log humein jyaada to de dete hain. Humein uska khayaal bhi to rakhnaa padegaa.."

I was so touched. The only thing I could respond to him was " Aaapke jaise log aur bhi jyaadaa ho gaye to duniyaa sudhar jaayegee"...

He gave a nice smile and drove away. And my morning work started with a fantastic good feeling.

Update :
Thanks to Marcos' comment, here are the translations into english :
"Saab kam chalega. Rs. 13 hi de do. Kitne baar log humein jyaada to de dete hain. Humein uska khayaal bhi to rakhnaa padegaa.." : means "Sir leess will do. Just give me 13. Many times people give us more as well. So we need to keep that in mind too".

" Aaapke jaise log aur bhi jyaadaa ho gaye to duniyaa sudhar jaayegee"... means "If we have more people like you, then the world will be a much better place"

Ahh!!! I couldnt vote this time :-(

Damn it!! what an irony it is... Got the first chance to vote and couldnt vote this time in Karnataka assembly elections. Lazy ? May be. But why cant we make things simpler? I am not the only one you know.

I was supposed to get myself registered. And I did not do it. Hence I could not vote. There were many people who did not know where to go to register. I understand ti sounds like excuse. But here is a point.

Why can't the registration process be made online? I mean, one anyways has to provide an identification. Hence the Election Commission of India should open up the concept of online registration. Then people having access to computer can register whenever they want using a certain mode of identification such as passport, PAN card etc. ONce they register using an identification method, they should be able to vote using the same identification. Is it too difficult?

That way I would have registered online and would have voted. I am sure so many people could not vote because they did register.

Let me see what the Election Commission says to my suggestion. I have sent the commission a small email.

Belur Halebidu Trip

After a long time, finally I got to meet up with friends and could get out of town on a long trip. We decided to go to Belur Halebidu. Belur-Halebidu are around 230 kms from Bangalore. So covering them was going to be a long tiring trip. Still we decided to go ahead.

We started early in the morning from Bangalore at around 7:00 a.m We booked a small tempo traveller that was good enough for around 13 folks. The highway was pretty good enough. At aroun 11:30 a.m we reached Shravanabelgola. A beautiful place it was indeed. But we decided not to climb the steps of the taller hill since it would hamper the plans of Belur and Halebidu. Instead we climbed the smaller hill and still could get the pleasure. :-)

After a brief stay at Shravanabelgola, wee started heading towards Belur. The tempo would go over Hassan. Hassan is a good place to stop over for lunch since there are quite some good hotel/restauarants like Sri Krishna, Hassan Asshok, Suvarna Regency. But since most of us were asleep in the tempo, we went past Hassan and directly stopped at Belur. I must admit though that while the road was pretty good enough, the drivers werent and we saw many accident scenes primarily because of the mistakes to overtake over a single lane and coming straight in front of the opposite coming traffic. Never do that. There is no hurry and nothing is more important than life. Enjoy the trip and go slow. Its a bad sight to see such accidents.

We reached Belur at around 2:00 p.m We had lunch at Belur in a pretty ordinary restaraunt and then straight away headed to the temple. We hired a guide because these temples can never be understood without the help of a knowledgeable guide. These guides are Govt. of India approved. And the guide we chose was indeed very knowledgeable. He explained the art, culture, science, history, geaography and everything. It was really fun to understand the concepts in details. After spending some time at Belur, we headed towards Halebidu which was around 15 kms. Halebidu was another beautifulpiece of art. This place was the capital of the Hoysala kingdom.

Halebidu has a beautiful garden and an adjoining lake. So go to Belur first, and then come to Halebidu and relax on the grass besides the lake.

At around 6:00 p.m we started heading out of Halebidu and back to Bangalore. And there you go. It started raining heavily. Wow. what was a pleasant rain it was after a hot sunny humid day.
We started heading towards Bangalore. Wanted to have dinner at Hotel Hassan Asshok but they didnt have Dosas in the night. What a bummer it was. So we came out and started heading home. At Bellur Cross, we stopped to have our dinner. After having and coffee and we started heading back. Most of us fell asleep after a tiring day. We reached Bangalore at around 12:00 in the midnight.

It was a fantastic trip. Belur and Halebidu are awesome and I wouldnt mind going again and just spend the whole day there.

Dont miss them if you are in Bangalore..


Enjoy the photographs.

Bhopal Padayatra 2008 :: Blog

http://www.bhopal.net/march/padyatra2008_blog.html


Information on Bhopal Padayatra

International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal

http://www.bhopal.net

International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) 's complete resource on Bhopal, the History and the present.

The Students Bhopal Campaign

This is the location to find all information


http://www.studentsforbhopal.org/

and express solidarity and participate..

Air, Water, Earth and the Sins of the Powerful

Tehelka magazine's article on Bhopal Gas Leak... Read it to get an idea on what happened and what is happening..

Air, Water, Earth and the Sins of the Powerful

More Information under Bhopal Label

NY Times Article :: Mother's Influence on Barack Obama's Life

It has been such an inspiration for me reading this article.

A Free Spirited Wandered who set Obama's Path


Forget the influence etc. Just from a human perspective, purely based on what has been mentioned in the article by the author, the beliefs and practices of the lady have been so phenomenal that you feel like following similar practices.

Olympic Torch Relay

What funny Olympic torch relay it was . Wasnt it? Again proves that we do so many things just for the sake of doing with no introspection. I couldnt stop laughing at what I perceived this whole thing as drama.

Ideally, when asked, what would you imagine sports and their objective to be? For me, it is all about building relationships, friendship and a desire to live in harmony.

This olympics seems to anything but above and the torch relay process is a classic example of that. The relay has been a tight security affair at every place it has passed through. Shouldnt it have been a friendly jubiliant affair where people would throng the streets to catch a glimpse? Alas!! not so. Times of India reports that the people who witnessed the relay were the torch carriers themselves, 15000 policemen and a bunch of children.

Similar was the situation in many countries.

So it turned out to be a high security activity. What an approach to friendship isnt it?

Well what is the morale? There can be no peace and fun at the cost of someone else's human rights. Human rights have to be valued. Only then will there be harmony in this world.

Hats off to some sportpersons who have threatened not to participate and to people like Baichung Bhutia who refused to carry the torch in solidarity with Tibetans.

Speaking straight from my heart in a democratic country. :-)

Jab We Met

Oh baby!! Did I like it soo much that I am tempted to write on this blog? In fact, yes. I really loved the movie so much. Yes I did.

I saw this movie on board my flight from Bangalore to London during my recent travel.

Why did I fall for this movie? Was it extra ordinary? No not at all. In fact there were several flaws. The second half was dragging as I felt. But there was something about this movie that just moved me, made me feel good, feel happy, feel romantic.

It a simple down to earth movie yet one could push someone into introspection. Every dialogue was so simple yet was conveying a strong message.

I liked Kareen-Shahid conversations so much that I actually watched the movie again and again in my return flight. Sounds crazy? May be. And by the way, Kareena was adorable in this movie. And this might be the first movie where I actually am impressed with the energy and role delivery of Kareena. She did it so good that it made me thinking on who could have done it better than her. I couldnt find one name to be honest. Same is true with Shahid. I was convinced that he lived up to the expectations.

Romanticism was oozing out of the movie. It was loudly asking everyone to live their present to the fullest. And have fun.

It is a damn good movie at the end of the day you know. And the morale to all directors is, Keep It Simple Stupid. And yet you can make a fantastic movie.

IIT Kharagpur Trip

After almost 10 years, I finally got the chance to visit my alma mater, IIT Kharagpur, this time as an alumni. We flew from Bangalore to Kolkata and then the journey from Kolkata to Kharagpur was by road. This road, I came to know, was the Golden Quadrilateral. It was one smooth ride. The road was very wide and smooth enough except for the fact that pedestrians were still trying to cross the road and freaking the hell out of us. :-)

We reached Kharagpur almost in the mid night. The entry to Kharagpur was through Gol Bazaar area. I was happy that even after so many years, I could quickly recognize the GolB area by the huge overbridge that we would cycle over while coming from IIT towards the big market.

I know this might sound cheesy but it was nostalgic when our vehicle got stopped by the closed railway gate. Remember those days when the cycle rickshaw had to unfailingly stop for the approaching train to pass? The first thing that came to mind was Chhedis. :-)

Now, many shops have come up besides Chhedis. There also are some new restrictions on going out and coming back in after 10:00 p.m. The campus was well lit and it truly nostalgic.

Quite some new buildings have come up. But the overall campus look is still the same. The Harris is still there but they have cut down the beautiful tree.

Went to the Mech dept. and had a nice cup of coffee. Next morning, took a nice stroll around the scholars avenue. The conveyance was still cycle rickshaw.

Well that was short trip . Or may be not but mainly with events etc. Next time, I should go with no agenda and just walk around and come back :-)

This is just time pass

I can't believe I have not posted for more than a month. Ahh this is not a good trend :-) Have I lost out on thoughts? Or may be I have stopped posting random crap. But the fact is that the things have been kinda busy at work. Alrite!! same old crap. :-)

Nah I will be back soon with my post on the recent IIT Kharagpur trip.

Mickey Magic Show

Yesterday we went to see the Mickey's magic show. They are traveling all over the world and were in Bangalore as part of their tour.

As usual, the Disney's display was crisp and professional. And should I say, as usual, the organizer was anything but professional.

OK I am complaining as usual. But I am confused or fail to understand or whining or whatever but I fail to understand the lack of common sense where you think it is so common sense based .

1. I bought the tickets online and got the seats assigned. I go to the venue and realize that they have been given to someone else already. Huh? It not just with me. It was with someone else too. Later on they gave us different seats. I say, you dumb folks, is it soo difficult to manage the tickets? I too have organized concerts in the past with a bunch of 20 folks in the past and we could organize these things much more professionally.

2. Next in my whining list is the Koramangala Indoor Stadium. What a shameful construction it could be. Can you imagine I could find a freaking urinal there? There was this small Gents toilet which did not have a urinal. I still fail to believe this fact and wil only be happy to realize that I missed the urinal. But did 100 other folks around me also miss it? ha ha

3. Third , the parent. Folks!! Moms!! Dads. learn how to teach your kids behave. Yes Magic show was a kids show. I have seen many animation movies and childrens' shows in the past but never had seen this kind of unruly mob. Felt like, do we have a mob in the making? Or do we have these incompetent parents who are hell bent on showcasing the fact that their kids are wonder kinds jumping all around like monkeys? Interesting things were what I was hearing from the people sitting near me. So in the magic show, the artists were calling a kid from the audience. Man!! unbelieveable it was to see that he was being mobbed by the kids trying to go the stage. I am sure its the parents who cannot make their kids sit in a disciplined fashion. In fact, the kid with his mom on the seat next to mine started crying desperately when he was not taken to the stage. I get scared at what are these parent teaching their kids? Failure to accept the facts? Failure to accept the failures? I get worried to see these kids growing up into some obsession paranoid full grown individual incapable to accepting failure and willing to do anything to get the things like. Hopefully not at the cost of harming others. I even heard a lady saying these artists should not call one or two children on to the stage. Guys!! get a life OK? You are behaving like a ridiculous loser. If it was her son/daughter, then life very fair huh?!!

Parents get your act straight!! I am not generalizing but I see this so often in Bangalore that I wonder are these parents so clueless?

OK, now that I have vented out my frustration at these frustrating clueless parents, let me tell a little about the show itself. The show was very professional. But it was not out the world. I would rate PC Sorkar at leagues ahead. :-) One funny thing that I noticed in the show was the Cinderella item. It seems that Cinderella is in a really shabby dress and the magician will get her new shoes and dress. And guess what happens when the new dress and shoes were brought in magically? A new lady comes up :-) So different from the original lady. :-) Ah come on. did the magician change her face too? :-)

Overall I would say a crisp show. I wish Riverdance will also visit Bangalore. But do we have the auditorium to hold such a show?

Marasim

Out off the blues, I suddenly remembered Marasim today. This was an album by Gulzar and Jagjit Singh and I think it came out long time back in 1999. What an awesome album it was. Beautiful lyrics by gulzar rendered craftily by Jagjit Singh. In the middle of ghazals, there are short thoughts by Gulzar. I cannot forget those ever . Here are a couple :

Subah Subah ek khwaab ki dastak par
Darwaazaa kholaa dekhaa
Sarhad ke us paar se
Kuchh mehmaan aaye huye hain
Aakhon se maanoos the saare
Chehre saare soone sunaaye
Haath dhoye paanv dhulwaaye
Aangan mein aasan lagwaaye
Aur tandoor pe mote mote rot pakaaye
Aaankh khuli to dekhaa ghar mein koyi nahi tha
Haath lagaa kar dekha to tandoor abhi tak bujhaa nahin thaa
Aur hothon pe meethe gud kaa zehtaa ab tak chipak rahaa thaa
Khwaab thaa shaayad Khwaab hi hogaa
Sarhad par kal raat sunaa hai chalee thi golee
Sarhad par kal raat sunaa hai kuchh khwaabon kaa khoon hua hai

************************************

Mujhko bhi tarqeeb sikhaa koi yaar zulaahe
Aksar tujhko dekhaa hai taanaa bunte
Jab koi taagaa toot gayaa ya khatam hua
Phir se baandh ke aur sira koi jod ke usme
Aage bunne lagte ho
Tere is taane mein lekin
Ek bhi gaanth giraah buntar ki dekh nahin saktaa hai koi
Maine bhi ek baar bunaa thaa ek hi rishta
Lekin uski saari girahein saaf nazar aati hai mere yaar zulaahe
Mujhko bhi tarqeeb sikhaa koi yaar zulaahe

RF and Communications Posts will be on new blog

Just to keep things separate, I have decided that Math, DSP, RF, Communications posts will be on a different blog from now on. So if you are interested in these topics, you may visit :

http://rfandcommunications.blogspot.com

Built To Last

I am currently reading the book "Built To Last" with an intent that at least this time I will read till the end. Everytime one or other thing would come and I would halt the reading. My colleagues have told me that I am using too many phrases and philosophies from that book.

But I think, it is up to us to take what we want and not what we dont want. I personally think this is a great book and is a must read for everyone irrespective of whether they are in sales, marketing or R&D. It is a must read to get some perspectives about dealing with life too. I agree that we are looking through the mirror of author. Well they have done lots of research. But still I agree that we are reading their perspective, their thoughts. But we can always average out and come out with lots of good points.

There are many great points about the book and quite some not so good too. Some companies mentioned by the book as visionary companies may not necessarily be great companies.

Some of the key take aways for personal development as well include :

• You do not have to be street smart.
  
• Be desperate
• Be determined
  
• Be dreamy
  
• Be ready to fall down and get up
  
• Do not be discouraged by failures
  
• Do not be distracted and discouraged by negative feedback
  
• Keep trying whatever it is.
  
• Learn as you keep trying
  
• Do not be bogged down by thinking about a big problem in whole. Think small and keep building.
  
• Try different things
  
• Try with a goal. Well this is same as try with some product in mind.
  
• When things are not working, it is very easy to shun it, give up. And also these are moments when many may say that it is not worth trying. But if your heart says it is worth trying, then listen to your heart. You may be right!You may be wrong. But at the end of the day you would be happy you listened to your heart.
  

Coffee House er Sei Adda

And life goes on....

Walking through the music aisles of Landmark, I stumbled upon a CD of Manna Dey songs titled Coffee House er see Adda ta.... A perennially favorite song of my heart, it did not take me a second to pick it up and purchase it.

Last night when I put the CD in, I did not listen to the first song, second song but the last song first and that was the "coffee house er sei adda ta aaj aar nei"

As the song progresses, as the stanzas progress, you are taken into the reminiscent days of the past. More prominently striking are the teenage days when most of the time is spent in the social shaping. Spent with friends. Spent at college. Spent before tution. Spent after tution. Spent soon after the morning starts. Spent till the evening lasts.

How fascinating were those days... How sweet was it to ride on bicycles. Soon after the school would end, we would bike ourselves towards our homes but would park under a tree on the way to spend some time chatting about everything under the sky. Would it be about the future? Would it be about the exam? Would it be about the beautiful girl passing by? Would it be about the things we want to achieve? Very difficult to predict.

Then those tutions that many of us would attend. Most of us would eagerly wait for the tution to end so that we could bike ourselves fast to the singada/chop shop nearby to enjoy nice chop, singada and chaa. Each of us would take turns every week to feed others or sometimes we would just chip in whatever coins we would have in our pockets...

And days went by... we passed our exams.... We joined colleges....We made new friends....We got jobs....We moved places....We moved countries....We lost contacts....We shed old lives....We entered into new lives....

I am sure all of us were left with memories of those sweet days....

Coffee house er sei adda ta abaar hok ?


P.S : Lot of words, phrases used in the above post are in Bengali. They mean as follows :
Singada : Samosa (in hindi)
Chaa : Tea
Coffee House er sei adda : Time pass group meeting while having a sip of coffee
Aaj aar nei : No longer exists today
Abaar hok ? : Let it happen again ?

Auto Fares in Bangalore

So finally , after a long drama involving strike by Autos demanding the hike in fares, finally it was official that auto fares have increased starting friday, february 1. The rates have been increased to Rs. 14 as minimum and Rs. 7 per km there after .

We make a lot of noise about this increase. Ofcourse this noise is within ourselves and our friends and it is not like "We all will stop getting into autos". :-) That would be funny to observe you know. Suddenly autos are running around empty and people refusing to get into them.

Well, I think we should also appreciate the fact that the rates had to increase and should increase. This is, after I had this interesting discussion with the driver of the auto in which I was going home on January 31, the night before the new fares were to come into effect. He told me how the gas rates have increased to Rs. 37 (I cannot confirm this figure). He told me how this increase has made the restaurant owners to increase the food price. And how, now he has to pay Rs. 7 for his cup of coffee. It all made sense you know.

It seems that this new rate is for some number of years or till the gas rates increase, whichever happens first.

But when I was telling to this to my colleague, he asked me, how is it possible that the rate is Rs. 5 per km in Mumbai? Well, I dont have an answer. May be, Mumbai is cheaper than Bangalore. :-)

So, next time, think about that cup of coffee....

Sunscreen

A colleague sent me this link on Youtube. Thought its a nice one. So here it is for those visiting this blog.

Everybody Free to Wear a Sunscreen

NY Time Article :: Failure isnt always a bad thing

Failure isn't always a bad thing

A very fascinating article indeed. Sometimes it is so difficult to continuously maintain the thought and breeze through. Some neat equations were brought up in this article. Several more relationships come to my mind when I think about it is. They are :

1. Balance of Courage (B) ∝ 1/(Degree of Failure (D))
That means, many times we take riskless chances and when they do not work, we say, that is fine. This is because we did not lose much. When we have chances that carry some degree of loss with them, what is the level of courage that supports us to take the chance?

2. Amount of Learning (L) (if you can come out of failure) ∝ D^n where ^ is power of, and n can be any integer
This has always been true. In the end, it might have sounded like "Ahh... this is so simple", but the problem may not really have been that simple. In retrospect everything is perfect. Isnt it? But when we fail again and improve and fail and improve and fail and improve, a neural network system is working that is continuously learning.

3. B = f(Social Factors, Inner Soul, ..)
Our decision to take chance, our decision to take risk and our desire to dream big gets impacted by so many social factors, inner resistances, fear of failure and so on. But when that indomitable passion dominates, nothing can stop one from taking all kinds of chances. That passion keeps telling the person that there is nothing to loose. So go for it.

More on this to follow if I feel ...

Part V - In Mangalore and Return

In Mangalore
After reaching mangalore around 10 a.m in the morning, we were thinking what to do? As expected, nothing was planned for this leg. Lots of things to do though. First and the foremost was to try was a train reservation to bangalore. Folks told me that the bus journey is horrible and should be avoided. But well we couldnt be choosers at that moment and decided to just book some reservation and try our luck. As expected, it was on waiting list. Once that done, the next most important thing for the hungry souls was breakfast. Went straight to taj Manjuran without realizing where we are headed to. Ordered some idlis. I am not sure what special were these but 2 idlis definitely cost me Rs. 180. :-) Just so you know I am not a miser. But I cannot justify certain things too.

After breakfast, we decided that we will not roam around to all the places possible. Rather, we wanted to go to one place where we can peacefully sit. Without knowing whether we will get peace or not, we decided to go to Kadri Manjunath temple. As we got down the autorickshaw, we started looking around to see where is Kadri Manjunath temple that was so much talked about in travel books. It was a small gopuram from outside. We looked at each other and thought what a hype this could be.

BUT WE WERE WRONG. This was a huge complex inside. That explained why this temple is talked so much about. There were many temples inside this complex. And it was not crowded. It was peaceful. It was like the playing compound of a house that reminded me of my grandparents house. We slowly walked around, visiting each and every temple in the complex, resting under the trees wherever possible. Some of the beautiful aspects of this temple were :

• No restrictions on cameras and camcorders
  
• Not crowded
  
• Peaceful
  
• Lots of shades to take rest
  
• Awesome free lunch

After lunch, we rested in a shade inside the compound for some time and went into the contemplative mood. Soon it was time to get back to the railway station to check our reservations were confirmed or not.

As we were stepping out of Kadri Manjunath temple, we were thinking that may be this has been the best place we have visited. Where there was so much of peace and tranquility. And we thought, no visit to Mangalore could be complete without visiting this blissful place.

Return
Well!!as we were expecting, we could not get our reservation confirmed. So rather than waiting long, holding hands of TT, greasing his hands, we thought we would rather come back by bus. And guess what, we got the last two seats of the last Airavath bus that was available from Mangalore to Bangalore. Holiday return rush huh!! And man that was one painful bus journey. Throughout it seemed to me as if the driver was on a suicide mission with all of us rallying behind him :-) No it was not fun. All the body parts went for a toss. My wife's sandals skid and went to the front of the bus. There was this AC exhaust or somethign that was right under my leg. And throught the night I would step on it, burn my leg , wake up and then go back to sleep. :-) Believe me, that was not fun. So go for a train if you can.

Summary

• Overall fun trip. But tiresome
  
• If you visit Mangalore, make sure you drop by K M temple and spend some time here in introspection
  
• If you are returning to Bangalore, return by train.
  
• This travelogue ends here. If you are planning a trip to the regions I have shared my experiences with, please feel free to contact me if you need any more information. Adios on the travelogue till my next travel.
  
• Keep reading this blog for other topics and my intelligent view points :-) Yeah Right!!
  

Part IV - Bekal Fort Trip

Murudeshwar to Mangalore
Verna - Mangalore passenger train passes through Gokarna and Murudeshwar on its way to Mangalore. So when leaving Murudeshwar, we decided to catch the same train to Mangalore. The train was 1 hour late when it reached Murudeshwar. It was supposed to take around 3 hours to reach Mangalore but it delayed further and by the time we reached Mangalore I think it was almost 10:00 p.m. We were definitely very tired due to constant roaming around and extreme heat. The fact that the remaining part of the journey was pretty much open ended and unplanned was making it further difficult in deciding what to do. What ensued was a high voice debate with hungry stomach. First we thought we will just stay the next day in Mangalore and then come back to Bangalore. But it was already very late and the hotels were charging too much. So we thought, to hell with staying in hotels tonight. We decided to move ahead and travel to Bekal Fort.

Mangalore to Kanhangad
Once decide, I went to the enquiry to find out if there is a train to Kanhangad. The next train was only at 4:00 a.m and that was Parashuram Express from Mangalore to Trivandrum. Kanhangad was the third stop after Mangalore. So we waited at the Mangalore station till 4:00 am. What was comforting was that, unlike other stations, here there were no repeating advertisements on TVs. Rather, there were some nice songs playing on FM radio. That was nice time pass. But one horrible thing was too many mosquitoes. Good that we had Odomas with us. So I put it on everywhere on my body and was very happy to see the mosquitoes getting repelled away :-) . Throughout the night we were half asleep and half awake. By the time, the train left at 4:00 a.m, we were unable to open our eyes and were scared that we might miss Kanhangad. But thankfully, I could keep my senses alert and got down at Kanhangad after around an hour of departure from Mangalore. With whatever eyes open, I knew for sure that this journey was fantastic with full moon lighting up the vast sea like a silver plate and coconut trees decorating the sea coast. Oh what a view it was. Just plain brilliant and the only feeling was to just to sleep on a boat in the middle of the sea in that beautiful full moon.

In Kanhangad
We reached around 5:30 a.m. It was pitch dark, the place completely unknown but the station, though small was sweet and well lit. As we came, there was only one auto. All we said was Hotel Bekal International. He nodded his head in NO. But it was actually a yes. So we got in having no clue where we are being taken. But pretty soon, we were brought to Hotel Bekal International. The hotel room was around Rs. 300. But it was pretty ordinary. After taking a short nap, waking up, freshening up, having breakfast, we took a small stroll in the hot sun to reach a bus that was to take us to the Bekal fort. It took us around 20 minutes by bus to reach the Bekal fort. The place huge. We got excited to see the fort and I started clicking around with my camera :-) Then we reached the gate and there you go. Rs. 25 for camera and Rs. 25 for cam corder. The Government has to squeeze money out at every chance it has. Well we paid and went in. Aww!!! did we come at a wrong time? Where is the green grass? Why is it all yellow? May be Maniratnam shot his movie in the rainy season. Thats true!! The hero and heroine were all seemed to be drenched in that movie :-) Well, the fact is, it was not as close to how it was portrayed in the movie. So the smart thing is to go during monsoons and get drenched. Thats when the fun is. But the beauty was the view of the ocean. After the fort, we went to the beach. And here again, Rs. 25 for camera and Rs. 25 for camcorder. :-( Later we came to know that there is a side way to escape this pain. :-) So if you are visiting the beach, look for the side way. We came out via the side way.

By the time we finished visiting the fort and the beach and came out, it was almost 3:00 p.m. Tired, no food, hungry. Went to hotel and took some rest. We were now like in the mood to just get back home in Bangalore. That was 24th December. Christmas eve.

Return to Mangalore
On 25th, we took the early morning train from Kanhangad to Mangalore. Now it was daylight and a beautiful train ride along the sea coast.

Summary

• Murudeshwar to Mangalore by Verna passenger train
  
• Mangalore to Kanhangad by Parashuram express or some earlier train. Just find it out.
  
• To come back from Kanhangad to Mangalore, there are tons of trains
  
• Bekal International is Ok. Not that great.
  
• Dont go in summers. By the way, we went in winter and winter is literally undefined. :-) It was so hot that it does not qualify to be called winter.
  

Part III - Murudeshwar Trip

Gokarna To Murudeshwar
As I mentioned, the train from Gokarna to Murudeshwar was supposed to reach Murudeshwar at 5 p.m. But the train got delayed and we reached Murudeshwar around 7:30 p.m. It was dark enough. We thought it will some good size enough railway station that will have some autorickshaws waiting outside. To our surprise, it was pitch dark outside and the railways station was right on the highway. So all we could see were the trucks breezing away. With many other passengers we came out of the railways station and stood on the highway with a hope to see an autorickshaw guy. Luckily we saw one coming and got it since we were standing closest top him :-)

At Murudeshwar
The RNS Guest House where we stayed was pretty close to the railway station. So, the auto guy breezed to the RNS guest house. The majestic Shiva statue was right near the RNS guest house and surrounded by sea. After the formalities, we quickly checked into the hotel and freshened ourselves up.

Naveen Restaurant was adjoining to the guest house on one side and sea on the other. We had some good but very little food there. Not because we wanted little. We were desperately hungry. But you have to have the food there to believe how little they serve. :-)

It was already around 10 p.m by the time we had dinner. So we spent some time just sitting and relaxing at the footsteps of shiva statue.

Next morning, we took some snaps, moved around the Shiva statue, had lunch and then left in the afternoon. The place was under construction. So we could not completely go around the statue. I must also say that Murudeshwar beach is not that impressive. To be frank it was dirty. May be because it is much more commercialized and too many people with little sense of maintaining clean surrounding. So half a day was enough for Murudeshwar.

Murudeshwar to Mangalore
We took the Verna-Mangalore passenger at Murudeshwar for Mangalore. The train was moving fast enough in the beginning but slowed down gradually to reach Mangalore only at around 10:00 p.m. What to do next? Should stay overnight at Mangalore? Should we continue our trip further to Bekal Fort? What happens when in dilemma? An obvious argument and a fight . Thats what happened between me and my wife :-) And it is a very wrong time to argue with her when she is hungry. :-) After trying some hotels in Mangalore (with an obvious wish not to get any room), we decided to go to Bekal.

Summary

• Gokarna to Murudeshwar by Verna Passenger in the evening
  
• Enjoy the sea and Shiva statue at Murudeshwar
  
• Murudeshwar to Mangalore by Verna Passenger
  

To be Continued...