Chaos!!!

Food for thought - 110litres petrol experiment

2010-09-07T00:37:00.001-07:00

*Ever wondered how to be a part of eco-drive (eco for ecology, good if you could also guess economic in these uncertain times) while working in a corporate organization!!! In today’s time, though it has become imperative for every organization to have CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) on it’s books or in policy, I certainly believe there are more than one ways to truly reflect the same in spirits.

Think about the provision of 110 litres of petrol reimbursements to employees of an organization with the preconditions being having an owned car and production of fuelling bills for making claims. I figure out two strong negatives in this approach when dimensions of ecology and sustainable development are taken into consideration. It encourages an individual to buy a second hand car in order to be eligible for the same or go for a new one. This will certainly not make much difference if the applicants are few, but what if this scheme is available to 50 odd employees of an origination, with 1/5^th of total organizations following the same policy in a state (assumption a total of 100 organizations here). Well the number goes to 1000 eligible employees, which means 1000 more cars on otherwise jam-packed and chaotic roads, and hence 1, 10,000 litres of petrol consumption on monthly basis. This would mean additional 13, 20,000 litres of annual petrol consumption, resulting in burgeoning stress on Mother Nature. Using a carbon footprint calculator for car with a mileage of 1500 kms monthly, efficiency of 100kms for every 5litres of petrol, it gives an annual figure of 2.04 metric tons of carbon consumed individually or effectively 7.46 metric tons of CO2 emission per individual per year. Now isn’t that way too much of a single user contribution??? Apply above statistics pan India, and we find some mind boggling numbers at our disposal.

Secondly, this proposition, increases the propensity of an individual to consume more, and any rational individual would agree no less that the rate at which your consumption increases is more than the corresponding increase in incentives/salary; and simultaneously, the propensity to decrease the increased consumption is lot less when compared to the rate of decrease in individual income. Hence, aren’t we making the otherwise scant non-renewable sources of energy even more extinct???

What if an organization is able to holistically follow CSR by making its employees earn carbon credits/ certificates instead of 110 litres of petrol? This would not only reduce the demand for cars on roads, but would also reduce the fuel consumption, smoothen the otherwise burgeoning demand for crude, and also make our country an ecologically concern nation in line with Kyoto protocol. And allow individuals to trade the credits in future earning higher returns on their pseudo-investments!!! It’s time to do some serious thinking….

* Any reflections/references are coincidental with no intentions towards any specific person/entity/organization, analysis based on assumptions and hypothetical cases are taken into consideration.All views are personal.

A dream and a wait...

2010-08-26T02:34:00.000-07:00

Why do you come in my dreams, when you can’t be with me,

Why do you hug me there,

when your touch remains another cherished ‘dream’??

Why do you cry for me there when I’m supposed to leave?

But in reality, you are happy in my absence indeed!!!

Why do I see your name here & there, everywhere?

When I know it isn’t you,

Why do I wait for your ‘call’?

When I know my number isn’t important anymore to you!!!

Why do I think that you would ask for me one day?

Sigh, I can only wish to get you back, the only words I daily pray!!!

Please do come back, I’m waiting here for you,

We two can be one again, I know for sure we can DO!!!

Food for thought : the teeter-totter experiment

2010-04-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

The other day while jogging in the park, I saw two mothers with their individual kids (girls) playing around gracefully in presence of a number of playful & simple rides like seesaw (teeter-totter), ladders and revolving benches. They were comparatively young, probably friends living in a close neighborhood.

By the time I completed few rounds I could see them playing hide ‘n’ seek with kids. Later, the ride the kids were more interested in strolling to was the seesaw (teeter-totter) with two small benches pivoted to one another in the middle. Since the kids were really babyish, their mothers’ had to support them at their respective ends to avoid any falls or injuries. One peculiar thing noticed was that rather than making kids sit on the side of their respective moms, they were instead made to sit on opposite sides, with other kid’s mom. One may ask why? But this playful act explains a very simple logic. Each mother, knowing the precarious nature of the ride would want to lower her kid’s position as often as possible to a larger extent no matter to which side of the seesaw the kid is sitting, knowing the kind of control the kid has over the ride. So by making kids sit across, at other’s end, both mothers would want to lower the farther end of the swing (ride) deliberately. Unreservedly, this would raise the other mother’s kid higher alternatively, thereby resulting in more enjoyment for both kids and an equivalently good safety (supreme here when it comes to mothers) for both.

We’ve all heard about the mentality of crabs in an open tin. If any one crab want to get out of it, there’ll be others pulling it down, thereby resulting in nobody’s good. Hence, using the mother’s act example, one understands the logic behind pushing others forward rather than pulling everyone down. Only a selfless push towards growth & prosperity can result in everyone’s good. Here infact, a selfish interest in one’s resources is doing good of the others’ resources. Quite pleasant to hear that!!!

Isn’t this attitude demonstration something that needs to be well incorporated by the managers to let their fledgling brands grow, by the governments to let their population prove productive and by executives to let their corporations grow??

Hence, a food for thought…

Take Care…Your baby is worth it!!!

2010-03-10T07:54:00.000-08:00

3^rd March, 2010 Time: 10:44A.M.

It was a Wednesday. And to be truly called, one of the worst days for my family. It was a prophecy waiting to happen. Mom had been saying it for months now, that watch it, it’s better you take care of it now before you don’t get even a speck of a second to regret!!! Indeed, we all were full with remorse, disgust, and consternation.

Siya, my niece, had a major accident and that too at the safest of all places, at our house. It left us totally dumbfounded and stunned for not paying heed to what my parents wanted all of us to understand. Lesson No.1: Always pay close attention to what elders at your home tell you, their advice coupled with experience is priceless and rewarding.

My niece is now 1 year, 2 months, 13 days old when the incident took place. There is no denying the fact that whatever has to happen will happen for sure, and everything happens for your own good. I, my father, my mother, my bhabhi (my brother’s wife), and my niece, Siya were at home. My mom was washing clothes in the backyard, my father was getting ready to go and pay bills, bhabhi had just gone to washroom, and I was playing with Siya. We were playing in the living room, when she unintentionally threw her meal on the floor and started wandering about in the hall. The flooring in our house is all tiles, so I thought it’ll be wiser to clean the surface before she slips and hurt self. I mobbed the surface and went in the kitchen to dump it in trash without realizing Siya to have gone by then in her room where television was kept and switched on but with bhabhi in washroom. Now, the television here is lying on a wooden trolley/ cart with wheels the bottom, making it highly precarious. My dad was near the exit gate and I was in kitchen when we heard a loud thump from the bedroom. In a flash, me and my father started running towards the room realizing it would be something with Siya, and to our utter astonishment, she was there weeping, compressed under the television on the floor. I was horrified, and my dad, quickly realizing that Siya wasn’t visible from his end, picked up the television and threw it away. I gathered all my courage and sided it further to create room for him to grab Siya and pick her up into his arms. She cried incessantly, and on hearing the loud thump, my mom rushed in, and so did my bhabhi.

Dad was furious on my carelessness, but we all were utterly shocked to see her not only crying, but her both nostrils bleeding. Except my father, nobody could keep a hold on emotions and started crying on seeing her in such a dilapidated state. My father rushed, started the car, asked bhabhi to come along to the kids’ hospital. I too couldn’t resist it and decided to go along.

Reaching at the hospital, Siya was taken care of by the diagnosis of the doctor. He observed her for long and told her that she needs to be given medicine and blood from nostrils is a good sign in such cases. He told us the following symptoms for internal injuries (kindly take note of these):

If there’s a mixture of blood and water oozing out of ears of a kid

If the child is losing consciousness again and again

If there’s vomiting

If some part(s) of the body is(are) going into an inactive state

On comprehending, we soon realized that our little angel was out of danger. But there were numerous lessons learnt from the whole episode. A golden tip: follow them in your life, and lead a life full of happiness and joy.

Lesson No.2: Post marriage, it is always wiser to live with your parents, then be a nuclear family. Kids grow effortlessly and they get all the wisdom, learning and teaching from the most experienced individuals in the family.

Lesson No.3: When your kid is above 7months and less than 2.5 years old, pay him/her all the attention. For this would not only help the child to express self, but also will take care of his/her surroundings.

Lesson No.4: Buy a tiled floor house only when you have a family of all grown ups or still have a long time to go for family planning.

Lesson No.5: Never keep anything heavy on a moving trolley/cart, for there’s always some probability of disaster waiting to happen.

Lesson No. 6: And the most important one, LOVE your children, they are the only angels living in this earthly world.

Take care, because they are worth it!!!

Right or Wrong

2010-03-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

Have you ever experienced the feeling of not being able to judge as to what is wrong and what is right? Where to draw the line between the two extremes? Do they necessarily mean judging something/ someone as either black or white, or there’s a mysterious grey matter that exists between the two?

Well, I’ve seen myself dumbfounded and clueless at times judging something wrong or right. Isn’t this question highly relative in nature, because a perspective of an individual can be totally different from that of others? What may be right to you may be wrong to me, but then why don’t we decide something in terms of universal perspective. A viewpoint, as vindicated by the sufficient sample of population. But does that necessarily mean that what is right for some society should be universally right and applied to everyone. For example, consider a village of lunatics where in a traveler enters only to find himself being cursed by all for acting strangely (in the usual human manner). Now who would be called as wrongly blamed or rightly cursed???

There were times, when correctness (or lack of it) was visualized by elders in Indian homes. What the elderly people of a family would convey would be taken as the right thing for everyone, without anybody questioning it. What mattered was who is saying it, and not what is being said. Elders were the decision makers and everything was tagged ‘right’ whatever was quoted by them. But now, we see a huge shift in the way we tag things/ people/ situations. Now the priority has moved to making your own decisions and adjudging what is right and wrong. People have now started paying attention to what is being said, and not to who is quoting it!!! Isn’t that again a paradox in itself, when we have those pillars who has seen all the ups and downs in life, battling against youngsters ready to apply mind and logic with no or almost negligible experience???

Do you have any clue to decide what is wrong and what is right? Is it the moment that decides your decision variables, which ultimately define your wrong or right? Let me know if you got answers…

Enjoy!!!

Raghav Aggarwal - Blog on BrightFuse - A Talent Community

2010-02-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

Raghav Aggarwal - Blog on BrightFuse - A Talent Community

Luck by chance - Pratibha menon

2010-01-25T08:50:00.001-08:00

The kid around the block, or infact the student who has not missed even a single class throughout out her innings at school, Pratibha Menon, was accorded a distinction/ award for having 100% attendance, a feat almost 100% of students find impossible and naturally unachievable.

Coming across this incident, one gets easily reminded of Dettol advertisement where in a student is awarded for not missing even a single class in school for entire year. The bottom line being the hygiene through Dettol Soap/ hand wash protects the kid from all fatal diseases. Quite symbolic, isn’t so???

This feat by Delhi student Pratibha certainly makes her the brand ambassador for Dettol (RB Group) advertisements. Is the company ready to fill in the empty seat (as shown in the advertisement) and Pratibha ready to mark her attendance now in realm of media industry? Only time would tell….

Read news story here

The Australian Syndrome

2010-01-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

A mother of two, based out of a small town in Punjab, is in a dilemma over sending one of her kids to Australia for the want of better education, healthy lifestyle and bright future for entire family, but realizes the ill events occurring down-under. Now that is what one would call an Australian Syndrome, where on one end of the spectrum, you’ll find triumph waiting in a land of opportunities, but on the other end are opportunistic individuals, ready to cause wrath on influx the way they see moral or rather immoral.

What has been happening in Australia is unfriendly to say the least. From the sledging on cricket grounds to beatings on road-lanes, the journey has been tough for Indian counterparts. One needs to look into the gravity of the situation in an inclusive manner, than exclusive. True, not every Australian can be tagged as inhospitable, but then not every Indian is stealing someone’s job or living a life in non-conformance to Australian values.

What makes Indians so vulnerable? Why has there been a spate of incidents in recent past? Well, if we introspect rationally, we’ll realize it is the cultural difference that makes so. Australia, to my understanding can be symbolic to a bowl full with rich ingredients mixed together, but does that mean that this bowl will necessarily serve a delicious meal? Well, you know the answer. Australians have always been very accommodating, but just one characteristic doesn’t define the entire personality, even of a human. In this highly complex world, we should rather understand the role of every variable than focus on one particular parameter in order to survive as one amongst the fittest. But the subtle quandary that exists within us either living in a kangaroo land, or as a matter of fact, in any place in world except India. How would existing members of a home feel if a new entrant, though physically living with them, is recluse in every other sense? Would you still call it a ‘home’? Same analogy gets applied to Australia, who as accepting as they are, may want to break the ice and want Indians to live the way they live, be friendly, learn the social lingo, and adapt to the locale customary schemes. But it’s us who remain oblivion to the insistence!!! Now, is that so hard? If it is, next time stop staring at a foreign couple lip-locking in the middle of an Indian bazaar, calling it highly ‘disgusting’ and ‘unacceptable’!!!

You need two hands to clap, but one to slap. Slapping, so far, we’ve been on the receiving side, what is needed now is to reverberate the noise from here back to them, if the series of events is to continue. If they are shameless, we need to give up the shackles of quietness, and reciprocate our esteemed partners in full favor. In fact, since immemorial times, when has any Indian not given his partner his worth due!!!For every unaided Indian killed down-under, we should kill a couple of innocent Aussies domestically, and promise Australia about thorough investigation underway, as they do!!! Only then they would realize what it feels to lose a family member thousands of miles away. An injury on other’s body may cause remorse to the guilty, but only a wound on his own body can cause him the real pain.

Through this article, I would say no one individual is responsible for suffering, but it requires just one individual’s courage to dictate terms to rectify thing in order out of chaos. So Indian government, its emigrant citizens, the Australian government and its citizens, should act as an Individual ready to put the things in right perspective!!!

Ganesha Vs Google: What do they share in common?

2010-01-12T09:17:00.000-08:00

If there has been one visual icon that has timelessly been an integral part of our lives it’s Ganesha.Most popular image on a wedding card or a Diwali greeting, today or several decades earlier would easily be that of the elephant headed Lord Ganesha. Though the image still remains as popular as ever what has constantly changed is its design. Today one gets to see so many new and imaginative iterations of the familiar form. Shapes and designs recognizably Ganesha bless not just traditional lagan patrikas but also car dashboards, show cases, entrances of homes and even art galleries.

What makes this God so cherished? What about him allows us to easily do away the hierarchy that exists between us, the lowly mortals, and the immortal divinity. Something makes Ganesha a lot more accessible than other Gods and Goddesses. Definitely there’s something about Ganesha. No wonder we take liberty to play with his form and welcome him to step out of the Puja room, into the drawing room of our lives.

The answer to this fondly respectful relationship with this semi human elephant God lies in its form, or rather formlessness. The figure of Ganesha defies rigidity. It is an amoeboid structure that can take any shape or form. The malleability of Ganesha lends itself to further designing. The loose shape is like an open canvass always inviting creative participation. That’s why a curvaceous leaf with two innocent eyes drawn on it can very easily resemble the roundedness of Ganesha.

Besides Ganesha being able to lend itself to various shapes and alterations what’s also interesting about him is his ability to remain contemporary timelessly. Ganesha motif is a classic; never out of fashion. Here again the credit goes to the not so sharply defined form. The basic form is not bound by time specific meanings: instead it is open to contextual interpretation. His wholesome curvaceous body without edges provide a sense of prosperity and happiness; an idea that’s entirely motivational.

Another reason why Ganesha as a figure is open to interpretation and further designing is that his basic form is extremely natural and simple. He has a form that’s not worked upon or intricately designed by man. So simple, that often unusually formed fruits and vegetables invite divine associations because of their striking resemblance either with rotund belly or the tubular tusk of Ganesha . The Swastika , a squarish motif embedded with associations of auspiciousness and equally entrenched in our religious culture as Ganesha, because of its rigidity of form does not lend itself to as much designing and modification in round and undefined motifs like Ganesha do. That’s why Om or a curvy leaf, which resemble Ganesha’s body are commonly employed motifs by artists.

The round, ample and undefined shape of Ganesha also suggest his accommodative and unassuming nature. Smiling friendly face and hands full of ladoos make Ganesha seem a happy God who does not wish to impose any strict moral values.

Now how do we relate this with Google. Google’s logo allows the same flexibility as Ganesha’s logo does. Google which is almost considered an essential part of surfer’s life allows its logo to adapt to different cultures and different occasions thus bringing life to the symbol. So be it a Diwali or Halloween it adapts its logo to the occasion and celebrates along with its users. This helps Google in spite of being an American multinational share a flavour of every country where its users are. Another initiative undertaken by Google where it allows children to design their own Google Logo by participating in ‘Doodle 4 Google’ contest and showcase it to world. So this Children’s Day young children came up with their own logo which were as good as any professional agency could have come up with. A brand is considered successful when it enables its users to interact with it. A rigid form because of its beauty or intricacy can invite a gaze of admiration but never participation.. A brand can become immortal only if it reinvents itself and attempts to bond with its users. Both Ganesha and Google are classic examples of how brands and their logos can remain timelessly relevant.

A piece written by one of my close friends, Sandip Chand Sharma.

REST IN PEACE – HOW ‘NOBEL’ WAS THIS IDEA??

2009-10-15T09:23:00.001-07:00

An elated Obama heaved a sigh of relieve & muttered the words, “REST IN PEACE!!!” Hold on, did he mean those words to those innumerable victims who were siphoned off from earth by America in America’s International War against terrorism, or did he laugh from inside for the individuals who kept their fingers crossed very long, of course not for Nobel Prize but for social causes?? Well, only the President could tell. But having encountered a grand yet so myopic decision, I wonder if Obama cross-examined self on this saying, “What a nobel idea it was of distributing hope to millions of Americans, down-n-out, but where do I go from here??”

The Nobel Peace Prize committee wanted to give the Alfred Nobel Award (Alfred is watching from heavens) to an individual who could form a yardstick for the world to follow for peace & harmony, to a personality who could muster strength in people by words translated to action. And so Obama was the chosen one. Analysts are of the opinion that this was the way to welcome Obama regime after the tiring, and miscalculated innings played by Bush Administration. Bush’s search for weapons of Mass destruction in Iraq & Afghanistan did create uproar in international community, but does the end justify the means here?

If America was indeed undergoing a serious trouble coupled with recession, & Nobel Peace Prize belongs to global community, then shouldn’t the award really go to people fighting for eternity in Congo, or to Africans who had led the superlative form of malnourished life with all their complaints going unregistered in Doha Rounds? Or in fact to people whose work is best known when they are no longer alive?

I don’t exactly recall how long Nelson Mandela had to wait for the same Peace Award, or for how long Mahatma Gandhi’s recognition was delayed for not giving to an Asian who was dhoti clad for majority of his life, but one thing’s for sure here, Obama’s short and prolific stint did win him the laurels that no other individual dared to achieve laboring for most of his/her life!!!

Mr. Obama’s financial aid to Pakistan to fight Taliban, or against terrorism, or his proliferation of army personnel in Iraq, or his expedition to explore the north reaches of Arctic to tap future potential, if they all sum up for a Nobel Peace Prize, then no wonder every individual on this earth should be given one for doing something or the other wrong in life!!! And the best ones would be the individuals not given this materialistic prize but the recognition by the observant citizens of World.

I really don’t know if President Obama would start his stint now as the President of the masses by action & not just by words, but having put onus on his back, Nobel Committee did accidentally implant the seeds for President to act in future. Only time will tell, whether Obama takes a cue from here or continue to bath in the glory of a Peaceful existence in White House with Nobel Award at the desk and Gandhi Ji’s photo at back looking up to him with the same HOPE he delivered in his speeches!!!

God Bless,

Raghav

Kaminey – Part 2

2009-10-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

Wanna read the Part -1 before this, follow it here:

http://rahul-aggarwal.blogspot.com/2009/10/kaminey-hum-dono-judwa-hai.html

This should’ve made directors of Kaminey a bit skeptical had someone told them about Kaminey, the 2^nd, but let’s keep the so-called geniuses of film fraternity at bay from any worries. This Kaminey, Part-2 is the germination of the seeds sown by my mischievous twin, Rahul. I wonder what sort of lives are led by other twins in this world when our both lives are so inter0mingled and yet so exciting.

Coming to the point, I was smiling for having come across Rahul’s blog, because I never thought about penning down our experiences ever!!! And believe me; I really liked the idea as much as each one of you did.

There is no denying the fact that we’ve had so many highs & lows when we were kids, but the best thing was we both could make every damn situation way too humorous when we wanted. Taking baton from the point where Rahul left, I remember the girl he used to hang around with. He always tried keeping it as clandestine as possible from every individual out there. The only thing was Rahul kept this secret in one of our class-mates, who kept all his secrets with me. And Rahul’s girl would keep all her secrets with one of her class-mates (another female), the girl who I used to trust like anything (I mean I would keep my secrets with). Now isn’t that a convoluted pentagon with three males on one side and two females on other when there’s only one couple in between? Well, yes, that’s the way not so filmy Kaminey life is!!! Not that I wanted them not to hang around, but just that I think I was too immature to realize the gravity of a missed date.

Quoting another incident was when Rahul had fallen sick due to yellow fever and was in no condition to attend school especially when exams were approaching. During initial stages when Rahul was suffering from a very high fever, we never thought the thing would aggravate to such a level. So, I employed a strategy where in I would daily attend all the school periods (yes, that’s what we used to call classes then), but with a condition: One day I would attend as Rahul and another day as myself. This would save both of us from any attendance shortages with justification on any day being, “Ma’am/Sir, when I am present here and exams are approaching, we thought may be one of us can attend college to get notes while the other one can sit back home and study alternately!!!”

In this manner, I would continue doing Rahul’s(tweaking things a bit) as well as my homework also. But the day it was confirmed that fever is going to take a heavy toll on Rahul; we had to cut short for fear of not being able to carry this thing way too long. But believe me, it was fun doing it (for all the chicks in school, including his girl kept asking me about him on almost everyday).

Once I remembered when we were in 6^th standard appearing for final semester examinations. History was one of the subjects deadlier than expected and the epitome of Rahul’s misery. J During the exam, as Rahul had already told you, I used to sit in front of him (there were times when teachers used to change our seats for having identical faces). Now during history exam, we had our class-teacher, Joel Sir as an invigilator. A very strict teacher who used to proclaim of looking back when looking ahead through his concave but convex spectacles he wore. Thinking about those glasses still gives a tickle. Half an hour past exam, Rahul sitting at my back, somehow informed me of having a clean memory wash about history chapters and was waiting for me to create some history now. Now, I wondered, was this by any sorts an experiment to challenge the quadruple eyes of Mr.Joel and conquer the cheating arena as a warrior, or an experiment to truly check if I’d loved my brother and was ready to sacrifice his as well as my exam paper on being caught if at all that happens!!! I never really wanted to test my gut skills to unleash a war against those concave but convex glasses for I knew there was not even an ounce present in me. But brother is a brother, and especially when a twin, a brother is a superlative form. Like Rahul said, “life ko jeene ke do tareeke hote hain, short-cut and chotta short-cut”, I took one about which I never bothered to know which one was it!!!

Since we had benches and desks those days, I told him that I’ll continue writing all my answers on answer-sheets and instead of keeping them beneath my examination board, I’ll keep them adjacent to me on the bench where I sat. Idiot felt elated and with 100% confidence (not the one for history answers) agreed in unison. He kept picking the answer sheets from beneath his desk and replacing them with another one after he was done. Sudden lightning-turns by Joel sir would send shivers down my spine. Luckily we both completed exam with a nice effort and scored pretty well when results were out. I don’t know whether Rahul would remember this incident, but I certainly have a smile when ever I think about the whole incident. History was indeed created during history exam!!!

There are in fact innumerable incidents I could go about writing but then there’s a thing I believe, not everything is to be uncovered and not every secret should be discussed with every friend!!!

Enjoy reading,

Raghav Aggarwal

As one of our class-mates tagged Rahul & me once with “Ache Kaminey” (Class 9^th)

Why “tweet” when year long productivity is so important???

2009-10-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

The other day a discussion with few classmates ogled at the notorious tweet messages floated by our respected Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr. Shashi Tharoor. The chit-chat amongst us was as intriguing as the statements put forward by Mr.Tharoor.

One of us was of the opinion that both his tweets were in right light and conveyed a symbolic meaning that can be interpreted only with a good intellect. This was no doubt acceptable but a half of us argued that if you assume a public position where masses look up to you, there is a high degree of responsibility associated while making statements. Especially when someone like Mr. Tharror who’s been a diplomat for most of his life knows the subtleties involved in statements’ formation and execution.

On retrospection, I thought probably, he could have put a disclaimer that all opinions are entirely personal without representation to any ministry or government body. But then, realized that conventional wisdom is always as individual’s take and if you are no-nonsense individual (with a professional representation), you better legitimate your wisdom with public sentiments.

The tweet for replacing Gandhi Ji’s birth Anniversary (Gandhi Jayanti) on 2^nd October with a working day was the most astonishing thing to have come across in recent times. This raises few blatant questions which I would certainly want Mr.Tharoor to answer in continuation of his tweeting obsession:

What levels of productivity do you expect to achieve after working for 365 days a year (excluding Sundays and other holidays)? Do you really expect it to improve? One really don’t need to put on thinking caps to realize that a continuous working culture leads to stress and lower levels of productivity rather. The maximum number of deaths in a less populated country like Japan arises out of work stress, are there any lessons to be learnt here?

If productivity is so important, equally important is efficiency i.e. using the minimum inputs to get the maximum output possible. This is where Austerity in truest form comes into picture dear Sir with devoting less time to cyber public (in form of tweets) and more time for real, striving individuals in state and the country.

As rightly pointed out by a reader of The Hindu newspaper, if working on Gandhi Jayanti is so important to uphold the Father’s principles, how many of us really consider “work is worship” principle of his during our life time when we work on every working day. Isn’t the application of this principle of Mahatma Gandhi important when all other arguments are important as you pointed out Mr.Tharoor?

The greatest anomaly with Mr.Tharoor’s tweets lies in the fact that even if we start working pan country from next year on Gandhi Jayanti, soon the day would come when people would start bypassing this day as any hackneyed day of the year, which in very long run, rather than remembering Gandhiji’s idols & philosophies would only convert into twinge of selective memories long forgotten.

Through this article, I only wish to bring to the fore the message that when you assume power, there comes great responsibility with it (as said in Spiderman movie).And when you are a public figure, you rather weigh every alphabet of your speech before making any statements be it personal or official. All views expressed here are entirely personal with no intentions to hurt anybody’s feelings or opinions.
Regards,
Raghav

Why???

2009-08-01T05:19:00.000-07:00

Friends,

Here’s one of my recent compositions. I’d write this owing to the kind of state one of my most adoring friend was in lately. She asked me to put her sadness in words. While putting her emotions on paper, I felt sad for not writing something positive, and livelier, but promise to bounce back with a poem on a happier note.

Take care,

Raghav

Why

Once a friend asked Why?

May be she never wanted to give life a second chance, a second try!!!

Why do I exist, why am I here,

mirage of tears in her eyes, I continued to stare!!!

Kept looking for some ray in a marooned heart,

Was it the beginning, or an end to the start?

Who am I, why do I exist,

I survive as a decaying dead, with unfolded fists!!!

What am I doing, what do I know,

Am I content with life, a hell no!!!

Why do my pasts haunt me today,

Why couldn’t I move on, why did I’ve to stay?

Why did my friends leave, why do memories remain,

I wait for someone over the window, but all in disdain…

These conundrums, would they haunt me for life,

Coz I feel dead, dead of strife!!!

Why do I compare self with others, the present with my past,

Is there a satisfaction level I could ever reach,

In the pool of life so mysterious and vast!!!

Why do I call myself the controller of my presence,

When up there lives the one with the key,

Or am I really created by the Lord above,

When I’m dictated by this society you see!!!

Loads of questions within, with answers hiding in,

Sadness pity me for having lost-out,

and death comes forth with forceful grin…

I say, life is precious, live it to the max,

She says, the day the questions get answered, I die in relax!!!

Sach Ka Samna - let's Face It....

2009-07-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

‘Sach ka Samna’, the show inspired from the English program ‘The moment of Truth’, is finding itself quite literally in a debutant confrontation with the bitter-truth of the society. And that is, “We Indians as viewers cannot really tolerate the mockery of social ethos and culture on television, but as hypocrite citizens are ready to commit all sorts of not-to-be-told, selfish & naughty acts in secret!!!” Isn’t so??
Rajeev Khandelwal, hosting one of those biggies, after landmarks like Kaun Banega Crorepati (Host:Amitabh Bachchan) & Kya aap Panchi paas hain?(Host: ShahRukh Khan) on Star Plus, seems to be taken for a ride for being a part of it. The question arises, Aren’t we really ready for such a show which exposes individuals’ inner evils to this swindler world, when we are ready for obscene programs like Splits-Villa shown on MTV & daring, in-your-face programs shown on Real? Is a late night format like ‘Sach ka Samna’ that bad that it gets ridiculed & looked down upon by news media and social frenzy when programs like Splits-Villa, Roadies etc. are shown at that time of the day when television attracts maximum viewers (that too teenagers, kids & girls)?
As literally put by one of the advertisements, ‘Jaago India, Jaago!!!”. Stop beating around the bush for deciding what’s wrong and what’s not, when each one of us knows internally & eternally, who we really are from the gut, & how clean we are at the bottom (pun intended)!!!
I happened to watch few exclusive shows on different news channels showing Rajeev Khandelwal, the most apt actor for Sach ka Samna(of course after a real & worldly performance in Armaan), clarifying his position (on behalf of this show) and persuading public at large. He was being bombarded by those vicious questions thrown mercilessly by experts from fields like psychology, hospitals, retd. Chartered accountants, news reporters, channel hosts, and audience. Woah, did I go about listing quite a number of people, just proves how shallow this society is, and how full it is with such shallow people??? Quite an oxymoron, isn’t so?
Before you pounce anymore questions to Mr. Khandelwal, I would like you to re-think and try answering the same question from within, for I believe the following point gives a good argument for the defense of Mr. Khandelwal & his show:-
•This show isn’t Rajeev Khandelwal’s brain-child. It’s a format picked from English show with honors (with all criticisms) going to Harold Schultz. So will the proclaiming righteous Indians stop misjudging and start pointing (if they still want to) in the right direction?
•As said by famous Danzel Wanshington (in ‘Men on Fire’), ‘I’m just the medium to send people to God, it is He who decides who has to be called’. So, people, Mr. Khandelwal is just a host, I’m sure he’s got other professional commitments and tasks to do, rather than getting indulged in somebody’s personal life. Also, he is there to just ask you the questions, with sole contention being yours in participating, and for carrying the lust to lose integrity and gain monies.
•There have been cases in past proving fatal to participants in foreign countries and hence receiving their ire, but do realize, people have also seen earning in a filthy manner here in a matter of few hours and start their lives when it has come to a stand-still.
•This show is for TRP’s and hence all the advertisements earnings so don’t worry you hypocrite Indian, nobody in this world can force you to sit back and watch this show. You can very well go to bed & pay your night taxes the way you define them with a mirror of truth designed by this ugly society.

I surely know that with the land of “me-too”’s, one can expect advice for free from a billion, but I ask you, in a land of billion, do you have the guts to come & participate in this show and embrace your grace with truth & wisdom? Think over it….
Take care,
Raghav

Unhide hidden files

2009-06-19T10:17:00.001-07:00

While working on my computer one fine day, I happened to encounter the control of machine over human orders. While I was working on few files and moving them across folders, I was supposed to unhide hidden files before I could do any sort of operation. As a regular computer user, went to folder options (under Tools) in explorer and did click on the usual radio-button saying:-

Show hidden Files & Folders

Computer did respond by showing a busy signal, but not for very long when I realized that none of the hidden files got unhidden. Surprised, I again opened the pop-up only to see my machine over-riding my command and setting the radio-button back to the message saying:-

Do not show hidden files & Folders

Having an anti-virus on the system, the above anomaly was unexpected and unusual (with anti-virus getting updated on daily basis). Anyways, tried scanning the system but to no avail when I started out the search for manually removing the virus succumbing my system to death. Oh, If I forgot to mention the reason for all, it’s because of a virus residing on your desktop in one of those autorun.inf files on the system. These are initialization files which help in initialing the processes as and when required.

The search began and after much search on net, I found few basic attempts to solve the matters at hand.

I tried exploring a little more and would like to explain them to you so that anybody facing the same problem, don’t end up relegating the control to machine (we humans are a lot better than them after all!!!)

· Click Windows +R and type ‘cmd’ or ‘command prompt’ to open the command prompt manager. The default manager would open like:-

Once opened, use cd\ to reach to the root level of the existing default directory.

Now type in the required directory name (where hidden files are located) with a colon at the end and press enter:

C:\>D: and press enter

The directory moves to the new directory drive D.

Now reach to the particular folder using cd xyz and press enter (xyz should be the name of the folder). Continue till the time you reach to the exact location.

If the location where hidden files are located is also hidden or unknown, use dir/ah or dir to see all the folders within the path. Now make use of attrib command to unhide all the hidden files in the respective folder.

D:\>attrib -h xyz

-h specifies the given folder needs to be removed from hidden tag and converted into a normal folder. +h indicates to convert a normal folder into a hidden one.

I was able to use the above methods for files/ folders containing single words in their name (not a combination of words separated by spaces) and also the process was manual with every time typing the name of the file and folder to unhide it and moving on to the next one. This got me to search further to find a more ideal solution to unhide all hidden files at once and that too all kinds of files without mentioning their names.

Keep reading for how can this be achieved:-

· In order to unhide all the hidden files on your system at once, this was the method I could find.

Click on Windows +R and type ‘regedit’ to open a pop-up window like:-

As one could see the listing on the left-hand side, click on to respective links to reach to the following destination:-

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL

Once here, one would see attributes against SHOWALL on right hand side.

Have a look at the checkedValue parameter & see the value attached along it. It is a hexa-decimal number following by a numeric value in brackets (as shown in figure above). Make sure that the type of this parameter is REG_DWORD, and if not, delete this parameter and create a new parameter of above type and same name.

Double click the item to modify and change it from 0 to 1:-

After changing, press F5 continuously to check whether the value of checkedValue parameter goes back to 0.

If it doesn’t, open explorer (My computer) and in tools use folder options to Show all hidden files and folders. If the problem persists, that would be because of the checkedValue parameter switching back to 0. Have a look!!!

If you are able to see hidden files now, the problem is over and you can now safely move on to make use of those new unhidden files & folders.

However, if problem persists, it is because of the Explorer.exe process running in the background. What needs to be done is stop the explorer process for a short duration, till we are not able to unhide all the folders/files. Open the task manager, and go the processes section of it.

There many processes would be displayed, locate explorer.exe and by right clicking on to it, set the affinity of the process. By clicking here, it would show you how many processors the process is currently running on i.e. the System and Program in form of CPU0 & CPU1.

Unclick CPU0 and click ok. This would make the process get terminated from running on to system. Now go to registry editor as opened above, and in SHOWALL, modify the checkedvalue setting from 0 to 1.

After doing it, click F5 only to see that it doesn’t toggle back to 0 now.

Open folder options now and click Show all hidden files and folders only to see all the files of the system being displayed to you. Make use of these files/folders as you want, and do not forget to set the affinity of explorer.exe process back as normal using the Windows Task Manager.

Hope the above methodology helps, and lemme know if you still find any difficulties.

All the best,

Raghav

FedEx crashes Del Potro in Semis – French Open 2009

2009-06-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

Exhilarating! Adrenalin rushing high!! Testing and nerve-racking!!! The more synonyms one attach to the match played between World No. 2 Roger Federer & 5^th seeded Del Potro, the less credit one would accrue to the scintillating performances. Yes, I’m talking about the semi-finals played between the two for Roland Garros’ French Open 2009. There was no doubt that Roger was tested all over the court for his skills and acrobatic moves by the young lad from Argentine. Won by Federer, but the contest was a battle of the war-lords fought furiously by the Argentinean. The convincing throttle unleashed by Potro must have sent shocking waves to the Swiss. With scores like 6/3, 6/7, 6/2, 1/6, 4/6 the match was equally combated by the two opponents. Clay not being the winning grounds for Swiss, one could really see him mustering all the strength required to fight it out, and convert his streak of 4 times entering into clay-court finals into a resounding Grand Slam victory this time. Match could have been compared to the wrestling match between Steve Austin & The Rock, with Rock (Roger) showing the greatest tenacity to fight till the last moment and Austin (Potro) knocking him with heavy punches and aces throughout the match.

Starting with the lead over Roger with 6/3 in the first set, one could clearly see the spirits with which Potro was there to fight it out. Having Roger thrown all around the court, Potro literally dictated the terms of tennis on the court. The second set was an equivocal combat between the two with each of them winning their respective points to fight for the final point in the form of a tie-breaker. This was when Federer showed his prowess to take the control of the situation. He led the tie-breaker deciding points with a lead of 5-1. And went on to winning the second set. In the third set, Potro was back again with full energy and enthusiasm and took the lead right from the beginning, leaving Federer trailing behind miserably. This was when it became for sure that tonight Potro was the one who dictated all terms on the ground, with throwing nearly three times aces on average in every set when compared to Federer. The average speed with which the Argentinean served fell in the bracket of 195 to 210 Km/hr which was much thumping and powerful when compared to Roger at 185 to 194 Km/hr. This made Potro clinch the third set with a score of 6/2, blowing Federer all over the court.

Moving towards the fourth set was when Federer was seen to come back in original form with 5^th seeded clearly showing signs of subtle tiredness setting in. but least he was about to give up. But fourth set saw, Roger competing against Potro in long rallies and coming out as clear winner. He made Potro move and fight hard for ball all around the court. With a number of double-faults on service committed by Potro, Federer was able to break his serve a number of times, thereby leading the set with an easy 1/6 win.

With match moving towards the final set, the deciding one, Roger decided to take the lead right from the beginning. In spite of a huge built and good height, Potro just could not perform to his highest levels to make Federer play at back foot from the court line. Roger begin the set with a clean sweep of 2/0 lead, and things started to become clear that Roger was hitting the bulls’ eye now when Argentinean shot back and moved the set towards 3/3 with serving for next game point. With the status-quo between the two at this point of time, it was a do or die situation between both the world-class players. Roger broke the serve of Potro and went on to lead the game with 3/4 score in the final set. Now, roger served and went on to win the point, leading the scores with 3/5. On Potro’s serve, Roger made all his efforts to break his serve and win the match, but the success was not bound to come easy when he had a fighting soldier at the other end of the battleground. The scores were 4/5 with Roger now serving for the match. This was made as easy as possible by Federer who went on to win this point and match with 40/15 intermediate scores and double match winning points.

At the end, a match played for over 3 hours could be a decider between the two, but it was a winning and quite convincing show for the audience, spectators in the court and for the spirit of the came.

Hope this streak of Federer continues and go on to win the French Open 2009 and create a new world record by beating Robin Soderling (the past occasions being Roger beating him 9 on 9 times). ALL THE BEST FEDEx!!!!

Education – The definitive road to success

2009-06-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

There is no denying the fact that today, for any country to prosper, the most formidable pillars embodies in education & research foundations of a country. With a technology driven no-border world, every country relies most heavily on the most abundant & developed resources - humans. Higher education supplemented with research certainly earmarks the renaissance to heal the world of atrocities, ignorance, hatred and march towards a robotic productivity and efficiency in every walk of life.

After taking the charge of HRD Ministry, Dr.Kapil Sibal has a lot to do when it comes to bring the higher education at par with top-notch foreign universities’ and provide enough impetus for conducting world-class research in diversified facets of universe. Rather than opening up the avenues for foreign sub-standard and mediocre institutions in Indian contingent, there is a gamut of measures one need to ponder on for higher literacy and improving education.

The point where we need to begin is at primary and secondary education level. The scenario present today gives an image of a pyramid having three layers with maximum students waiting to get elementary education present at the bottom most level and still deprived of the resources and opportunities, the middle level comprising of students at senior secondary level not able to complete their studies due to lack of right enthusiasm and orientation, and the top triangular region comprising of very few students undertaking research with futile facilities accrued to them. The solution lies in re-orienting the pyramid to work out a win-win-win situation for all the three categories of future potentials. This can be explained with the help of the following diagram:

The first diagram shows the number of students in India at three levels and the second diagram shows the extent of facilities & resources made available to them at the respective levels (merging the two would bring in clarity). Mr. Sibal, what is required is not more meaningless facilities at the top but the greatest dedication towards the bottom i.e. the youngest lot. If problems at this level are rooted out, one would not wonder the closing in of the day when reservations in all forms can get siphoned off from the Indian contingent from every sphere of life & work, and convert s small fraction of research students into a vast pool (as shown in diagrams above). What we need to accomplish is the grooming of the bud in form of adequate provision of mid-day meals, Sarva Shiskha Abhiyan, Women & Child protection and empowerment and many more multitude of operations. Girl child needs to get educated and at par with boys with every right accrued to them. Subjects of morality, society and discipline needs to be incorporated in every class of school curriculum till the senior secondary education levels.

At the elementary level, more efforts need to be called for from non-working mothers to help in preparing meals for kids in schools where their wards study. This can be complimented with NREGA in villages and grams. Teachers’ attendance need to be properly supervised by the school authorities and submitted to the board for scrutinizing, sudden checks, and promotions. Awareness campaigns need to be launched on regular intervals at every village and small towns to educate ignorant masses towards keeping a tab on school authorities and their kid’s progress at school. Monetary incentives need to be proliferated on a wider scale to promote girl education.

At the senior secondary level, students need to be shown a more grown-up like attitude and give them the freedom to try out different diversified things. Students should be given real life trainings on different aspects like a day in the life of a traffic cop, drills, tutoring the down-trodden and needy, and certified for the same. Incentives in form of certificates pave a successful mechanism for making the maximum students try out their hand at different activities. To bring in transparency in the work carried out by government officials in different state and central governments’ initiatives, students from this level need to be given the authority to understand and inspect the work in progress and prepare reports. This would not only remove corruption, but also help them work towards the government’s cause which gets declared in form of government certificates.

At the highest level of education, students need to be given the right opportunities in form of monetary aids and all the help from prolific researchers, academicians and scholars in form of recurring events, tours & trips etc. They need to be given international exposure by initiatives to be taken by government in form of research conducting countries’ cruises and see the way researches are carried there. I was once asked by R.B.I(Delhi) Director & Team, what is the reason for such a low no. of hardware engineers in India? Well, I certainly do not agree with the statement, but there’s an underlying truth if we compare hardware professionals with other professions. The low numbers primarily point towards the fallacies in the system beginning at the root levels coupled with inadequate facilities/ opportunities given at the highest levels of education. It is this stage which can pave the success of India from being a service dominant industry to the biggest manufacturing hub of tomorrow.

Living it down-under

2009-05-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

Apropos to the events unfolding in Australia, one wonders with awe the atrocities meted out to foreign students. In times when globalization speak for unification of different people, cultures and countries all over, these events come as a serious surprise to every rational being. What happened to Sharvan Kumar, or Sourabh Sharma and couple of other students evident the loop holes still widely prevalent in the so called multi-cultural, multi-ethnic world? But isn’t the hypothesis of calling these events racist too early a conclusion? Or is it pure stupor that India attaches to such events on foreign soil? Well, the answer lays in the future course of action and framework definition to protect the interests of foreign students and workers.

Before one can jump on to any conclusion that could be highly detrimental, one needs to weigh in all the reasons that caused all this to happen. Looking tangentially, I wonder if international cricket and specifically the rivalry between Indian and Australian cricket time resulted into this foray. With high decibel sledging by Australian cricketers ‘down-under’, and an un-equivocal status of BCCI in world cricket, the game between two sides give an impression of battle on the turf. Harbhajan Singh episode with Andrew Symonds in recent past has only proliferated tensions between the two countries. The correlation between sports world, specifically cricket and the social life is derived from the sentiments the sport drive on crazy spectators and game lovers. And that too in both the counties. We might not get to see an Australian beaten-up in Indian subcontinent, but can we really be optimistic about the same happening down-under? Or can we really forget what Indians have also done to foreign tourists in the past, even when they were not remotely connected to the world of cricket? Well, both the answers are right in front of all of us. Infact, Harbhajan singh’s cousin’s son, Utpal Singh also lost his life in Australia in one of those similar attacks.

Racism would set in when one enters into an elite territory, a superior state from a beleaguered or less prosperous one. But that case doesn’t fit for countries like Australia. Australia is first of all no one-culture nation, rather it has always been supportive of different people thronging from different countries all over the world. This country have had a tough past as migrants (Aborigines), one could not rebuke this country for few events which are unwanted. It has been for years that Indian students go for higher studies like hotel management hospitality industry to Australia in addition to a number of Bollywood movies being shot and screened there. So, in a nut shell, racism is uncalled for, but if indeed this evil is the grim reality, then one could only feel sorry for a foreign country like Australia who belied what they stood for.

At micro-level, an inspection would be highly full-filling. For we need to connect what was common amongst all the accidents no matter where they happened. Was it a clear demand of moolah (Australian dollars) by Australian students/ nationals which invigorated them to take such harsh steps? Or was it a personal vendetta or enmity of past? I strongly support the fact that culprits should be brought to book and framework needs to be defined which could help cultivate the on-going relationship between not just our two countries but also all over the world.

Wishing a speedy recovery to all the students/ nationals, and message from the heart of every Indian, ‘take care!!!’

Nurturing a new-born baby

2009-05-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

The topic may seem out of place on this blog but surely a right guide for young mothers, for it would certainly help them relinquish few myths & strategies that need to be implemented when it comes to baby care. I’m not a father, but by nurturing my niece, or by taking care of her, I certainly have learnt a lot about children especially the newly born ones. And since I’ve seen the bud up-and-coming, I would certainly like to share my experience in form of few suggestions and advices.

Please do not consider any of these suggestions as the gospel’s truth, as they are entirely personal and just a ray of light to siphon-off perils of darkness for young mothers. Hope they come handy and feel free to reject any of them if not found suitable.

a) First of all, the most important thing is to remember that the baby’s bones are highly fragile and should not ever be pulled or pushed too hard ever. They would generally take a long duration to develop and grow strong. Try taking care of them like a tender flower waiting to blossom.

b) A 5 month baby asks not just for attention, but also for toys or things that it can grab or hold. It would try clasping your fingers if offered, a small soft toys etc/ So kindly give due attention to babies during this stage so that they feel important and loved. They would not ask, but would give signals like:-

a. A yell would mean a sense of appreciation and enjoyment.

b. Constant or recurring yells would mean the wanting sign of attention needed to play

c. Open arms or trying to extend arms towards you would mean want of mother’s lap.

d. After playing for some time, a gentle cry would mean the time for a meal like milk/ceralac etc.

c) A baby (my niece) would feel the most comfortable when kept in hand-driven prams (push-car) and taken for a light & gentle stroll. This generally makes them feel sleepy and go into a long slumber.

d) Never push the baby to drink the entire milk, but rather play with it to divert his/her mind so that it enjoys drinking the milk (for a baby of 4 to 5 months). Always use the right temperature for milk to be served and give adequate breaks to baby to have it drunk completely. Mantra would be: Slow and steady wins the race. Try not to rotate the milk bottle when in baby’s mouth, for rotation would only cause the uneven rate of milk flow into mouth and build up unnecessary pressure for baby to make larger gulps.

e) Babies most often would respond to sounds like hand’s twitching, clapping and they find it a fun when done on recurrent basis.

f) Please avoid showing babies mirrors to see themselves as I believe it only creates confusion and chaos in a small mind. May be a bit absurd thought but would still suggest avoidance of mirrors.

g) A one to two month baby when crying feels most relaxed in somebody’s lap with a gentle care. Try giving soothing swings with care, without making them very shaky or vibrant but rather smooth and relaxing. This makes them go into a sleep.

Please note the views are entirely my personal experience and expressed here. Please use all the logic, rationale and common sense in this world while taking care of your baby and above all, look at every perspective while taking care with love and emotions in your heart for the small stars. All the best!!!

A balancing Act

2009-05-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

19th May, 2008: for the past one week, there has been no respite from scorching heat in Delhi. One wonder if this marks the peak of summers, or June has more sweltering blaze waiting to be gushed out? There is no denying the fact that as the time progresses the ecological system moves towards a more unstable state, the one with colder winters and hotter summers. Do two negatives make a positive? Well think twice when it comes to instability in weather. With more heat and intense cold, the equation isn’t a balancing one, but definitely the one which has its variables moving away from the state of equilibrium.

How an individual feel relieved from the inferno outside his/her home or working place? By using an air conditioned mode of transportation, or by drinking loads of drinks and juices, or by other means which can provide an easy respite. But are all these measures sustainable or are they really affordable by majority of the individuals on the run for major proportion of the day? The answer is a clear no. So what exactly are the sustainable measures that need to be taken care of?

One must realize that higher temperatures are a global issue and it can only be tackled if every individual understands the gravity of the problems it would result in near future. There would be 100’s of articles available explaining various methods of combating with scorching heat and keeping it cool, I would only like to enumerate the measures that would result in a balanced ecosystem & hence eliminate alternative ways to beat the heat.

a) The most important task would be to plant as many trees as possible, or if possible, to plant one tree for every tree cut. For majority of us, as citizens of society, this is a long run practical approach concurred by most but rarely implemented by one. One needs to understand how important is afforestation/ reforestation and how important are trees in lowering the rising temperatures. It is evident from the scenario in villages (which also in fact are getting industrialized in today’s times) where lanes of trees provide a soothing touch of cool air just like an air-conditioner. Planting of trees has a multiplier effect. And not only does it result in stabilizing weather, it also result in creating jobs and improving work efficiencies and productivity. Planting more trees would result in preserving our ecological system. It would also help in lowering temperatures and hence more outdoor activities like going to work, undertaking field tasks etc would become easier. This would improve employee efficiency and organization’s productivity. Trees also provide natural home to diverse bird species & animals. Trees also help in preventing soil erosion and hence prevent floods from occurring. In a nut shell, one tree can solve multitude of our problems, think about having as many as possible? Wouldn’t that change the face of the earth and reduce the amount spent on developing alternative sources of energy to balance eco-system.

b) Make use of car pools is another important measure that needs to be taken on a broader scale. Wisdom not lies in driving the most efficient (on mileage) car single handedly, but rather using any vehicle as a group most efficiently. With ‘nano’ stars waiting to be sparkled across every street and corner of the country, it is highly advisable to make use of each unit to its fullest capacity if possible. People staying in one colony should develop a car pool for to & fro journeys between the place of work and home. This would drastically reduce the fuel consumption and hence quash the ever growing constant demand on conventional sources of energy.

c) Traffic signals provide an effective mechanism for conserving the limited fuel in each vehicle. Had there been no traffic signals, it would have only resulted in creating chaos on roads and increasing cases of accidents due to high speeds in addition to pollution burden. And high speed results in more fuel consumption, and hence more pollution. An individual should switch off the vehicle when the wait time period is at least 30 seconds. If all vehicles preserve fuel by above step, it would only result in saving up to tones of fuel on monthly basis. Hence increasing the supply, lowering the demand and hence prices.

d) Make use of Metro trains as & when possible. Not only metro trains’ help in covering far reaches of a place, but they also provide a rather comforting journey at the most competitive prices. So shouldn’t the Metro trains be made use of if the distance to be covered is long enough to walk down?

Would come up with more sustainable measures which are present right in front of us, one just need the vision to make use of!!!

Till then take care and enjoy summer with cool drinks and loads of water….

Letter published in Hindu - Ragging

2009-03-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to my letter (The hindu):-

http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/17/stories/2009031755560804.htm

Full Article

It is a matter of grave concerns that issues like ragging still find place in institutes of learning and education. Whether it is news catching cases of Aman kachroo in Himachal Pradesh or agricultural institute ragging incident in Andhra Pradesh, the so called ice-breaking practice seems to only corroborate in evil sense. One shudders on the mere thought of innumerable ragging cases that must be plaguing in different colleges in different parts of the country.

What needs to be in place in times today is not beat the culprit policy based on punishments like restrictions, expulsions or suspensions, for they would serve a short term goal of reprimanding the guilty, but an holistic approach to end ragging in long run paving the ways to restore peace and harmony within every individual in more stressful times to come.

There have been many initiatives in form of Raghavan Committee Recommendations taken up in past with achievements in form of anti-ragging squads formation in colleges, but with today’s highly pressurized life-style, one need to go back to basics to overcome this menace.

There exists a thin line between being immoral and being amoral. To root out both, one needs to lay emphasis on Primary school education. For this, the core requirement is to make every student a morality-literate individual right from the primary school education till he/she passes senior secondary school education. This would call for incorporation of a subject covering morals, ethics, principles, society dynamics & individual behavior. A span of one subject at various levels over a period of 8 to 10 years will lay the creation of law abiding, moral and honest human beings. The evaluation of a student in this subject would be based on grading scales and in order to encourage students to take up this subject more seriously, reward in form of certificates can be given to individuals scoring highest grades. This would help every student to be sound and rational in decision making process at the time of higher education studies. In a nutshell, a slow but a robust process having longest positive impact on the society.

Another improvisation needed in today is to make anti-ragging squads (ARS) more vigilant and action oriented in various institutes and colleges. This entails providing an SMS service to students to report any startling ‘ragging’ activity in college/hostel premises to ARS before becoming victim to the menace. The major step to be taken in this direction is to grow the size of ARS in every college to address concerns like availability and place an inspection team of faculty/professors to check regularly over the activities of ARS.

Third initiative would be in form of mentor-mentee program wherein ever senior would be allotted a couple of juniors who can have a highly interactive sessions that will help in confidence building measures during the stay in the college. A group of two to three mentees would deter any senior from exploiting one individual’s integrity and a diversified group would deter any unforeseen regional bias. Moreover, under the aegis of this program, by making the education more professional and research oriented, students (read seniors) at various levels can be encouraged to take activities or assigned tasks with juniors (as subordinates) to have those strong bullet points written on CV’s/resumes in a professional course and references in research proposals (in form of apprenticeship ).

Last but not the least, innovation would come in form of ice-breaking sessions to be held between seniors and juniors in form of a grand scale function organized yearly right in the beginning by college authorities’ who will address the concerns of a timid junior and assertive seniors.

I certainly feel measures like these would pave the success of having rational and healthy mindset amongst the student fraternity in ever walk of life.

Pragmatic Response towards external developments

2009-02-27T11:05:00.000-08:00

Software sector has been the prime engine of growth in our country. There is no denying the fact that this sector gave the much needed impetus to see India shinning in truest sense possible and showcased its talent to rest of the world. With Aryabhata contributing ‘0’ to the world, we are marching to rank ‘1’ in world when it comes to talent, clearly a toggle between the two numerical as highlighted in binary form in Indian software industry. Indeed a matter of pride!!!

We are living in turbulent times which have made it impossible for us to proclaim that our economy is a decoupled economy from rest of the world. Indeed, Globalization and financial integration has linked us to the outer world, and hence allowed both direct and indirect tremors to rein in our territory. The decisions of the most cherished leader in today’s time are be-fittingly misplaced especially when it comes to safeguarding the interests of his nationals, the Americans. The decision to prune the extent of outsourcing to other countries like India (implicit) may sound ambitious today but is highly impractical in long run. The revival of any economy is recessionary times lies in public investment and by creating avenues to increase demand, consumption and production. If the companies in US cannot afford to pay high pay packages to local technocrats why would it not want to outsource the project to offshore entities at highly cheaper rates? Today, the growth is so inter-related and inclusive that factors like outsourcing just can’t be ignored. It acts not only as a revenue earner for firms but also helps in job creation for local masses. Growth of Indian companies like TCS, Infosys, and HCL has resulted in providing employment opportunities not just in India but abroad by setting up centers in Mexico, Brazil etc. Hence, a bilateral growth for both the home and host countries.

However, there are few measures that need to be adopted by India’s corporate sector during the times of crises. Since India has a strong pool of talent in form of software engineers, hardware engineers, techno-brats like hackers, and researchers, what needs to be done is to truly decouple the economy from turbulence in rest of the world, at least in one particular domain determining the growth. There are a few intrepreneurial characteristics we need to mobilize within ourselves not just to alienate self from global impacts, but to provide the much needed public investments in recessionary phase. This could come in form of an autonomous research organization/entity that could be set up by employing the best talent mix from such a strong intellectual industry which will get the necessary government grant for conducting research in coherence with existing institutions for providing domestic solutions for our country. Yes, calling I.T companies to provide solutions for country in as much importance as they do to others. The conceptualized research entity would provide solutions like connecting all the hospitals in country through online networking making it readily available even to the people living in most isolated areas. This may not cater to the needs of internet illiterate masses, but would certainly address the need of public investment in short run and improvement in health index in long run. Another solution the entity could offer would include designing state level centralized web-portals for meeting the regular needs of households like securing a gas connection, refilling of gas cylinders etc. This would help in making it highly convenient for a net savvy population in both short and long run and also address the issues like fuel thefts and usage of household cylinders for business purposes. Another solution the research organization would offer would be to provide education through networking in rural areas, semi-urban areas etc. The after effects of all these solutions will have a multiplier effect on the economy and pave the way for industrial development especially in manufacturing and infrastructure sector. This would truly make India the I.T hub of the world and an emerging market with no string attached.

Insaan....

2009-02-05T10:04:00.000-08:00

Toofan aur barish ki boondein,

Andhere mein sannate ki goonj,

Mitti mein dhas chukka hai bande,

Haasil karne ki bud chukki teri bhook!!!

Maut ko gale lagakar,

Chale they insaan ki khoj mein,

Na rahe ‘Mahatma’, na rahe ‘Pandit’,

Kya maut chupi thi unki soch mein???

Kuch palon se jhujharo hokar,

Mar mitne ko mann karta hai,

Har pal mar raha hai bande,

Bas mann mannne se darta hai!!!

Ek aag thi yuva mein,

Jo aaj vibhuti ban hai hawa mein gum,

Jis hawa mein lete ho sansein, uss hawa ke dard ko sunn!!!

Anant lakshya ki khoj mein,

Chod chukke ho apna ghar,

Jeet ko pa lena chahte ho lekin,

Haarne se lagta hai darr!!!

Veeron ke shehar mein,

kayarta ka ankur hai foota,

insaan ne insaan ko kya,

insaan ne bhagwan ko loota!!!

Utho dikhawe ki kabar se,

Tod do ab jhoot ka chehra,

Karna hai to kuch kar dikhao,

Na hone do parchai ko aur kala, aur gehra!!!

Shaheedon ki smriti,

sardi mein garmahat deti hai,

kyon hai kissi ka haq cheena,

mrit logon ki kevel kheti hai!!!

To be continued….

A failed story

2009-02-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

I was a lonesome lover,

Searching her with hopes undeterred,

Don’t be disheartened what friends would say,

The day of success isn’t a distant away…

With gentle promises in my heart, gave every day a novel start,

Dreamt of caring for her more than self, and would face evils with all the stealth!!!

One day, the remote prospects became an idealistic truth,

Didn’t happen by chance, but we were made for each other’s good,

With bud of love carved on my heart, forever to stay,

The day of success wasn’t anymore a distant away!!!

Overlooked friends n foes, lived in a world reincarnated for her,

We swayed to love till our last breath, and promised to bid a bye together!!!

Dynamics of time flew past at an alarming pace,

Is love a dream or reality, she would pray,

I would hold her hands in my hands,

“This day of success would last an infinity...”, I would say!!!

But the actions of past, formulated a circuitous future,

With life and love not lasting forever,

I stood waiting, when she was gone one day,

The day of success is no more alive today!!!

A failed love story….

Life Factors

2009-01-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

Factors of life

The various facets of life, be at experience, knowledge, learning plays an important role at various stages and that too simultaneously. Do we ever give it a thought as to how do they define the future course or the trend they follow for every individual?

Well, I’ve tried explaining them with a graph I could conceptualize which depicts how these important and implicit parameters shape us up. This may neither be the correct way to explain things nor the right version, but my experience certainly goes against the argument.

Experience: - Experience is something we inherit from the day we are born into this world. Culture is one what we learn in this social society as an institution, experience is something that keeps building as we progress (in age) with time. Certainly, it shows a balance between what we learn and what we understand, or in a more apt manner, a balance between the ‘flowing’ time and the life factors. The graph depicts it to be present at an angle of 45* with the abscissa showing an ever-lasting positive slope in life.

Knowledge: - No knowledge can be gained without learning process in place, but then, the learning process starts right from the stage an infant is born. In fact it learns various tasks in mother’s womb like calling for food, sleep needs etc. even before birth and once it enters in this mysterious external world. Hence, knowledge keeps getting assimilated at every subsequent stage, in every subsequent second of growth. The books give an implied knowledge during adolescence, the facts give a rationale-building knowledge in prime, and experience give knowledge during adulthood. However, knowledge is a process, which, initially increases at a rapid rate, but after a considerable age, begins to slow down and finally becomes constant (with almost negligible enhancement). The slowing down occurs due to acceptance of all that is present in this world, due to unwillingness to question anymore, due to introspect and retrospect with self. And finally it remains the same during the stage of retirement, when one’s own view point becomes stronger than world’s and thicket seems to build within.

Understanding: - Understanding is one such life factor which somewhat shows an equal rising and declining trend. Yes, it grows first at a much slower rate, but with passage of time and gain of experience, it begins to pace up and starts assimilating at rapid rate. The initial slow down is due to the lag occurring because of slow comprehension. A baby learns to accept who her mother is due to knowledge, but is not able to judge what makes it do that. A toddler shows inquisitiveness on interfacing with nature, but does not meet with all the desired answers. It picks up speed due to continued presence of fast ‘knowledge’ garnering, which increases ‘understanding’. This makes a young individual, rational, logical and strong in all decisions he/she make. However, after a considerable period, the understanding begins to show a declining trend owing to a large passage of time (when various kinds of gaps begin to set in) and due to redundancy in knowledge.

Hope the above mathematical representation of life helps in clearing most of our doubts and show that the most universal language in this world is indeed mathematics!!!

Thankyou, Raghav

Creative retention strategies that can be used by organizations today

2008-10-15T02:03:00.000-07:00

This is context to the need of a system in place in today’s corporate world to hold back the potential carrying, & talented employees. Although I’m neither a market researcher, nor a person involved in human resources specialization of management, but having worked with an organization in past for two years, I wish to express few ideas that can be put to use in almost all the organizations. The ideas would help an organization to retain its employee’s pool, gain trust and a feeling of belongingness with the company not as a business firm but as an institute that musters growth.

I would begin by a famous quote, “Always love your work, never love your company, for you may never know when company stops loving you!!!”

Here are few methods I have enumerated to highlight about creative retention strategies that can be used by organizations of today:-

· The greatest motivation for an employee to continue working with an organization doesn’t lie in perks given in form of petty gifts time & on, but in form of regular rewards & recognitions, the three R’s (Regularity in recognition, Recognition, and rewarding the recognition). Yes, that’s the key word. An employee would only feel encouraged if he/she is rewarded at business unit/organizational level for the task/project he’s been involved into. This remuneration can come in form of timely certifications symbolic to applause offered depending on the complexity & priority of the task at hand. The varying degree of work would determine the kind of certificate issued, vis-à-vis something catering to organizational level, or BU level or team level. And to compliment these certificates, the best option for any company would be to distribute rewards in form of gift vouchers, movie tickets, club swimming passes etc with them. These petty vouchers would add to the cost to the company, but the level of productivity increase and goals clearance would surpass all costs incurred.

· Next big factor that keeps an employee glued to a company is the desire to grow, not just financially but also holistically, both at work and personal life. The three areas of concern can be looked into by different strategies that need to be devised and implemented timely with full effectiveness:-

Financially: - This would be the most important growth factor for an employee esp. for the ones who are at the starting levels. An efficient bonus tracking system needs to be taken into consideration, which could be made online to the extent that an employee keeps feeding in his/her work/tasks completed (with code assigned to each task) and manager’s approval (again online) in the system, so that all those feedback can be taken into account while deciding the bonus for an employee at the end of the period. This would give the organization an advantage to introduce transparency in the system, make the whole process of project completion more efficient and productive and encourage greater employee participation. On one hand where coming up with such a system would incur some costs, the benefits reaped out of it for long term would supersede all the costs automatically. This would also allow variable bonuses to be offered to employees for doing different levels of work, rather than judging two employees with different levels of work on the same scale.
Work growth: - This would include provision of latest trainings required, both offline and online to all the employees of the company at all the levels. External vendors/ trainers need to be called in on regular basis and training sessions conducted. Also, to encourage employees to go and attend trainings externally arranged by the company after incurring heavy costs, a company can offer petty certifications (not much cost constraint for a company) to all the trained employees. But this would mean, an employee needs to pass the necessary tests at the end of the training (to get that significant certificate), and make self available for any work required outside the peripherals of his/her team. This would allow effective utilization of trained resources across teams and hence across spectrum. This may also ask an employee to devote self as an effective collaborator for other teams working in the same organizations on different platforms.
Personal growth: - This would include making the work friendlier for an employee by giving him/her the right to have flexibility at work. /this may not include a flexibility in time, but yes, a flexibility to report at work when desired by an employee on basis of an authenticate reason. This factor would help an employee of not deducting his/her approved leaves, and would be most effective if immediate senior/superior is well informed beforehand.

· Moving ahead, the next big factor for winning the hearts of employees for an employer is to have regular team-outings in form of lunch, dinners, gaming sessions, birthday celebrations etc. This would generate greater camaraderie among all employees and higher levels of interaction would help in siphoning off all the everlasting hiccups that exists between two colleagues or between a subordinate & his/her boss. Regular conversations would keep the employees abreast of the prevailing market situations and hence provide them an informal platform to discuss all the issues they face on day to day basis. All views are personal...

Voting - A compulsory act????

2008-10-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

Apropos to the news published in respected newspapers about Narendra Modi’s statement of making voting compulsory across the country, I would like to propose a better alternative than coming up with a humungous task of making a billion and rising population accountable (also who would keep a check on fulfillment criteria?).

It would be wise for Indian government to come up with a website (portal) which could carry the whole process of casting your vote during respective state & assembly elections. To increase the voting numbers, the portal would work in coherence with the manual way (ballot process) of casting votes. Only modification that needs to be introduced is generation of a unique number series on all voter Identity cards issued by the authorities. All poor households and rural people who are not exposed to operate a system or doesn’t have an access to one would continue voting the way they have been doing till today and all the savvy and literate people with an easy access to internet can go and cast a vote online. This step would ask for a high security website to be in place with few mandatory details that needs to be furnished by every individual for avoidance of double entries/ fake entries.

The benefits of such a system would be manifolds on the other hand, which will include:-

1)A greater transparency in entire process of voting.

2)A greater response from Indian population who otherwise avoid casting a vote owing to troubles involved.

3)The on set of an era which would entrust government with the responsibility of promoting education and expose people to computers in coming times.

4)Huge savings on expenditure incurred during the whole process of voting/ huge savings on exchequers’ money spent during the same period.

5)Using this online database created as a result of registration of citizens for conducting periodic surveys/census/assessments by government agencies.

6)Making possible the conception of the provision of Social Security Numbers (SSN) which is prevalent in countries like US and is the need of time for a country like ours.

A short poem on Dusherra

2008-10-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

I’m no more,

I’m destroyed,

Exhilaration seems an umpteen victory cry,

Wake up and envision the grim reality,

I’m well alive,

Forsaken for evil, no matter how many times you tried!!!

Recurring deaths have only blackened the soil,

With fear of terror resurrecting from the ground,

How many Ravana’s have been burnt so far?

How many dead kids not been found??

Burnt another of those personifications,

With joy & elation spread all around,

Look closely, look who’s burning,

With sprinkles of bombs scattered large abound!

Time on time, year on year,

The festival seems to gain its faith,

How many in-animations would you continue burning?

Why don’t enjoy the blow-ups of my brigade!!!

Satisfied burning me once a year?

With no worries about fighting terror,

You all will get caught unaware, yet again,

With ticks of bombs & human counts, and a large positive deaths’ error!!!

Salvation was what lord desired,

For I was might’s the chosen one,

I longed to be freed, freed of this dressed evil,

Fight back & be prompt enough to destroy fear & gun!!!

I’ve reached a far fetched success,

With deaths of innocents to carry along,

With my black progress a formidable path to hell,

I wish I do not continue this strong, anymore!!!

Help me salvage, practice what the lord preach,

I wish to siphon self now,

Eradicate poverty, hunger & terror,

To allow truly Ravana to rest in peace!!!

-By Ravana, on seeing itself burning in all nooks & corners of the country on eve of Dushera

A Close encounter

2008-10-07T10:19:00.001-07:00

Have you ever experienced something mysterious circumventing you when least expected!!! Many of us do feel those chilly moments once in life when the time seems to have come to a halt, when there’s a strong scream within to escape from the situation one get stuck in, when the heart begins to pounce at an unnatural acceleration, but one isn’t simply able to do anything. I felt the same once upon a time, but the experience was definitely more than a horror flick story simulation which could have left even the bravest souls with a blot in the throat.

Believe me, this is no fiction story, but a true incident. Goose-bumps could only exacerbate the effect, but the experience narrated here hits an individual’s gut, and hits definitely hard.

“It was one of those unusually cold nights of winter of 2002. This was a time of the season when winters were so strong that sleep lasted longer than expected or we deliberately slept longer to finally wake in full day light. At 4 A.M. in morning, it was a gargantuan task to wake up and make an attempt to go for coaching classes in this intense cold. But, the fate was on to me and I didn’t know this was a part of a big nature’s conspiracy. After having a good time the previous night with few friends, I had asked them to come and stay over for the night so that we all could leave for class the next day early morning. Only one of our friends was supposed to be picked from his place. The whole mission was to wake up at 4 in the morning, and leave for class as soon as possible. The attempt to wake up at 4 proved futile, as we knew; as a result sat few new realistic goals at 4 in morning (half-asleep) to wake up at quarter to 5 (to get that good extra 45 minutes of sleep). But as said, anticipations sometimes do not work out the way desired. Everyone decided to bunk the class, with so strong the motion, that even with half asleep one could have made the right guess, except Me. Believe me, the winters this season were so evil that even 5 in morning gave no respite, and the scene outside was dark, gloomy with a blue tinge setting all over. Not one form of life could be seen around except the noise made by nocturnal species as if sending a warning of not to venture out during their prime-time activities. Still, I left from my place on my Vespa Scooter heaving a big sigh and consolidating all that I had within me to make the plunge. Adding serious threat was the fact that my scooter was not one of those robust machines with full reliability in adverse conditions. And, it was a mutual understanding those days; due to no cellular technology that a commitment made to a friend was adhered to till the task wasn’t complete, just like picking up a friend in this incident.

It wasn’t after a very long time but definitely quite a distance far from my place I experienced something which I would have never even dreamt of experiencing in my life. This was an area with backside of a market on one side and a huge open field on the other side of the road I was travelling on. This field was lush green-ground with few trees scattered along the peripherals that had the stand alone image in their own way. It was still dark and only nature’s creations could be figured out due to their movements from quite a distance. The trees personified demon waiting for its prey. The stretch was a bit too long to be called comfortable especially when you are travelling all along the road in a winter night at that point of time which makes no distinction between mid night (12) and 5 A.M. And last but not the least, when one is occupied with an old scooter known for its unreliability.

As I was sailing along, I paid my full attention on the route and had just one goal to reach to my friend’s place as soon as possible. However, it wasn’t as simple as said. A slight distraction off the road sent my focus to shift to open field and trees’ when I saw something unusual, scary, gross, uncanny, and dramatic. I felt as if losing the control over my driving and numbness setting in as if I’d lost all the sensitivity to control my actions. The shiver down my spine was so strong that I’d lost all my decorum which eventually made my scooter die out unpleasantly when it was least expected. But the gelid lack of sensation kept me pushing towards something I wanted to run away from. But, now, with all the momentum in my machine, I was standing at an approximate distance of 5 to 6 feet from a dead body hanging from the branch of a tree. Now this was a malnutrition man, hanging like a skeleton with torn clothes and the look of an evil. The dead was swinging as if it still had some life, & this was sufficient to have given me a high voltage shock all across my body. Even the slight twist & turl in rope due to in-swings could be heard so clearly, that I felt as if the dead would jump any moment and pull me towards it. I lay there, half sitting on my dead scooter, right in front of the body of a man swinging from a tree, wanting to cry out loud, but with nobody to hear, nobody to help and with nobody to know my plight. No longer did I know, where I was, where I intended to reach and what was I supposed to do!!! Had there been someone who could’ve answered all those questions, was either the LORD I seriously wanted to take refuge to or the DEAD whose aura was pulling me to the death-knell more strongly that the GOD!!!

I didn’t know what was I afraid of, whether the dead or the people who could have killed some guy, but all my cells finally set froze at the moment. I had nobody to curse except myself for waking up in this cold winter for deciding to go to coaching class when all my friends were sleeping at my home; for picking up my not-so-reliable scooter when I had the option of taking my friend’s car/bike.

Before I could have lost my senses, I decided to give some tries to kick start the good old Vespa, the friend I only relied at that point of time. It did not budge for the first two kicks, when I started to observe the shiver in my body everywhere. And a second look at the hanging body, gave a death blow to my fighting senses. Now was the time when i realised that the still body has now swung with its face towars mine. This was a shock of my life. The third kick with full throttle gave in and the scooter was shrieking loud to escape just like me. I hopped on and returned back to my place at an excruciating speed which even the machine wasn’t made compatible to!!! There was no seeing back, no head turning, till I entered my home and went straight to my room to join in with friends still sleeping. There wasn’t a possibility to have let know my waiting friend about my no-coming, but so then, there was no possibility to have let know my friend about no-me had I not rushed from there back home.

This was my second attempt to some serious story composition. Hope you all enjoyed reading the same, and all the incidents described above are totally imaginative, fictional, and self created. Hope to have created the terrible fun out of it. Thanks. Please ignore the starting statements of the story being a true incident; this was a no-nonsense attention-grabber to set the tone. With no offence to Vespa, the one I had described here was pretty old and in a highly dilapidated state.

Aahat

2008-09-24T11:06:00.000-07:00

Aahat kissi ke kadmon ki, ek umeed ki kiran jagaya karti hai,

Durr koi awaaz sunne par, ghungroo ki khan-khan sunai padti hai!!!

Mann daudta hai har chehre ke peeche, kissi kii talaash mein,

Karodon ki bheed hai wahan, fir bhi kissi ki kami khalti rehti hai!!!

Band khidkiyon ke us par, kissi ko paane ka mann karta hai,

Khulte darwazon ko dekh, soti aankhen jaag jaya karti hain,

Aahat kissi ke kadmon ki, ek umeed ki kiran jagaya karti hai!!!

Aate jate is zindagi ke safar mein, har gadi kissi ki lagti hai,

Saath aaj chutta hai hamara,

Lekin kadmon ki aahat wohi manzil ki taraf ishara karti hai,

Aahat kissi ke kadmon ki, ek umeed ki kiran jagaya karti hai!!!

Kissi ke bulane par, har awaaz ussi ki lagti hai,

num khamoshi mein har ehsaas, kissi ki sansein sulgaya karta hai,

dil aaj bhi hai kissi ke paas,

sirf dhadkan idhar sun jaya karti hai,

Aahat kissi ke kadmon ki, ek umeed ki kiran jagaya karti hai!!!

Cricket – a new Avtaar

2008-09-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Cricket - A gentleman’s game has seen many avtaars in recent past. From an ever-lasting & most exhilarating beginning of One Day Internationals & Tests to avant-garde Hong-kong sixes and Twenty-twenty matches in Premier League & Cricket leagues. The game is in all forms of evolution and is slowly working as a great business proposition, or to be rightly stated as young tycoons’ game instead of gentleman’s game or the gentlemen’s game played on business lines, the metaphors can go on endlessly. If it did not matter till today about the number of spectators vying for cricket in all forms and at all places, and the amount of mullah it carried over years, for the Olympics, it certainly would matter in coming times owing to its ever-evolving Avtaars. Till recent past, it has been argued for inclusion of games like Football, Cricket etc. in Olympics which are played widely in entire world and watched over by zillions of people. Even if the proposition arises, how do Olympics authorities take cricket into consideration? Simply, by its new Business Avtaar, where this game can become an individual’s take to prove his mettle in coliseum of sports arena. This would be a format where eleven diverse individuals, that is, from different cricket playing countries would play a match for the same time duration as duration of an ODI. This would make every individual to fight for self, or more apt description would be to fight for his country. The game would involve 55 over’s match (nearly longer than 20-20 format) with each player given 5 over’s to play for. No runners involved, but every man for himself. The format would be scoring maximum points at the end of the match by scoring maximum runs out of eleven players, best fielding, taking maximum wickets, and maximum number of catches & finally for being the wicket keeper on relative grading scale(higher points for being the only wicket keeper in a match). Rest 10 players would field & bowl and the only objective would be to get each batsman out as soon as possible. As soon as one is out, one of the fielders (in predefined order before commencement as per past relative performances) would grab the armor to score maximum and exiting batsman would take the covers of the field. The wicket-keeper would be the last person to bat, but would already have few points to start with for being the only keeper in the match. The burden on cricket community would decrease all the more by having just one umpire, the 3^rd umpire watching every movement from the control room. As every player, fights for his cause, it would be a game of just & fair play with no wrong signage’s to be seen. Taking maximum wickets and scoring runs would be the biggest determining factors for overall points tally. Diverse companies, sponsors from all across the participating nations can chip in for sponsorships and tournament holdings. This would generate more revenue both for the players, companies, cricket world, with gargantuan increase in viewership and a better reach to the sport for non-cricket playing nations. It would come handy as a tournament where a number of matches are played with all players (an exhaustive list) playing league & subsequent matches as per their ranking (similar to Lawn-tennis tournaments like US Open etc) and then proceeding to tougher and testing levels.

There is exponential money riding on game of cricket, yet untapped, and unfazed. The money involved in this sport would one day incorporate this game into Olympics for sure, but can that day be the one when cricket would enter this sporting arena on basis of its viewership, demand & a platform to search the best athletes in the world?? Any prospective takers?

A Paradigm shift in thinking

2008-09-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

Apropos to the latest incidents happening in India ranging from bomb blasts that started in Jaipur, & moved on to Bangalore, Ahmadabad and then to Delhi; to the communal rights creating an inferno in states like Orissa owing to death of Swami Laxmananda; from Raj Thackeray party playing a mockery of Indian's glorified freedom given to every individual, to non-happening of Nano project in Singur; from huge unrest amongst the farmers in land compensation in north, to havoc of conversions & re-conversions in Karnataka, Kerala; Is India on the verge of an internal blow-up? Answer: No, not really. This is the time for India and people to consolidate as a unit to combat all levels of evilness in the society. As our agencies like Intelligence Bureau etc. gear up to fight against the terrorism and its uncanny plans, rather then calling it an hour of the need, we as responsible citizens should delve into greater cooperation and brotherhood amongst each other and fight for a much larger cause like eradicating poverty, pollution, global warming, corruption etc. than fighting amongst ourselves those so called communal or holy or islamist or naxal wars. Many of us would call this option as a futile and fruitless drive, but realize the fact; it is still the next best thing to think of as no other means do work out in long run. Joining a militant group, killing innocents, causing disturbance sounds exciting but do they ignite the passion within you to fight for the cause? Ask yourself, answer lies within your soul. As Dan Brown, author of Angels & Demons quotes in his book, the most universal language in world is not the language of religion or science, but of numbers, logic & rationale, that is the language of mathematics. We must understand that Adam & Eve belonged to no religion, Jesus never taught to fight for the hatred amongst each others, and there was no bifurcation on basis of religion in one of the greatest epics ever, Mahabharata. Rather than condemning an individual (Shivraj Patil) for no timely action to uproot terrorism, it is time for us to castigate ourselves for the same. Think of it as an unfortunate person in those streets of Gaffar Market, Karol Bagh just before the blow-ups, wouldn't you ever want to save everyone out there if you knew that something terrible was about to happen? Would you really look into menial details of knowing the religion and ethnicity of an individual first before extending hand in times of grief & pain? Would you be able to judge the difference in blood and skin splattered & splintered around on seeing all brothers & sisters lying dead on the road? The answer is a clear no. Then what are we fighting for if not fighting for helping each other? We must learn that the outfits, militants only become strong when they are highly motivated to fight for their defined cause as they lack the experience of witnessing the world as they would want to see it in their vision & existence, but we have experienced for ages in different generations the world we always wanted to live in, so we don't even need an external motivation, as they do. We don't need to become radical to fight for a noble cause, but to fight!!! The whole concept lies in bringing harmony, peace and love for each other out there.

The movie Matrix clearly explains the power of 'One', the mighty powers of Neo to fight against the programs of virtual world deceiving humans of their energy; philosophically & realistically speaking, this world is a Matrix, we need to unite as One to break its code. It is high time; the media agencies become highly proactive in spreading the word of brotherhood, camaraderie and love as a message to fight for a cause of long run on daily basis. The parties like BJP takes stricter actions to refrain their prodigies(Bajrang Dal) from rather fighting for petty things at hand to contest for elections, it should be glorifying people at time when they are not in power. Raj Thackeray who can act like a representative & responsible ambassador for entire state should set an example rather then carping on personalities like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan who belong to no state or territory but to one state of film industry brethren. One need to realize that progress made by few people who have won accolades for the country need not unnecessarily be hampered as they are the ones who generate employment for a millions out there & give realistic-unrealistic heroic hopes to trillions out there in their own direct-indirect ways to fight for a greater cause and to fight within. Police should shun the lackadaisical image it has always carried amongst masses and proper campaigns & awareness needs to be imbibed in every facet of society. Thus we would have a safe place to live in for future.

Life with a Mallu

2008-09-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

For all those who don’t know who a MALLU is, please do read this article, for the whole purpose is not to define who he (/she) is but to describe few attributes of the person engraved in soul with such a personality with world’s all limped modernism present externally. I had one of my friends staying with me for a period of almost 40 days. This was a time to share the same room, same set of books & notes, and almost the same hackneyed routine. But mind you, did you hear the word ‘same’ quite a number of times!!! Believe me, it’s purely a matter of coincidence, for we too were very different, not just geographically, but in respects of age, thinking, money, girls, and what not!!! The list is endless…

“Ballzzzzzz….” as would my ex-room-mate, Mr.SRK would say on hearing something nonsense, gibberish and highly calorific.

A regular conversation between me and him would lead the way as if going through a wild safari though Western Ghats destined to somebody’s home-land Kerala:-

Me:- Wassup SRK!!! Didn’t you notice the hot chic today with that sexy skirt?

SRK: - (as usual) Ballzzzz…I hope that she’s definitely a Pallakadian (a place in Kerala), for I got to marry someone like her for sure.

Me:- Hell You, do you actually think that you get those kindaa beauties in your place back home?? Get some logical/realistic rationale working for you man!!!

SRK: - I would tell you Raghav, either I’m marrying a Pallakadian in my life or a Punjabi who knows pretty well how to prepare good food.

Me:- you seem to be talking now.

Before I could continue further, he interrupts in between,

SRK: - Ballzzzzz…..

I waited thinking that he might want to say something, but that was the biggest silence I ever delved into!!!

SRK: - Raghav, you know what, one of my Surd friends told me in the past that if you see a South Indian & a snake, choose the snake over South Indian.

Me:- (thinking as to what to make out of it with my eyes rolling in all directions, believe me, even 11 dimensions of universe were less at the moment) AAhhhhhh……….silence

After a pause,

Me:- Why do you say that yaar?

SRK: - I don’t, it was my friend who said that, you ass…

Me:- anyways…

SRK: - (certainly out of nowhere) you are one such bond with a CGPA of 3.7/4, with a great company experience to bank upon, and studying here XYZ (name changed), in such a great college...what else do you need in life man?

Me (with full sarcasm in tone):- I know I know…I’m one such unfortunate great studying with a guys like you…I should have been into something like IIMs, XLs…

SRK: - Ballzzzzz…

(Now somebody make him realize that I’m trying to justify why we all here, not why we all couldn’t make it to those great places, and this guy has just one thing to give me, in fact the pluralist form)

Me (on a serious note):- Look at you…you are the talent of tomorrow, you got the name of SRK with you, and people know you and accept you everywhere you go!!!(What was I saying even I couldn’t make head n tail of it, he was one person who imbibed within you what he possessed all along!!!)

SRK: - Ballzzzzz… Studying here, I would go places with a bowl in my hand asking for monetary help!!!

Me:- ha ha… (Don’t know if it was really funny, but did feel like one!!!)

SRK:- Raghav, management is all about studying great people like Kotler, and it would be great if we can get into a company like Texas Instruments for summers!!!

Me:- (with mouth wide open, contemplating the thought, have I been living two lives one for management n other for engineering where latter has come to the fore-ground at the moment, or is this again one of those jokes by SIR SRK which shoots over & above my understanding??) Woah, that’s awesome…that sounds a real cool proposition (somebody please come as a saviour)

Above is just an excerpt of daily musing like those that used to happen between us. Now SRK is one such guy, who would place ethics, morals, integrity, hard work, passion and money at the top level. Yes, money also occupied the same podium. Known for his wit & humor, and the immature knack of being over worried, over conscious and over what not, he is pretty famous amongst friends & esp. girls. He’s been one sincere person around and a reliable material.

Being SRK would be a lot different from being a Mallu. This individual having seen many places did learn quite a lot by adjusting amongst all sections of society, and went on to become a great friend.

Today, he puts up with another of our college friend in a hostel. His room-mate is a core Punjabi by nature, and SRK is getting accustomed to loud tunes of Punjabi folk with Gurdaas Mann topping the chart. Unknowingly, he is made listen to those Punjabi numbers he didn’t even know of as a special request by him!!! I wonder if he’s been practicing Bhangra with heavy south Indian look on his face and ondu, vondu and wannakam chants that go with the beat. No wonder, if SRK comes back to me one day, and asks one question, & that too the most important one, “What is the procedure to change the room??”

Apologies for hurting any sentiments across…all care was taken not to do so, apologies for any uninviting remark!!! All mistakes are coincidental due to incidents that happened and nothing personal in what so ever respects has been tried to bring to the fore.

India China, views

2008-09-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

As one rightly said, 'absence of evidence is not evidence of absence!!!'

This wise thought rightfully applies to the policy framework of China which shows no evidence of human tyranny in most plausible & superficial manner, but exists in darkest dungeons known to all if not spoken aloud. There is no second thought to the adage that what is considered to be India's biggest strength is biggest threat to China, if not monetarily but yes in terms of long perspective envisioned growth, is respect for humanity, & that comes in form of DEMOCRACY. It would be foolish to state that democracy has been the stumbling factor for India; in fact there is no denying the fact that democracy is the most stable form of government that exists in the world today, even when it states the truth behind the saying, "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried." – By Winston Churchill.

One could very well ascertain the growth shown by China since past many years is gigantic in every sense, but that simply over-shadows the grim reality that exists below the belly. No wonder, China has not been given the status of MES (Market Economy Status) for such a long time owing to its dumping policies, resulting in ruining the growth of other countries. A foreign firm makes an investments in form of FDI, turnkey project etc. to reap the benefits/gains, but what is followed by China is sheer dismantling of the host country economy by its wrongly subservient personal interests. This results in loss of respect for individuals as human beings, no matter to which country they belong.

Olympics was un-deniably the most historic event of today's time (wonder if it is China's growth time or China's time to make a nose-dive) but with venomous smell of Tibet unrest, huge protectionism followed by government (Chinese) control, fake singing by an adorable girl for a not-so cute girl (Yang Peiy) at the opening inauguration of Beijing Olympics did spread all across the world. The training Chinese athletes undergo is so rigorous that even kids as young as 6 yrs old and with a presence all across the country end up without going to school, learn what they should be learning and lead life as human instead of sports machines. Even with promises that the government makes in reciprocation for national glory are kept in abeyance (again not known to the rest of the world).

If one goes by the news published some years back, it is known a fact that Chinese employ a large portion of dead people's skin to produce cosmetics for growing Chinese industry and most of these products help in getting rid of early wrinkles on face. This is one of the factors why there's a high number of electrocution done year on year in china on prisoners. One can wonder to what extent China can flood itself with weirdest of implementations to see it reach where it would have never even dreamt of reaching.

Chinese government is a single party socialist republic, and Indians certainly don't need to take a lesson from them. Yes, we may not be growing at the same rate as China is, but yes, we are growing at 2^nd fastest rate in the world. And the figures just do not end here. Owing to the NSG exemption for India, one can certainly deduce the importance India has not just for US but for entire world. Indians do not end up doing business globally on a small scale, but we are on an investments spree gigantically in every nook & corner of the world with major accusations. On one hand, where we keep our promises to fight against corruption, poverty, pollution, hazards, at the same time, on other hand, we continuously strive to work hard and enrich the globe with everything it deserves. The Indian growth happens automatically. Looking at the figures, India's trade with China has grown in recent years, and China is now bound to become the 3^rd largest trading partner for India after US. We are aiming to increase bilateral trade with China to nearly $ 30bn by 2010. All this isn't a coincidence, but the wisdom of India to have an exclusive 'inclusive' growth in all respects with all sanity in mind and soul. The leaps by China may be challenging, but not long lasting, they may be daring, but not bold when it comes to human development.

The Chinese media is in total grips of the government and follows an almost self inflicted ritual of composing/writing/publishing/advertising what needs to be transpired to people in glorious sense and shun the hard realities before they reach to the public.

The Indian System, democratic in every sense, calls for a greater cause of brotherhood, respect for each other, and longevity of 3S - sustenance, survival and stability. We have had a glorious past, and a promising future, with the country proving to be the only pillar of success in today's time of oppression, depression, slump, and recession & many other ions one could think of. Natural calamities did hit us in form of tsunami, floods etc, the communal riots did break now & then, all these events do create a havoc for Indians, but not on the behest of being a democratic country. An individual with his/her precious say in government activities is not only patriotism reflection in today's modern sense ( as contrary to puppet control in Afghanistan, unrest in Zimbabwe, government control excessively in China, anarchy in Nepal till recent past, past militancy in Pakistan) but the magical mirror of blessed future in a darkness bound environment. Realizing the potential stored in over almost 90% of young India (below 63 years of age) when compared to China, India is certainly bound to grow at slower acceleration when compared to China, but reach to higher point then China in long run with better vision and consistent tenacity.