Hi All,
With the results of the 5 state election out, one thing is clear...Terror doesn't yet strike a chord with the electorate/ppl don't vote based on who "tackles" terror better...or do they?
The 5 state elections were dubbed as mini general election of sorts and pre poll predictions showed that BJP would win hands down in at least 4 of the 5 states..price rise, continuing farmer suicides and more importantly security issues(esp after the Mumbai attacks) were some issues where the Congress seemingly failed miserably in. But that didnt happen.
BJP was puzzled by the results..So much so that its president noted the results to be a "surprise". It had retained power in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh but lost power in Rajasthan and failed to recapture Delhi. The voter had not rejected the BJP outright but neither did he accepted it with warm shoulders. The reasons for the rather unexpected result were quite simple. The electorate is more concerned about bread and butter issues than some vague issues like the nuclear deal or internal security(though i seriously think security is an important issue what is it to a villager living in a serene village going about his life in a peaceful manner...agree?)
The BJP desperately tried to cash in on its "zero tolerance" attitude towards to terror, post 26/11. It presumed that the voter out there would be swayed by its strong anti terror message, one it had propagated all along, and simply oversee the local issues that had bothered them the most. But they have been proven wrong. Then why did they win in some states? The reasons are the same. CMs in those states, that the BJP won, were strong figures with clean images and the governments that they led were reasonably efficient as compared to previous administrations. These factors were primarily responsible for their re elections and not some "iron image" that the BJP hoped for.
To be frank, I was pleasantly surprised by the results of the state elections. I had expected the results to be more in favour of the BJP especially in the aftermatn of the Mumbai Attacks. The way the BJP tried to scare monger the voting public, some even thought that the electorate would be cowed down tirade of advertisements.
But the election results spells good news for both the major national parties(both the Congress and BJP) and to the common man too(finally we have come into the picture..phew!)...It clearly shows that ppl wont tolerate corrupt administrations and expect efficient leaders who work for their progress...and what matters more are the local bread and butter issues...
Having said all this...the same yardstick wont apply for the general elections..ppl tend to associate security issues with the central government..so they might favour the BJP for the Lok Sabha elections...unless they decide to throw another surprise...:)
p.s. it is not of my personal opinion that the BJP is better equipped to tackle terror. its just the common perception out there. i believe that no party can simply prevent terror attacks by just being in power. we need solid measures coupled with sensitized citizenry to fight terror...
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Finally....
HI All..
I know it has been more than a month since i last posted..and i have a good reason for doing so...i have not been in the best of spirits...Wipro failed to call me in the tentative month that it had allocated to me and with the job climate as it is any sane minded person would be worried...
ok i guess enough of justifications...this is the deal...i will be joining Wipro on the 29th of dec at bangalore..reporting on the 23rd...training and posting both in bangalore..
finally i can sleep peacefully tonight knowing that the job offer in hand has finally materialized into something constructive and that i will be joining soon...i must thank a lot of my frens out there(esp those placed in other companies) who have stood with me during these diff times...thank you guys...:)
I know it has been more than a month since i last posted..and i have a good reason for doing so...i have not been in the best of spirits...Wipro failed to call me in the tentative month that it had allocated to me and with the job climate as it is any sane minded person would be worried...
ok i guess enough of justifications...this is the deal...i will be joining Wipro on the 29th of dec at bangalore..reporting on the 23rd...training and posting both in bangalore..
finally i can sleep peacefully tonight knowing that the job offer in hand has finally materialized into something constructive and that i will be joining soon...i must thank a lot of my frens out there(esp those placed in other companies) who have stood with me during these diff times...thank you guys...:)
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Why Obama would be better for India....
With less than a week to go for the mother of all presidential races, the air is thick with speculation of who will be the next president of the USA. If we go by most polls, Obama has a significant lead but certainly not a decisive one. Though the race is primarily about who will be the commander in charge of America for the next four years, it will also decide on America's relationship with many other nations including India.
I have been an Obama supporter since day 1(ya i know...i have no business supporting anyone one of the candidates...but its just that way..). Obama, to me, represents a resurgent African American community that is fully integrated into American society and is ready to take on anyone, without playing the race card for evoking sympathy. Obama has never campaigned on the platform of race which clearly reflects his confidence on his own credentials. Contrast this with the race situation 4 decades back and u will surely agree with me that African American community has come a long way since then.
Ok i am digressing now. Coming back to the point, i feel that Obama would be a better choice as president from India's perspective than McCain. The reasons are aplenty. I will make a brief mention of a couple of those reasons.
1. India-Top Priority....Obama mentioned in an recent interview that India will be a top priority as far as foreign affairs is concerned. We can trust Obama's words to a reasonable extent because of the general opinion in the US that China has become too big for its own sake and that its growing economic and political clout might shadow that of the US in the coming decades. There is bi partisan support for creating a counter weight in the region. With a little push from the developed countries(lead from the forefront by the US), India could prove to be just that. So India has a greater chance of improving, or should i say upgrading, ties with the US with Obama at the helm.
2.Pakistan.....Obama has promised to reduce military aid to Pakistan drastically(read cut off). As we all know, Pak hasn't been using the money for fighting terror rather it was utilising it for better preparing itself against a possible confrontation with India. This action, as clearly pointed out by Obama, is destabilising the region more. Obama has also promised that he will go after militants hiding in Pak's North West Frontier Province(wooohoooo!) without waiting for Pakistan approval. Obama is clear about one thing..America's number one enemy( coincidentally India's too) is Osama Bin Laden...Its him that America has to hunt down. And stop draining American dollars on a quagmire that is Iraq.
I do understand that Obama has made statements in favour of restricting outsourcing. But we have to understand something here. Outsourcing is an emotive an issue as reservation is in India. No American politician can afford to say that he supports outsourcing and hope to win the race to the white house. The Obama plan says that the tax breaks will be transferred to companies that keep jobs in the US. Off course this will cut into the profit margins of these companies and consequently might lead to some setback to employers here. We MIGHT see some retrenchment on the low skilled labour front( ie..BPOs) . But that should be it.
But somehow i feel that Obama might bark about this issue but wont bite..because many economist agree that outsourcing is more beneficial to the outsourcing country than it is to the country at receiving end. Moreover with the kind of freedom American enterprises have been enjoying all these years, the least we can expect from these big corporations is a violent (not MNS style though) protest against any legislation that curtails their lateral movement.
I have been an Obama supporter since day 1(ya i know...i have no business supporting anyone one of the candidates...but its just that way..). Obama, to me, represents a resurgent African American community that is fully integrated into American society and is ready to take on anyone, without playing the race card for evoking sympathy. Obama has never campaigned on the platform of race which clearly reflects his confidence on his own credentials. Contrast this with the race situation 4 decades back and u will surely agree with me that African American community has come a long way since then.
Ok i am digressing now. Coming back to the point, i feel that Obama would be a better choice as president from India's perspective than McCain. The reasons are aplenty. I will make a brief mention of a couple of those reasons.
1. India-Top Priority....Obama mentioned in an recent interview that India will be a top priority as far as foreign affairs is concerned. We can trust Obama's words to a reasonable extent because of the general opinion in the US that China has become too big for its own sake and that its growing economic and political clout might shadow that of the US in the coming decades. There is bi partisan support for creating a counter weight in the region. With a little push from the developed countries(lead from the forefront by the US), India could prove to be just that. So India has a greater chance of improving, or should i say upgrading, ties with the US with Obama at the helm.
2.Pakistan.....Obama has promised to reduce military aid to Pakistan drastically(read cut off). As we all know, Pak hasn't been using the money for fighting terror rather it was utilising it for better preparing itself against a possible confrontation with India. This action, as clearly pointed out by Obama, is destabilising the region more. Obama has also promised that he will go after militants hiding in Pak's North West Frontier Province(wooohoooo!) without waiting for Pakistan approval. Obama is clear about one thing..America's number one enemy( coincidentally India's too) is Osama Bin Laden...Its him that America has to hunt down. And stop draining American dollars on a quagmire that is Iraq.
I do understand that Obama has made statements in favour of restricting outsourcing. But we have to understand something here. Outsourcing is an emotive an issue as reservation is in India. No American politician can afford to say that he supports outsourcing and hope to win the race to the white house. The Obama plan says that the tax breaks will be transferred to companies that keep jobs in the US. Off course this will cut into the profit margins of these companies and consequently might lead to some setback to employers here. We MIGHT see some retrenchment on the low skilled labour front( ie..BPOs) . But that should be it.
But somehow i feel that Obama might bark about this issue but wont bite..because many economist agree that outsourcing is more beneficial to the outsourcing country than it is to the country at receiving end. Moreover with the kind of freedom American enterprises have been enjoying all these years, the least we can expect from these big corporations is a violent (not MNS style though) protest against any legislation that curtails their lateral movement.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Freedom of Speech?
I am sure that u guys have been watching the news coverage on Raj Thackeray's provocative speeches and the consequent rampage his supporters went on against North Indians appearing for Railway exams in Mumbai. Appalled and distraught, i just hoped that the long arm of the law , at least this time, will put him behind bars for good. As it turned out, he is out on bail again, free to speak his mind, ready to play with fire and stroke up linguistic passions...all at the state's cost. (8000 state police men were put on duty on the day of Raj's arrest to prevent any untoward incident...imagine that 8000...to me that sounds more like the entire population of a cluster of small villages..what a drain of resources...)
Now i don't wish to debate whether the gag orders on this man in particular is long overdue..because if u are double minded on that, then u r taking the issue of free speech too far. What appalls me is the state of society. Why have we become like this. Who is responsible for the rise for extremist(like Raj) into mainstream political scenario. How do u tackle pests like Raj without according him too much media attention. How do we sensitise our people to shun outfits like MNS and whats the threshold limit for a total black out of a organisation. How should the media react to gross violators like Raj
As usual we have more questions than we have answers. I do agree that this protecting the Marathi manoo and the likes are all about political posturing than it is about anything else. Our politicians will take a long time to wake up, address and debate the real issues like creating employment, reviving the farming sector etc. Until then they will be harping on totally irrelevant issues( to the common man that is) but politically sensitive ones...
While our political class gets is sense right(and this might take years), what tickles me is why we are allowing them to talk their mind. As we know its hard to get anybody pinned down on accounts of violation of free speech. A token arrest at the max is the only thing these errant politicians have to face. A bail is waiting for them and the cases filed against them go on for years and years and only serve to keep government lawyers busy. Now if this is all it takes to gain a lot of political mileage, why wouldn't any politician do it. It makes perfect political sense, corner the extremists among the masses while u make these provocative speeches and cry foul of political vendetta when u get arrested and serve a 1 day "jail term"...
It is widely accepted that if the general public tends to ignore a certain issue or a school of thought, then the chances of political leaders taking it up will be extremely low. Raj was talking(blabbering?) what he was talking bcos there were a sizeable no. of people who turned up for his rallies and probably an even greater number who sat at home and followed his speeches through the print and electronic media. Now i say if we drain politicians of these kind of listeners/ followers/ supporters then chances of them championing these "causes" would certainly reduce.
This is what i propose...a serious discourse on free speech across the nation with people from every spectrum of life participating and chipping in. A consensus cant be that difficult to reach bcos after all every one would want to live in a peaceful society and hence would propose ideas that propagate peace. .so tell me whether u agree with me..is it time we showed our political class how we want them to behave ..how we want them to take up sensitive issues...how we want them to tackle problems to eradicate them and not just pay lip service...IS IT TIME WE SHOWED THEM THE WAY?
Now i don't wish to debate whether the gag orders on this man in particular is long overdue..because if u are double minded on that, then u r taking the issue of free speech too far. What appalls me is the state of society. Why have we become like this. Who is responsible for the rise for extremist(like Raj) into mainstream political scenario. How do u tackle pests like Raj without according him too much media attention. How do we sensitise our people to shun outfits like MNS and whats the threshold limit for a total black out of a organisation. How should the media react to gross violators like Raj
As usual we have more questions than we have answers. I do agree that this protecting the Marathi manoo and the likes are all about political posturing than it is about anything else. Our politicians will take a long time to wake up, address and debate the real issues like creating employment, reviving the farming sector etc. Until then they will be harping on totally irrelevant issues( to the common man that is) but politically sensitive ones...
While our political class gets is sense right(and this might take years), what tickles me is why we are allowing them to talk their mind. As we know its hard to get anybody pinned down on accounts of violation of free speech. A token arrest at the max is the only thing these errant politicians have to face. A bail is waiting for them and the cases filed against them go on for years and years and only serve to keep government lawyers busy. Now if this is all it takes to gain a lot of political mileage, why wouldn't any politician do it. It makes perfect political sense, corner the extremists among the masses while u make these provocative speeches and cry foul of political vendetta when u get arrested and serve a 1 day "jail term"...
It is widely accepted that if the general public tends to ignore a certain issue or a school of thought, then the chances of political leaders taking it up will be extremely low. Raj was talking(blabbering?) what he was talking bcos there were a sizeable no. of people who turned up for his rallies and probably an even greater number who sat at home and followed his speeches through the print and electronic media. Now i say if we drain politicians of these kind of listeners/ followers/ supporters then chances of them championing these "causes" would certainly reduce.
This is what i propose...a serious discourse on free speech across the nation with people from every spectrum of life participating and chipping in. A consensus cant be that difficult to reach bcos after all every one would want to live in a peaceful society and hence would propose ideas that propagate peace. .so tell me whether u agree with me..is it time we showed our political class how we want them to behave ..how we want them to take up sensitive issues...how we want them to tackle problems to eradicate them and not just pay lip service...IS IT TIME WE SHOWED THEM THE WAY?
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Tagged...:)
I have been tagged by my blog friend Preethi The tag: Two questions in each category answer them and then tag your friends from the blog-o-sphere. (Simple enough right) Leave a comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged and you are all set.
Your oldest memories
1.On a serious note...
Date : May 1994
Place : Singapore Airport
There i was, standing at the majestic foyer of Singapore Airport's 2nd terminal. I was almost 9 years of age then and i had just undertook my first flight journey. Somehow i wasnt feeling comfortable at all. The air conditioning system in the flight had been overpowering and what could poor little me do other than to shiver..oh god, i could still remember one of my uncles rubbing my thighs to make me feel warm... or may be my uneasiness emanated from the fact that i was in an alien country, knowing little english and having to blend into a system that was totally new to me..
There i was...on a journey that would influence my life forever and impact my decisions even to date.. excited about the future and too young to understand the consequences i would have to face for the actions i undertook... too short sighted to see that the glitzy lights of Singapore were glamourous only for the night and from then onwards i was there on a mission...an academic mission to be precise, to continue my studies from where i left off in india..puzzling as it may sound i did go to singapore to continue my education after finishing 4th standard in India(pardon me if i made it sound like "degree"..bcos thats what normal people do...lol..)
As they say the rest is history..i stayed there for about 10 yrs..the period was a rather tough one with lots of hurdles to overcome.. and i was back in india to pursue my professional education in may 2004...for the record...i thank all those who made my stay possible there and promise to live up to ur expectations..:)
2. On the lighter side...
place & date: same as above
i was exiting the airplane and making my way to customs..no no i wasnt doing it alone..dont worry...i had some pleasant looking female companions (though i couldnt really differenciate between the good and the ugly ones then)to get me thru the all the intimidating immigration procedures...the embarrassing moment came when we had to enter a box like thing and the doors closed after that..the box zoomed up ...i had never seen those before and was curious to know what they were...
i just spurted out my curiosity without even considering what kind of response it will attract from them. I still cringe when I think about how they stared at me after I had blurted out my mind. It was as if they were wondering whether i had been in a civilization at all. Then both of them just looked at each other and giggled till they handed me over to my guardian. Over the course of time I realized that those “boxes” were called elevators and that their primary purpose was to transport people vertically…:)
3.What were u doing ten years ago?
I was about to complete grade 7(called Secondary 1 in that part of the world)…Secondary school(grades 7 to 10) was a welcome change from the rather restrictive environment of Primary School(grades 1 to 6)..We were introduced to an array of subjects as opposed to primary school where it was the usual Languages, Mathematics and science subjects that ruled the roost. Basically I had more fun in class..Interaction with neighbours was, for once, encouraged. I made some good friends in Secondary with whom I am in touch till date..
Today
1.Your first thought in the morning….
“WHEN WILL I GET MY CALL LETTER FROM WIPRO”…The caps should amply reflect my desperation and my frustration with wipro…I will not dwelve into this further as it is self-explanatory and also because of the fact that I do not wish to feel depressed during this Diwali…
2.If u build a time capsule what will it contain
A computer with broadband connection, newspapers and magazines covering politics and economics, lots of food,
3.This year
Has been an eventful one. I completed a project which many people ridiculed from the very beginning, something even our own staff adviser washed his hands off and at one point even indirectly told us to abandon.
I graduated from SASTRA University..Obtained my driver’s license… Turned to blogging to kill time and pleased that I did..always wanted to pour out my mind and what better platform to do so than blogs…
Future...
1.What do u see urself doing 14 years now?
I would 37 plus then…should be married by and having a couple of kids(?? Sorry had to state this…societal obligation..) and trying to strike work life balance ....Hope i would still be blogging then, in touch with my friends i made till now...
Your oldest memories
1.On a serious note...
Date : May 1994
Place : Singapore Airport
There i was, standing at the majestic foyer of Singapore Airport's 2nd terminal. I was almost 9 years of age then and i had just undertook my first flight journey. Somehow i wasnt feeling comfortable at all. The air conditioning system in the flight had been overpowering and what could poor little me do other than to shiver..oh god, i could still remember one of my uncles rubbing my thighs to make me feel warm... or may be my uneasiness emanated from the fact that i was in an alien country, knowing little english and having to blend into a system that was totally new to me..
There i was...on a journey that would influence my life forever and impact my decisions even to date.. excited about the future and too young to understand the consequences i would have to face for the actions i undertook... too short sighted to see that the glitzy lights of Singapore were glamourous only for the night and from then onwards i was there on a mission...an academic mission to be precise, to continue my studies from where i left off in india..puzzling as it may sound i did go to singapore to continue my education after finishing 4th standard in India(pardon me if i made it sound like "degree"..bcos thats what normal people do...lol..)
As they say the rest is history..i stayed there for about 10 yrs..the period was a rather tough one with lots of hurdles to overcome.. and i was back in india to pursue my professional education in may 2004...for the record...i thank all those who made my stay possible there and promise to live up to ur expectations..:)
2. On the lighter side...
place & date: same as above
i was exiting the airplane and making my way to customs..no no i wasnt doing it alone..dont worry...i had some pleasant looking female companions (though i couldnt really differenciate between the good and the ugly ones then)to get me thru the all the intimidating immigration procedures...the embarrassing moment came when we had to enter a box like thing and the doors closed after that..the box zoomed up ...i had never seen those before and was curious to know what they were...
i just spurted out my curiosity without even considering what kind of response it will attract from them. I still cringe when I think about how they stared at me after I had blurted out my mind. It was as if they were wondering whether i had been in a civilization at all. Then both of them just looked at each other and giggled till they handed me over to my guardian. Over the course of time I realized that those “boxes” were called elevators and that their primary purpose was to transport people vertically…:)
3.What were u doing ten years ago?
I was about to complete grade 7(called Secondary 1 in that part of the world)…Secondary school(grades 7 to 10) was a welcome change from the rather restrictive environment of Primary School(grades 1 to 6)..We were introduced to an array of subjects as opposed to primary school where it was the usual Languages, Mathematics and science subjects that ruled the roost. Basically I had more fun in class..Interaction with neighbours was, for once, encouraged. I made some good friends in Secondary with whom I am in touch till date..
Today
1.Your first thought in the morning….
“WHEN WILL I GET MY CALL LETTER FROM WIPRO”…The caps should amply reflect my desperation and my frustration with wipro…I will not dwelve into this further as it is self-explanatory and also because of the fact that I do not wish to feel depressed during this Diwali…
2.If u build a time capsule what will it contain
A computer with broadband connection, newspapers and magazines covering politics and economics, lots of food,
3.This year
Has been an eventful one. I completed a project which many people ridiculed from the very beginning, something even our own staff adviser washed his hands off and at one point even indirectly told us to abandon.
I graduated from SASTRA University..Obtained my driver’s license… Turned to blogging to kill time and pleased that I did..always wanted to pour out my mind and what better platform to do so than blogs…
Future...
1.What do u see urself doing 14 years now?
I would 37 plus then…should be married by and having a couple of kids(?? Sorry had to state this…societal obligation..) and trying to strike work life balance ....Hope i would still be blogging then, in touch with my friends i made till now...
Monday, October 20, 2008
Vicky's Sis Wedding
Yesterday I had a great get together with my friends (read Wipro et al placed Sastra students who are vetti) on the occasion of my friend Vignesh’s sister’s marriage. The timing could’t have been better for the meet. With all our “other” friends toiling it out in their training programs, here we were chatting away as if there was nothing much to do in life and that Wipro would draft us in tomorrow.
The day started with me waking up at 5 in the morning (or was it 5 15)...Hmmm...Don’t know how many times I snoozed the alarm in my cell phone. Nevertheless my mother said she was profusely thankful to the wedding as a whole, as there was no way in hell that I woke up that early in morning on any other given day. After a hurried completion of all the necessary facial modifications followed by a soothing hot water bath, I was all set to rock and roll.
Just when I thought all was going well, this time it was the time that presented the shocker. Ah spot on! Classic Palaniappan’s life…nothing goes well...even if it seemingly does then something will pop out at the last minute and spoil the party. A quick glance at the clock…6 30 am … I clearly realized that I am not going to make it on time for the Muhurtam which had been fixed to be around 7 in the morning, which was just half an hour away.
My father, as always, took pity on me and gracefully agreed to drop me off at the Ramji Mahal, the venue of the wedding. The foyer of the building didn't even remotely resemble the picture that i had conjured up in my mind. A few kids were playing with balloons and vehicles were parked at the side. But somehow that festive spirit was missing or so i thought till i climbed up the stairs...
The air was thick with expectation. The stage was flooded with lights from video cameras, the stage wall adorned with huge drawings of a godly couple(couldn't really make out who they were but my gut feeling was that it was Perumal and his wife)..Closed circuit television sets were placed at strategic points in the hall. Streamers were hanging down at the sides of the hall and finally i was convinced that i was at the right place at the right time..
Scanning the assemblage i spotted my friend Sri Ram lazing at the back. With relief i zoomed my way to him and eased myself into the scheme of things. Within minutes i was surrounded by a sea of friends and we were catching up with old times. Sea of nostalgia hit me over the course of time and i was pretty pleased that i had made the rather strenuous effort of waking up so early...:)
After a tasty and filling breakfast, we made our way back to the marriage hall and anxiously waited for THE moment. The TVs were of great help as we couldn't jostle our way to the front of the stage to get a view of the marriage proceedings. The iyer(priest) got charged up suddenly and then it was as if everything was on auto pilot. The nadasuram people made that characteristic noises and then Mapillai tied the thali.
Handshakes and congratulatory sounds flew in the air. It was as if utopia had been established! (i always thought that it was all over when two families decide that they are going to get into an alliance!) And then it was all over. A couple had tied the knot for the rest of their lives...:)
LONG LIVE THE COUPLE!!!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Prank Message!
A couple of days back i decided to send some prank messages to my friends who are eagerly awaiting,if not more, call letters from Wipro. I picked my good friend G to be the recipient of my prank message, whom i presumed would be the most vulnerable to fall for the message.
I picked up my cell phone and carefully worded my message. "i have got it da" . The message had to hazy but still attract attention. I sent it to G and as an insurance cover forwarded the same message to Ramu, knowing fully well that the probability of him falling for it was in exact contrast to that of G.
The initial minutes of waiting were tense, in fact even nail biting. This was my first attempt at trying to con someone and i didn't want to start off on a losing note! My eyes refused to stray away from the phone screen. The steady buildup of adrenaline was inching towards the threshold limit and there was only one event that could stop the accrual.
"GRRRR GRRRRR" off went the phone and i fumbled to grab it so as to view the number. My face sulked as i saw some strange number flashing on the screen, as if i needed some bloke from some corner of Tamil nadu asking me "Andipatti ah"..(frankly i never understood the logic behind asking the location of a mobile bcos the number doesnt change despite being carried around...hell that why its called a mobile!)
On pressing down the accept button, i was in for a sweet surprise. It was him!
G: "Dai machan unnaku vanthiricha"(Have you got it?)
Me:"Loosu...how long will u take da"
G:"Sollu da(Tell me)"
Me:"Yes da i got it"
G: "What is the date and where have we been posted?"
Me:"dai i got the current supply back da!"
G: "@#$%%#@"
After the phone call i narrated the whole incident to my mother and we had a good laugh over it...:)
I picked up my cell phone and carefully worded my message. "i have got it da" . The message had to hazy but still attract attention. I sent it to G and as an insurance cover forwarded the same message to Ramu, knowing fully well that the probability of him falling for it was in exact contrast to that of G.
The initial minutes of waiting were tense, in fact even nail biting. This was my first attempt at trying to con someone and i didn't want to start off on a losing note! My eyes refused to stray away from the phone screen. The steady buildup of adrenaline was inching towards the threshold limit and there was only one event that could stop the accrual.
"GRRRR GRRRRR" off went the phone and i fumbled to grab it so as to view the number. My face sulked as i saw some strange number flashing on the screen, as if i needed some bloke from some corner of Tamil nadu asking me "Andipatti ah"..(frankly i never understood the logic behind asking the location of a mobile bcos the number doesnt change despite being carried around...hell that why its called a mobile!)
On pressing down the accept button, i was in for a sweet surprise. It was him!
G: "Dai machan unnaku vanthiricha"(Have you got it?)
Me:"Loosu...how long will u take da"
G:"Sollu da(Tell me)"
Me:"Yes da i got it"
G: "What is the date and where have we been posted?"
Me:"dai i got the current supply back da!"
G: "@#$%%#@"
After the phone call i narrated the whole incident to my mother and we had a good laugh over it...:)
Prank Message!
A couple of days back i decided to send some prank messages to my friends who are eagerly awaiting,if not more, call letters from Wipro. I picked my good friend G to be the recipient of my prank message, whom i presumed would be the most vulnerable to fall for message.
I picked up my cell phone and carefully worded my message. "i have got it da" . The message had to hazy but still attract attention. I sent it to gandee and as an insurance cover forwarded the same message to Ramu, knowing fully well that this guy the probability of him falling for it was in exact contrast to that of Gandee.
The initial minutes of waiting were tense, in fact even nail biting. This was my first attempt at trying to con some one and i didn't want to start off on a losing note! My eyes refused to stray away from the phone screen. The steady buildup of adrenaline was inching towards the threshold limit and there was only one event that could stop the accrual.
"GRRRR GRRRRR" off went the phone and i fumbled to grab it so as to view the number. My face sulked as i saw some strange number flashing on the screen, as if i needed some bloke from some corner of Tamil nadu asking me "Andipatti ah"..(frankly i never understood the logic behind asking the location of a mobile bcos the number doesnt change despite being carried around...hell that why its called a mobile!)
On pressing down the accept button, i was in for a sweet surprise.
G: "Dai machan unnaku vanthiricha(Have you got it?)"
Me:"Loosu...how long will u take da"
G:"Sollu da(Tell me)"
Me:"Yes da i got it"
G: "What is the date and where have we been posted?"
Me:"dai i got the current supply back da"
G: "@#$%%#@"
Me: "haha ...."
I picked up my cell phone and carefully worded my message. "i have got it da" . The message had to hazy but still attract attention. I sent it to gandee and as an insurance cover forwarded the same message to Ramu, knowing fully well that this guy the probability of him falling for it was in exact contrast to that of Gandee.
The initial minutes of waiting were tense, in fact even nail biting. This was my first attempt at trying to con some one and i didn't want to start off on a losing note! My eyes refused to stray away from the phone screen. The steady buildup of adrenaline was inching towards the threshold limit and there was only one event that could stop the accrual.
"GRRRR GRRRRR" off went the phone and i fumbled to grab it so as to view the number. My face sulked as i saw some strange number flashing on the screen, as if i needed some bloke from some corner of Tamil nadu asking me "Andipatti ah"..(frankly i never understood the logic behind asking the location of a mobile bcos the number doesnt change despite being carried around...hell that why its called a mobile!)
On pressing down the accept button, i was in for a sweet surprise.
G: "Dai machan unnaku vanthiricha(Have you got it?)"
Me:"Loosu...how long will u take da"
G:"Sollu da(Tell me)"
Me:"Yes da i got it"
G: "What is the date and where have we been posted?"
Me:"dai i got the current supply back da"
G: "@#$%%#@"
Me: "haha ...."
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Saroja...watchable..(with minor spoilers)
Hi all,
Just minutes after i woke up,rather reluctantly at around 12 30 in the afternoon, i received a call from my friend/neighbour inquiring my desire to accompany him to the movie Saroja. Needless to say, i got animated and commenced my preparations for the impromptu outing.
We managed to get the tickets with considerable ease and were quite stunned by the turnout. It was Sunday afternoon all right but for a movie with a not so impressive star cast and a relatively new director the turnout itself spoke volumes about the visual treat that was impending.
The movie moved rather slowly for the first twenty minutes or so centering mainly on the lives of the quartet, who's misadventures form the rest of the movie. The director was creative enough to bring in seemingly unrelated events and rope them together to make a movie out of them..
Premji Amaren starts to tickle your funny bones from his very first scene. His style of comedy is so different from the comedy doyens of the industry and its refreshing to see some one try something different and get acclaimed for it. Charan comes across as a typical middle aged man with mid life blues and certainly many married men watching the movie would have found something in his character they can relate they can relate to..let it be the way he tries to lie his way out, how he tries to get cosy with his wife or even when he is frantically trying refuse his friends' suggestions ,quoting his married status as an excuse,that he should try to have as much fun as possible.
Charan's younger brother Vaibhav is the typical macho hero (or at least looks like one..)that u find in any Tamil movie but again this is where Venkat Prabhu shows his class and casts him as one who is recovering from love failure..Vaibhav's friend Shiva is the flamboyant opportunist who makes his living by acting in (much dreaded)soaps.
The gang sets out to Hyderabad to watch a cricket match and this is where all the action starts. The excitement quotient picks up gradually and reaches its peak,naturally, towards the end of the movie. But never does the comedy track lose its intensity..if its Premji then some one else chips in to give u another reason to have a laugh.
I couldn't really find obvious loopholes in the screenplay, or may its just me. Some of the fight sequences could have been filmed with more light as it keeps you wondering who is bashing up who! The songs had a modernish tone to them and the screen choreography(apart from one song) was pleasant. Unfortunately, i could never bring myself to hum even one of the songs..somehow the lyrics got drowned in background music..moreover i could swear i heard a woman whisper to her friend that she found some of the dance moves in one of songs, in the second half of the movie, vulgar..and i did kind of agree with her to some extent..
I would certainly recommend this movie to those who are contemplating on what to watch in the theatres in the coming days.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
SHOCKING!!!
Hi All,
I am angry..umm actually flagrant if that is sufficient to express my scorn for the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit..how could she have said that..how can a leader in such a lofty position make a nincompoop statement..it shocked the guts out of me..
For those who have been not watched the news, allow me to enlighten you. A tv journo was murdered in the wee hours of the Monday morning while she was driving back from work. The incident was initially believed to be an accident but after the initial reports came out, an FIR was filed for murder.
Now these kind of incidents are nothing new in our country and certainly a daily occurrence in the national capital(!) and Soumya's work could have placed her
directly in the line of fire. Being Indian citizens, we have reconciled to the fact that we are not entitled to safe environments and that if we don't hole ourselves up after six in the evening then "we are at our own risk". Now what has come as shocker is the bureaucratic apathy for these incidents..When asked about this gruesome incident, this is what Delhi cm had to say.."all alone at the time of the night..is adventurous on her part"
The statement evoked outrage among the masses with many questioning whether a CM can and should have made such a statement. Now a number of questions arise
1. Is it a government stand that women cannot be alone at certain part of the day/night.
2. Would women being alone be classified as dangerous/adventurous and hence the law of the land not applicable in those cases..isn't this tantamount to giving a license to the baddies..
3. Is the CM trying her hand at moral policing..esp with Delhi state assembly elections around the corner she probably figured that she could corner some conservative votes by trying to play moral police...
The police department is at its vintage best and till now has no clue or whatsoever to who are perpetrators of this heinous crime.Lets all hope for an obfuscation free investigation and trial for this hard working woman who was "too adventurous"
I am angry..umm actually flagrant if that is sufficient to express my scorn for the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit..how could she have said that..how can a leader in such a lofty position make a nincompoop statement..it shocked the guts out of me..
For those who have been not watched the news, allow me to enlighten you. A tv journo was murdered in the wee hours of the Monday morning while she was driving back from work. The incident was initially believed to be an accident but after the initial reports came out, an FIR was filed for murder.
Now these kind of incidents are nothing new in our country and certainly a daily occurrence in the national capital(!) and Soumya's work could have placed her
directly in the line of fire. Being Indian citizens, we have reconciled to the fact that we are not entitled to safe environments and that if we don't hole ourselves up after six in the evening then "we are at our own risk". Now what has come as shocker is the bureaucratic apathy for these incidents..When asked about this gruesome incident, this is what Delhi cm had to say.."all alone at the time of the night..is adventurous on her part"
The statement evoked outrage among the masses with many questioning whether a CM can and should have made such a statement. Now a number of questions arise
1. Is it a government stand that women cannot be alone at certain part of the day/night.
2. Would women being alone be classified as dangerous/adventurous and hence the law of the land not applicable in those cases..isn't this tantamount to giving a license to the baddies..
3. Is the CM trying her hand at moral policing..esp with Delhi state assembly elections around the corner she probably figured that she could corner some conservative votes by trying to play moral police...
The police department is at its vintage best and till now has no clue or whatsoever to who are perpetrators of this heinous crime.Lets all hope for an obfuscation free investigation and trial for this hard working woman who was "too adventurous"
Friday, October 3, 2008
Attacks on religious instituitions are also TERRORISM!!!
HI All,
I am sure u have heard/read/listened/seen news relating to the attacks on religious institutions in Orissa and Karnataka...No doubt the incident appalled me but it made me sit up and ask myself something...should we just view these incidents as religious intolerance alone or should we tag something more sinister to it..
i was watching a show on one of the domestic news channels the other day and a speaker pointed out that if the Delhi blasts were acts of terrorism then so are the church attacks..this immediately struck a chord with me..
no body has a set definition for terrorism. but we commonly accept that killing of innocent civilians by anyone by any method as terrorism..having said this somehow strangely we tend to associate terrorism with a certain religion and restrict ourselves to bomb blasts and the likes as incidents of terror...
now there is an obvious contradiction to how we define terrorism and how we actually perceive it....why is this the case..isint killing people just because they are subscribers of different ideologies equal to the mindless acts of terror that we have been witnessing in our cities recently...our politicians while prescribing tough laws for "terrorism" somehow (may be conveniently) dont have an solution for putting a full stop to attacks on religious institutions...why dont they club these incidents with the conventional "terrorism" and propose draconian laws for all of these dastardly acts..
we know all too well that the roots causes of terrorism are hatred and deprivation..these attacks are sowing the seeds of terrorism and if this continues in any form or format then our future generations would be fighting extremism all over india..and we wouldnt have anybody else but ourselves to blame for our predicament then...
I am sure u have heard/read/listened/seen news relating to the attacks on religious institutions in Orissa and Karnataka...No doubt the incident appalled me but it made me sit up and ask myself something...should we just view these incidents as religious intolerance alone or should we tag something more sinister to it..
i was watching a show on one of the domestic news channels the other day and a speaker pointed out that if the Delhi blasts were acts of terrorism then so are the church attacks..this immediately struck a chord with me..
no body has a set definition for terrorism. but we commonly accept that killing of innocent civilians by anyone by any method as terrorism..having said this somehow strangely we tend to associate terrorism with a certain religion and restrict ourselves to bomb blasts and the likes as incidents of terror...
now there is an obvious contradiction to how we define terrorism and how we actually perceive it....why is this the case..isint killing people just because they are subscribers of different ideologies equal to the mindless acts of terror that we have been witnessing in our cities recently...our politicians while prescribing tough laws for "terrorism" somehow (may be conveniently) dont have an solution for putting a full stop to attacks on religious institutions...why dont they club these incidents with the conventional "terrorism" and propose draconian laws for all of these dastardly acts..
we know all too well that the roots causes of terrorism are hatred and deprivation..these attacks are sowing the seeds of terrorism and if this continues in any form or format then our future generations would be fighting extremism all over india..and we wouldnt have anybody else but ourselves to blame for our predicament then...
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Ticket Allotment and Debates...
Hi All,
I am sure that you must have heard of the upcoming presidential race in the USA.. I have been following the race and the events leading up to it..Actually i had been doing so since the last time round when Bush and Kerry went head to head but i wasn't into blogging then...So i decided that i should write about a couple of things that have gotten my attention esp the allotment of tickets to the candidates and how the presidential candidates woo voters thru debates...
Ok coming back to the point..i was quite impressed at the level of transparency and the professionalism with which the primaries were held..candidates aspiring to run on the party ticket announce their decision and form a camp and run around the entire country to convince the party faithfuls that he/she is the right candidate for the party ticket...they can do so regardless of their gender, age, financial status, years of association with the party and its top leaders etc...
compare this with india..political parties go into a huddle months before election is announced..nominate ,mostly, the party leader as their primemisterial candidate and in case one is not available ..try to search a candidate with a good credentials(knowing fully well that they wouldnt be able to find one)and finally settle for one who is old, is the least tainted, "close" to party elders and acceptable to other coalition parties..could somebody tell me what happened to "suitability to the job", "leadership skills", "team playing abilities" "awareness of issues concerning the common man" etc...
u see there are compromises at every step...every compromise pushing the most eligible candidate further and further away and giving way for dynasty politics, nepotism and cronyism ...
now coming to the point abt debates...this one astonished me even more and completely won me over...what a way present the varying views of the candidates to the voter and let him choose who he wants...and if u had watched how the 1st debate transpired probably u will spit in the faces of Indian politicians who use their lung power to get their point home when they participate in shows like 'face the nation' and the likes...such was the decency and mutual respect for each other..when one was talking the other had his mouth SHUT...and if there was anything to rebut they just jotted it down and stated it later when given the opportunity..i guess i dont have to tell u abt their knowledge on issues..having spent months running around the country explaining their stands on various issues they certainly would have no problems in that regard...
the bottom line of the entire presidential exercise in the US is that if a candidate wishes to become the next president of the united states then he has to work for it.. meet the people, learn the issues, take appropriate stands and be prepared to justify his stand...this exercise ensures that only people who are willing to sweat it out will enter the fray and not just any tom dick and harry...and there is no place for political rhetoric..i.e.no "thanga thalaiva", "anja nejun" and crap...no place for political smears/dirty politics...
I am sure that you must have heard of the upcoming presidential race in the USA.. I have been following the race and the events leading up to it..Actually i had been doing so since the last time round when Bush and Kerry went head to head but i wasn't into blogging then...So i decided that i should write about a couple of things that have gotten my attention esp the allotment of tickets to the candidates and how the presidential candidates woo voters thru debates...
Ok coming back to the point..i was quite impressed at the level of transparency and the professionalism with which the primaries were held..candidates aspiring to run on the party ticket announce their decision and form a camp and run around the entire country to convince the party faithfuls that he/she is the right candidate for the party ticket...they can do so regardless of their gender, age, financial status, years of association with the party and its top leaders etc...
compare this with india..political parties go into a huddle months before election is announced..nominate ,mostly, the party leader as their primemisterial candidate and in case one is not available ..try to search a candidate with a good credentials(knowing fully well that they wouldnt be able to find one)and finally settle for one who is old, is the least tainted, "close" to party elders and acceptable to other coalition parties..could somebody tell me what happened to "suitability to the job", "leadership skills", "team playing abilities" "awareness of issues concerning the common man" etc...
u see there are compromises at every step...every compromise pushing the most eligible candidate further and further away and giving way for dynasty politics, nepotism and cronyism ...
now coming to the point abt debates...this one astonished me even more and completely won me over...what a way present the varying views of the candidates to the voter and let him choose who he wants...and if u had watched how the 1st debate transpired probably u will spit in the faces of Indian politicians who use their lung power to get their point home when they participate in shows like 'face the nation' and the likes...such was the decency and mutual respect for each other..when one was talking the other had his mouth SHUT...and if there was anything to rebut they just jotted it down and stated it later when given the opportunity..i guess i dont have to tell u abt their knowledge on issues..having spent months running around the country explaining their stands on various issues they certainly would have no problems in that regard...
the bottom line of the entire presidential exercise in the US is that if a candidate wishes to become the next president of the united states then he has to work for it.. meet the people, learn the issues, take appropriate stands and be prepared to justify his stand...this exercise ensures that only people who are willing to sweat it out will enter the fray and not just any tom dick and harry...and there is no place for political rhetoric..i.e.no "thanga thalaiva", "anja nejun" and crap...no place for political smears/dirty politics...
Monday, September 29, 2008
Arghhh....
Hi All,
I am still waiting for that stupid call letter from Wipro to call me once and for all and put an end to the misery that i am going thru right now...
Finished my course and doing pretty much nothing at home u might be excused to think that i am having the time of my life...But that couldn't be further away the truth..
With every passing day, the insinuations of neighbors is getting unbearable..'why don't u try for some other company', while some others stretching further said i shouldn't even bother with Wipro as the IT industry is slowing down and should rather think about employment opportunities in my own area of expertise...(enna koduma sir ithu...as if i had any technical knowledge in the first place.. if only somebody could tell me where i could get it )
Suddenly my mother is starting to act as if she is the Taliban of Trichy(sounds rhyming doesn't it?)..u shouldn't do this and that..learn this..talk like this..walk properly..behave and watch your language when in the company of women..blah blah blah...My father was not very far behind and is pestering me to learn yoga, sleep early etc..
How can cousins be far behind.."send me ur reference number i have frens in Wipro and they can give u an idea of the exact date" ,"CCNA can keep u occupied"...They might as well have said i am VETTI..
As if this multi pronged attack wasn't enough, now i getting due panned by fellow bloggers. All over a cartoonic woman donning tight tops or huge "u know what" and as a result i have started questioning my own morals..what is vulgar and what is acceptable..have i really changed..what happened to my conservative self...why do i start finding myself in the "wrong" side of the divide...
Wipro...pls put me out of my misery asap...call me before i go mad...pls....
I am still waiting for that stupid call letter from Wipro to call me once and for all and put an end to the misery that i am going thru right now...
Finished my course and doing pretty much nothing at home u might be excused to think that i am having the time of my life...But that couldn't be further away the truth..
With every passing day, the insinuations of neighbors is getting unbearable..'why don't u try for some other company', while some others stretching further said i shouldn't even bother with Wipro as the IT industry is slowing down and should rather think about employment opportunities in my own area of expertise...(enna koduma sir ithu...as if i had any technical knowledge in the first place.. if only somebody could tell me where i could get it )
Suddenly my mother is starting to act as if she is the Taliban of Trichy(sounds rhyming doesn't it?)..u shouldn't do this and that..learn this..talk like this..walk properly..behave and watch your language when in the company of women..blah blah blah...My father was not very far behind and is pestering me to learn yoga, sleep early etc..
How can cousins be far behind.."send me ur reference number i have frens in Wipro and they can give u an idea of the exact date" ,"CCNA can keep u occupied"...They might as well have said i am VETTI..
As if this multi pronged attack wasn't enough, now i getting due panned by fellow bloggers. All over a cartoonic woman donning tight tops or huge "u know what" and as a result i have started questioning my own morals..what is vulgar and what is acceptable..have i really changed..what happened to my conservative self...why do i start finding myself in the "wrong" side of the divide...
Wipro...pls put me out of my misery asap...call me before i go mad...pls....
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Long long time no see
Hi all,
It has been ages since i wrote my last post, i think almost 2 weeks ago. The usual culprits being my laziness, procrastination et al.:)
But it was not as if i was sleeping the entire period, though it figured prominently in the list of things that i was into. Hmmm did i say a list of things... let me see...no better downgrade it to a number of things ... list sounds tooo big..
Movies, courtesy of Ramanathan and Arun, pretty much become my staple diet. I watched close to 15 movies in this time frame. The Shawshank redemption, vantage point just to name a few. So of them really moved, others kindled my gray cells and yet others questioned conventions. English movies, as i have always believed and still, move out of the mundane love stories and demi-god worship that our own movie fraternities are obsessed with. But i guess we cant completely credit American directors and belittle our own ones because of one simple fact...Audience taste or preference or whatever u wish to call it..thats us! So we should take a fair amount of blame when it comes pedestrian presentation of movies..
{But all is not lost as our industries are waking up to changing preferences of audiences esp the urban ones and are making movies that are good, realistic in their own right)
Apart from movies, typing has been keeping me busy. Allow me to indulge in some self patting on the back.:) I always wanted, even desired, to be type fast and accurately but never really got myself to do it. The extreme boredom (read vettiness)of the past two weeks allowed to learn typing at my own pace.(without which i wouldn't be able to learn any new skill)
Thats all for now folks. See u soon...
It has been ages since i wrote my last post, i think almost 2 weeks ago. The usual culprits being my laziness, procrastination et al.:)
But it was not as if i was sleeping the entire period, though it figured prominently in the list of things that i was into. Hmmm did i say a list of things... let me see...no better downgrade it to a number of things ... list sounds tooo big..
Movies, courtesy of Ramanathan and Arun, pretty much become my staple diet. I watched close to 15 movies in this time frame. The Shawshank redemption, vantage point just to name a few. So of them really moved, others kindled my gray cells and yet others questioned conventions. English movies, as i have always believed and still, move out of the mundane love stories and demi-god worship that our own movie fraternities are obsessed with. But i guess we cant completely credit American directors and belittle our own ones because of one simple fact...Audience taste or preference or whatever u wish to call it..thats us! So we should take a fair amount of blame when it comes pedestrian presentation of movies..
{But all is not lost as our industries are waking up to changing preferences of audiences esp the urban ones and are making movies that are good, realistic in their own right)
Apart from movies, typing has been keeping me busy. Allow me to indulge in some self patting on the back.:) I always wanted, even desired, to be type fast and accurately but never really got myself to do it. The extreme boredom (read vettiness)of the past two weeks allowed to learn typing at my own pace.(without which i wouldn't be able to learn any new skill)
Thats all for now folks. See u soon...
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Long time no see...
Hi All,
it has been almost a week since my last post and i have used one reason or the other not to post and conveniently giving in to my lazy self. Finally i managed to get my hands to type this post though i am still pondering what am i going to post about today.
hmmm...oh i got it..i got it...the credit crisis..
you must have heard of it. it has been for the better part of the week and it has had far reaching ramifications though fortunately India hasn't been at the receiving end as much as other countries..this is how it all started...
Interests rates in the US have been cut on a quarterly basis for the past 3 yrs or so to stimulate growth. What low interests rates do is encourage people to borrow and spend, termed as consumer spending which has traditionally been the biggest driver of growth. Low rates also make it easier for enterprises to draw credit and start new businesses.
Buoyed by low interests rates and some favourable legislations on home ownerships, people started buying homes without considering whether they needed it or not(and more importantly whether they could afford it or not). This sudden surge in buying artificial rise of prices of houses and made other potential home buyers to sit up and take notice. A feeling of "now or never" pervaded in the minds of these people and forced them to extend loans( most of these loans were sub prime loans..i will get to this later) which they otherwise would have never taken. Consequently, many of them entered the property market at totally unrealistic prices hoping that the rising property prices will keep rising.
Sub prime loans are loans given to people with no or poor(!) credit history. This means that the banks,mortgage firms and other lending instituitions lent money to these people knowing fully well that these people are not solid on financial ground and probably will not repay back the money in full. I guess these guys were figuring out that even if the loan wasn't paid off, the property was in the bank's name and given the way at which property prices were sky rocketing it doesn't really matter whether the loan was paid or not.
Obviously these sub prime loans were not paid back to these lenders, as these people were never in the position to repay such huge installments in the first place. But the title deeds are still in the possesion of these lensers, so why worry u might ask.
At one point in time, the prices of houses crossed the threshold limit and finally some sense of sanity prevailed among the general public. People stopped buying and homes prices tumbled and it was "declared" that the housing bubble had burst. Unable to recover the loans and unable to sell the properties for which the loans were given, many companies have now gone under. With these companies going bankrupt, there has been something called a credit crunch. i.e. not many people out there either having money to lend or the lack of willingness to lend the money they have.
I can go on and on...but i think i am going to stop here and let u draw ur own inferences on how this has affected global economies...
it has been almost a week since my last post and i have used one reason or the other not to post and conveniently giving in to my lazy self. Finally i managed to get my hands to type this post though i am still pondering what am i going to post about today.
hmmm...oh i got it..i got it...the credit crisis..
you must have heard of it. it has been for the better part of the week and it has had far reaching ramifications though fortunately India hasn't been at the receiving end as much as other countries..this is how it all started...
Interests rates in the US have been cut on a quarterly basis for the past 3 yrs or so to stimulate growth. What low interests rates do is encourage people to borrow and spend, termed as consumer spending which has traditionally been the biggest driver of growth. Low rates also make it easier for enterprises to draw credit and start new businesses.
Buoyed by low interests rates and some favourable legislations on home ownerships, people started buying homes without considering whether they needed it or not(and more importantly whether they could afford it or not). This sudden surge in buying artificial rise of prices of houses and made other potential home buyers to sit up and take notice. A feeling of "now or never" pervaded in the minds of these people and forced them to extend loans( most of these loans were sub prime loans..i will get to this later) which they otherwise would have never taken. Consequently, many of them entered the property market at totally unrealistic prices hoping that the rising property prices will keep rising.
Sub prime loans are loans given to people with no or poor(!) credit history. This means that the banks,mortgage firms and other lending instituitions lent money to these people knowing fully well that these people are not solid on financial ground and probably will not repay back the money in full. I guess these guys were figuring out that even if the loan wasn't paid off, the property was in the bank's name and given the way at which property prices were sky rocketing it doesn't really matter whether the loan was paid or not.
Obviously these sub prime loans were not paid back to these lenders, as these people were never in the position to repay such huge installments in the first place. But the title deeds are still in the possesion of these lensers, so why worry u might ask.
At one point in time, the prices of houses crossed the threshold limit and finally some sense of sanity prevailed among the general public. People stopped buying and homes prices tumbled and it was "declared" that the housing bubble had burst. Unable to recover the loans and unable to sell the properties for which the loans were given, many companies have now gone under. With these companies going bankrupt, there has been something called a credit crunch. i.e. not many people out there either having money to lend or the lack of willingness to lend the money they have.
I can go on and on...but i think i am going to stop here and let u draw ur own inferences on how this has affected global economies...
Thursday, September 11, 2008
7 years on...is the world a safer place to live in today than it was then?
Hi All,
Today is the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, an event that has down done as the Pearl harbour of the 21st century among the American audience(and western countries in general) and as an incident viewed by the outside world(esp the Arab world) that America used as a cover to fulfill its imperialistic designs.
The perceptions may vary, as they always do, but the hard fact is that more than 3000 people belonging to an array of nations lost their lives to a mindless act of terror, billions of dollars were lost in matter of seconds and Islam's image took a severe beating. So before i venture into my self imposed question, i would like to send my condolences to those who lost their near and dear ones and sincerely hope that they are in the advanced stages of recovery.
Seven years have transpired and it makes me wonder whether the world is really a safer place to live in after the all the "affirmative action" undertook by America since the fateful incident. Two wars were waged with America leading from the front. One with almost 100 per cent consensus and the other can be best described as American arrogance. Let me dwell in the details now.
The 1st war, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and lots of sympathy towards America from even unusual quarters, was waged to uproot the Taliban from the erstwhile safe haven of Afghanistan. The military assault was sanctioned by the United nations and more or less the whole world was on Afghan soil in just a matter of days, after the meek resistance put up by the Taliban militia caved in. The purpose of this war was very clear and the stated objectives had been partially achieved by overthrowing the fundamantalist regime.
A puppet government was installed in power but America, and the international community as well, stopped right there and conveniently forgot about Afghanistan altogether. They failed to provide any real support to the government of the day so that it could augment its capacity as an executive. Many summits and conferences only served as lip service to the humongous problems faced by the crumbled nation. Uncooperative neighbours( read Pakistan,our all time favourite enemy) coupled with monetary and administrative constraints further exaggerated the problem and only served the cause of the Taliban.
As months and years passed, the Taliban has resurfaced and has come to haunt Afghanistan again. The Taliban is back in business and is doing what it does best..terrorize people and spread its sick and totally distorted interpretation of Islam. All this after millions spent on uprooting these very people a few years back and billions more allocated for defence budgets by countries world over!!!
So that was the 1st war for u.. now lets move on to the 2nd one. This one was much more controversial than its predecessor. The Iraq war was waged under the pretext of the world being in danger because of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction(WMD). Arab World came out in strong protest against the very preparations for the war. Demographic giants like India toed the same line and warned US,and its allies, of the consequences the world will have to face due to this unilateral action.
Though the war was won rather swiftly and collateral damage was within acceptable limits, America didn't have a plan for the day after. Saddam Hussein was thrown out of power and was forced into hiding but so what...Lawlessness and chaos reigned in Baghdad was probably the whole of Iraq. Essential utilities were disrupted for months, oil supplies were interrupted and over and above all a sense of fear and insecurity loomed ominously over Iraq. Just as the opponents had predicted America and its little cronies had chewed more than they could swallow.
But what is more disturbing is that moderate Muslims who were finding their voice post 9/11 have been stifled yet again and this time America has no one to blame but herself. Fundamentalists in many Muslim countries have regained their ground and yield as much power as they had pre 9/11.Moreover, the sympathy America had immediately after 9/11 has all but vanished into thin air and there is only distrust that's left to savour.
A justifiable war with improper and insufficient post war rehabilitative support followed by a totally unnecessary one has in my opinion left our world in no safer postilion than we were before 9/11.
Today is the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, an event that has down done as the Pearl harbour of the 21st century among the American audience(and western countries in general) and as an incident viewed by the outside world(esp the Arab world) that America used as a cover to fulfill its imperialistic designs.
The perceptions may vary, as they always do, but the hard fact is that more than 3000 people belonging to an array of nations lost their lives to a mindless act of terror, billions of dollars were lost in matter of seconds and Islam's image took a severe beating. So before i venture into my self imposed question, i would like to send my condolences to those who lost their near and dear ones and sincerely hope that they are in the advanced stages of recovery.
Seven years have transpired and it makes me wonder whether the world is really a safer place to live in after the all the "affirmative action" undertook by America since the fateful incident. Two wars were waged with America leading from the front. One with almost 100 per cent consensus and the other can be best described as American arrogance. Let me dwell in the details now.
The 1st war, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and lots of sympathy towards America from even unusual quarters, was waged to uproot the Taliban from the erstwhile safe haven of Afghanistan. The military assault was sanctioned by the United nations and more or less the whole world was on Afghan soil in just a matter of days, after the meek resistance put up by the Taliban militia caved in. The purpose of this war was very clear and the stated objectives had been partially achieved by overthrowing the fundamantalist regime.
A puppet government was installed in power but America, and the international community as well, stopped right there and conveniently forgot about Afghanistan altogether. They failed to provide any real support to the government of the day so that it could augment its capacity as an executive. Many summits and conferences only served as lip service to the humongous problems faced by the crumbled nation. Uncooperative neighbours( read Pakistan,our all time favourite enemy) coupled with monetary and administrative constraints further exaggerated the problem and only served the cause of the Taliban.
As months and years passed, the Taliban has resurfaced and has come to haunt Afghanistan again. The Taliban is back in business and is doing what it does best..terrorize people and spread its sick and totally distorted interpretation of Islam. All this after millions spent on uprooting these very people a few years back and billions more allocated for defence budgets by countries world over!!!
So that was the 1st war for u.. now lets move on to the 2nd one. This one was much more controversial than its predecessor. The Iraq war was waged under the pretext of the world being in danger because of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction(WMD). Arab World came out in strong protest against the very preparations for the war. Demographic giants like India toed the same line and warned US,and its allies, of the consequences the world will have to face due to this unilateral action.
Though the war was won rather swiftly and collateral damage was within acceptable limits, America didn't have a plan for the day after. Saddam Hussein was thrown out of power and was forced into hiding but so what...Lawlessness and chaos reigned in Baghdad was probably the whole of Iraq. Essential utilities were disrupted for months, oil supplies were interrupted and over and above all a sense of fear and insecurity loomed ominously over Iraq. Just as the opponents had predicted America and its little cronies had chewed more than they could swallow.
But what is more disturbing is that moderate Muslims who were finding their voice post 9/11 have been stifled yet again and this time America has no one to blame but herself. Fundamentalists in many Muslim countries have regained their ground and yield as much power as they had pre 9/11.Moreover, the sympathy America had immediately after 9/11 has all but vanished into thin air and there is only distrust that's left to savour.
A justifiable war with improper and insufficient post war rehabilitative support followed by a totally unnecessary one has in my opinion left our world in no safer postilion than we were before 9/11.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
OS RE-INSTALLED
Hi All,
Thanks to some misadventures (namely installing an anti virus which was way out of the league of my system's capabilities) that i was up to after my visit to my friends house and what i was left with was a corrupted OS and lots of frustration and agony.
Impatient as i am, i let the anti virus to scan my computer immediately after installing it. My friend had warned me to read the "readme" file before venturing into the functions of the software. I guess i don't have to tell you whether i heeded his warning or not...
Every application i tried to open came up with unique ways of denying entry..for some it was "application not found" for others it was "open with" which is usually associated with unknown file formats and for yet others there wasn't even a response (leaving to click a couple of more times)
To solve the problem my well wishers suggested i re install my OS.Ramanathan, whose house was the genesis (hope Ramanathan does not read this blog..but even if he does i confessed to have self created this problem..so i guess no body is going to get red faced after reading this post))of the problem, offered help and came armed with a pirated version of the Windows XP on late Monday afternoon and in the process waking me up from my deep slumber.
Without much ado, we sprung into action but everything came to a grinding halt minutes after it all started. Ramanathan had forgot the all important key that was required to continue with the installation. Without boring those who are reading this..i did finally manage to install the OS and get back a some amount of normalcy in my life..
I am very grateful to Ramanathan for providing me with the installation CD and karthik for his timely suggestions..
Thanks to some misadventures (namely installing an anti virus which was way out of the league of my system's capabilities) that i was up to after my visit to my friends house and what i was left with was a corrupted OS and lots of frustration and agony.
Impatient as i am, i let the anti virus to scan my computer immediately after installing it. My friend had warned me to read the "readme" file before venturing into the functions of the software. I guess i don't have to tell you whether i heeded his warning or not...
Every application i tried to open came up with unique ways of denying entry..for some it was "application not found" for others it was "open with" which is usually associated with unknown file formats and for yet others there wasn't even a response (leaving to click a couple of more times)
To solve the problem my well wishers suggested i re install my OS.Ramanathan, whose house was the genesis (hope Ramanathan does not read this blog..but even if he does i confessed to have self created this problem..so i guess no body is going to get red faced after reading this post))of the problem, offered help and came armed with a pirated version of the Windows XP on late Monday afternoon and in the process waking me up from my deep slumber.
Without much ado, we sprung into action but everything came to a grinding halt minutes after it all started. Ramanathan had forgot the all important key that was required to continue with the installation. Without boring those who are reading this..i did finally manage to install the OS and get back a some amount of normalcy in my life..
I am very grateful to Ramanathan for providing me with the installation CD and karthik for his timely suggestions..
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Hurray...NSG Waiver
Hi All,
I am sure most of u would have read/heard/seen the news about India getting a clean unconditional waiver from the NSG. (I heard the news upon reaching my friend's house whom i was visiting to get pen drive and DVD load of softwares, movies and songs and thereby leading myself to a lot of misery...i will tell u about it later..)The leaders of the nation, except those belonging to the Left and Opposition parties, have hailed the waiver and have said that its a historic day for India.
What this waiver effectively means is that India can perform trade with respect to nuclear fuel,rectors and technology(know-how). This translates into more nuclear fuel available for starving reactors, ready made reactors that can be imported and technology transfer which will ensure that we can build reactors on our own in the future.
More nuclear reactors-> more power generated->more growth(i guess i don't have to explain this part in more detail than what i already have done..its a no-brainer!)
In case India engages in nuclear technology proliferation(it hasn't in the past and probably wont in the future as well) then the NSG will convene a meeting and decide on future course of action which probably will mean that NSG will ask its members to stop nuclear trade with India.
This waiver has to been seen in different light than the one of the 123 agreement. 123 agreement is an agreement exclusively between US and India and it deals with nuclear trade between India and the US alone.(However for the deal to go through, a waiver from the NSG was warranted and that's exactly why India approached the NSG).
So as of now, we can perform nuclear trade,even tomorrow, with countries like Russia and France while we have one last hurdle to cross as far as the US is concerned. A congressional approval is required for the deal. But that shouldn't be a problem because there seems to be wide bi-partisan support for the deal...:)
I am sure most of u would have read/heard/seen the news about India getting a clean unconditional waiver from the NSG. (I heard the news upon reaching my friend's house whom i was visiting to get pen drive and DVD load of softwares, movies and songs and thereby leading myself to a lot of misery...i will tell u about it later..)The leaders of the nation, except those belonging to the Left and Opposition parties, have hailed the waiver and have said that its a historic day for India.
What this waiver effectively means is that India can perform trade with respect to nuclear fuel,rectors and technology(know-how). This translates into more nuclear fuel available for starving reactors, ready made reactors that can be imported and technology transfer which will ensure that we can build reactors on our own in the future.
More nuclear reactors-> more power generated->more growth(i guess i don't have to explain this part in more detail than what i already have done..its a no-brainer!)
In case India engages in nuclear technology proliferation(it hasn't in the past and probably wont in the future as well) then the NSG will convene a meeting and decide on future course of action which probably will mean that NSG will ask its members to stop nuclear trade with India.
This waiver has to been seen in different light than the one of the 123 agreement. 123 agreement is an agreement exclusively between US and India and it deals with nuclear trade between India and the US alone.(However for the deal to go through, a waiver from the NSG was warranted and that's exactly why India approached the NSG).
So as of now, we can perform nuclear trade,even tomorrow, with countries like Russia and France while we have one last hurdle to cross as far as the US is concerned. A congressional approval is required for the deal. But that shouldn't be a problem because there seems to be wide bi-partisan support for the deal...:)
Friday, September 5, 2008
Hmmmm
Hi guys,
i have come across a number of phrases,one liners etc...
Rub the wrong side of the shoulder
Push the envelope
Win hands down
Nose for nostalgia
Junket-obsessed
Cusp of change
Pay back in the same coin
Bang for the buck
i have come across a number of phrases,one liners etc...
Rub the wrong side of the shoulder
Push the envelope
Win hands down
Nose for nostalgia
Junket-obsessed
Cusp of change
Pay back in the same coin
Bang for the buck
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Now a channel dedicated solely for comedy
The Sun group, or should i say conglomerate, is planning to start a new television channel solely dedicated for comedy along the lines of Sun music and KTV which are dedicated music and movie channels respectively.
I must say this is another master move of the Sun group. Comedy has become a mainstay in almost all commercial films today and has become and is an essential commodity for success of these films. Moreover comedy shows have become a rage these days with the general public.Taking these factors into consideration, it only makes economic sense to commence a entirely new channel that concentrates on comedy and give the audiences more than they ask for.
We must view this in light of new political developments. Sun group has been DMK's mouthpiece since time immemorial but a few months back a ugly spat btw them saw DMK distancing itself from the Sun group and even starting a new TV channel on its own. A Raja, a DMK leader close to Karunanidhi, replaced Dayanethimaran who was the Information and Technology minister since the UPA government assumed power in 2004.
There would(in fact must) have been political pressures by the DMK to the government at the centre to stall this new channel. Despite this Sun group has come out on top. Kudos to the Sun Group!!!
I must say this is another master move of the Sun group. Comedy has become a mainstay in almost all commercial films today and has become and is an essential commodity for success of these films. Moreover comedy shows have become a rage these days with the general public.Taking these factors into consideration, it only makes economic sense to commence a entirely new channel that concentrates on comedy and give the audiences more than they ask for.
We must view this in light of new political developments. Sun group has been DMK's mouthpiece since time immemorial but a few months back a ugly spat btw them saw DMK distancing itself from the Sun group and even starting a new TV channel on its own. A Raja, a DMK leader close to Karunanidhi, replaced Dayanethimaran who was the Information and Technology minister since the UPA government assumed power in 2004.
There would(in fact must) have been political pressures by the DMK to the government at the centre to stall this new channel. Despite this Sun group has come out on top. Kudos to the Sun Group!!!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Forged notes
Ok i am going to try to squeeze a quick one thru. the time now is 8 45 pm and by 9 there will be that horrifying mandatory power cut.
i saw in the news the other day that the 500 rupee notes belonging to the 1996 and 2000 series are prone to counterfeiting..relax..not all of them are forged..but the security features in them are inadequate to prevent forging..RBI has said that the new series of notes are counterfeit safe..well we would have to see about that..bcos this printing and counterfeiting seems to be a cat and mouse game..its just a matter of time b4 the counterfeiters catch up(going by past experience)
RBI has added that it will withdraw the 1996 and 2000 series 500 rupee notes in a phased manner from January 2009. so u guys out there just be a tad careful the next time u encounter a 500 rupee note...
i saw in the news the other day that the 500 rupee notes belonging to the 1996 and 2000 series are prone to counterfeiting..relax..not all of them are forged..but the security features in them are inadequate to prevent forging..RBI has said that the new series of notes are counterfeit safe..well we would have to see about that..bcos this printing and counterfeiting seems to be a cat and mouse game..its just a matter of time b4 the counterfeiters catch up(going by past experience)
RBI has added that it will withdraw the 1996 and 2000 series 500 rupee notes in a phased manner from January 2009. so u guys out there just be a tad careful the next time u encounter a 500 rupee note...
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Presence of Leaders,Celebrities in disaster zones..
Hi All,
I was reading the Paul Krugman column in today's Hindu and found that he had raised a valid point which resonated with me. He scorned the scheduled visit of John McCain to the areas ravaged by the tropical storm Gustav.
He stated that presence of leaders and celebrities would result in channeling of resources, energy and time from the victims, who obviously need it the most, to these people. He provided a couple of examples like the one where George bush visited the fire fighters who were helping out Katrina victims( just wondering... why are fire fighters involved in all this..isint it out of their purview..and aren't they always busy trying to put out the Californian wild fires that somehow seem to go on and on..)
I must also state that Paul is Bush basher and hence the article could be biased ( the "could" can be replaced with "should"). Moreover politicians wouldn't want to be seen as playing golf when millions are in distress and would obviously want to score brownie points by being in ground zero...
Now the challenge is what is the right solution to this predicament...hmmmm
I was reading the Paul Krugman column in today's Hindu and found that he had raised a valid point which resonated with me. He scorned the scheduled visit of John McCain to the areas ravaged by the tropical storm Gustav.
He stated that presence of leaders and celebrities would result in channeling of resources, energy and time from the victims, who obviously need it the most, to these people. He provided a couple of examples like the one where George bush visited the fire fighters who were helping out Katrina victims( just wondering... why are fire fighters involved in all this..isint it out of their purview..and aren't they always busy trying to put out the Californian wild fires that somehow seem to go on and on..)
I must also state that Paul is Bush basher and hence the article could be biased ( the "could" can be replaced with "should"). Moreover politicians wouldn't want to be seen as playing golf when millions are in distress and would obviously want to score brownie points by being in ground zero...
Now the challenge is what is the right solution to this predicament...hmmmm
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Singur Standoff
Hi All,
I have been feeling quite disturbed by the recent developments in West Bengal viz the protests against the Nano project.As most of u would have known by now Mamata Banerjee has been protesting, rather vociferously and in some instances violently, against the setting up of the Nano car project plant from the very start. After much struggle the plant did come up and production commenced although it is now in its nascent stages.
The problem now is about 400 acres of land that had been "forcibly" acquired by the government from the farmers for the location of ancillary units. The high court of the state had ruled that the land was acquired by proper means and in accordance with the law of the land.
Now what puzzles everyone is why
1.are the farmers who had sold the land and obtained the compensation provided by the government protesting now.
2. Mamata who was protesting against the entire project is now limiting herself to the return of only a section of the land.( is it a ploy to save face bcos now that the plant had come up and she could do nothing about it?)
Mamata is saying that she is fine with 600 acres of land in which the plant had come up but not with the rest of 400 acres of land in which the ancillary units are coming up/supposed to sprout..But we all know that that doesn't make any economic sense as placing the vending units away from the plant will only hike the costs of production.
Industry champions like the Naranya Murthy and the likes have come to the rescue of the Tatas and have called for restraint from Mamata. Even the usually reserved Governor of west bengal has written to Mamata on the agitation and has called for neutral mediators to resolve the issue.
With the agitation entering a rather tiring 8th day and support waning, Mamata now is trying to find herself new enemies. She has planned a rally against organised retailing giants like Reliance Retail(which belongs to the older Ambani brother). Digging deeper u would find that there is a little bit of politics in this. Mamata was joined by Amar Singh, a close associate of the younger Ambani brother, on the 1st day of her agitation and it looks like she feels this is her way of paying back
( u friends enemy is also ur enemy..make sense?)
At the end of all this its indian industry and the its image thats taking a battering. If Mamata and her cronies are really concerned abt India and its ppl she should call of the agitation and let work resume at the plant.
I have been feeling quite disturbed by the recent developments in West Bengal viz the protests against the Nano project.As most of u would have known by now Mamata Banerjee has been protesting, rather vociferously and in some instances violently, against the setting up of the Nano car project plant from the very start. After much struggle the plant did come up and production commenced although it is now in its nascent stages.
The problem now is about 400 acres of land that had been "forcibly" acquired by the government from the farmers for the location of ancillary units. The high court of the state had ruled that the land was acquired by proper means and in accordance with the law of the land.
Now what puzzles everyone is why
1.are the farmers who had sold the land and obtained the compensation provided by the government protesting now.
2. Mamata who was protesting against the entire project is now limiting herself to the return of only a section of the land.( is it a ploy to save face bcos now that the plant had come up and she could do nothing about it?)
Mamata is saying that she is fine with 600 acres of land in which the plant had come up but not with the rest of 400 acres of land in which the ancillary units are coming up/supposed to sprout..But we all know that that doesn't make any economic sense as placing the vending units away from the plant will only hike the costs of production.
Industry champions like the Naranya Murthy and the likes have come to the rescue of the Tatas and have called for restraint from Mamata. Even the usually reserved Governor of west bengal has written to Mamata on the agitation and has called for neutral mediators to resolve the issue.
With the agitation entering a rather tiring 8th day and support waning, Mamata now is trying to find herself new enemies. She has planned a rally against organised retailing giants like Reliance Retail(which belongs to the older Ambani brother). Digging deeper u would find that there is a little bit of politics in this. Mamata was joined by Amar Singh, a close associate of the younger Ambani brother, on the 1st day of her agitation and it looks like she feels this is her way of paying back
( u friends enemy is also ur enemy..make sense?)
At the end of all this its indian industry and the its image thats taking a battering. If Mamata and her cronies are really concerned abt India and its ppl she should call of the agitation and let work resume at the plant.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
is it my mistake...?
Hi All,
a thought crossed my mind when i was well...leave it..what matters is the thought...
So many of us,engineering graduates, from various streams have been placed in primarily one sector..i.e the IT sector..we have jumping from heaven to earth since we have got placed and even go around boasting about our placements..we haven't even spared a thought whether such a trend is a healthy one..
i am not suggesting that we should have flatly refused the offers from these IT companies bcos being employed these days seems to matter more than being alive..but it still irks me whether i have done the right thing or i wasn't even a player in the scheme if things...
a thought crossed my mind when i was well...leave it..what matters is the thought...
So many of us,engineering graduates, from various streams have been placed in primarily one sector..i.e the IT sector..we have jumping from heaven to earth since we have got placed and even go around boasting about our placements..we haven't even spared a thought whether such a trend is a healthy one..
i am not suggesting that we should have flatly refused the offers from these IT companies bcos being employed these days seems to matter more than being alive..but it still irks me whether i have done the right thing or i wasn't even a player in the scheme if things...
Now its Water...Arghhh!!!
Hi All,
After electricity, the Tamilnadu government and more specifically Trichy city corporation has decided that water is going to be the latest tool that is to be used against the toiling masses.
yet another pipe crack that fetches waters to the residential areas from the reservoirs means that Trichy residents have to go without water for at least 2 days and god knows how many more...
i just don't understand why the pipe cracks every few weeks...if it is broke FIX THE F@@KING thing once and for all...and why is no body standing up and claiming responsibility for this...what happened to accountability...
and what happened to alternate arrangements that should have been put in place by the govt to make mends for its mistakes...
now i find long queues outside private water distributors..and they are making a killing out of the current situation..so much so that they don't even have time to dispense the cans in our place( which is the normal practice)...
After electricity, the Tamilnadu government and more specifically Trichy city corporation has decided that water is going to be the latest tool that is to be used against the toiling masses.
yet another pipe crack that fetches waters to the residential areas from the reservoirs means that Trichy residents have to go without water for at least 2 days and god knows how many more...
i just don't understand why the pipe cracks every few weeks...if it is broke FIX THE F@@KING thing once and for all...and why is no body standing up and claiming responsibility for this...what happened to accountability...
and what happened to alternate arrangements that should have been put in place by the govt to make mends for its mistakes...
now i find long queues outside private water distributors..and they are making a killing out of the current situation..so much so that they don't even have time to dispense the cans in our place( which is the normal practice)...
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Power Failure
Hi All,
The state government, finally, came out with an open statement that load shedding is in fact going on and stated the exact no. of hours each region will be experiencing power failure. But, as we have slowly started to realize the announced power cut is only half that of the real one....horrendous...
A number of bloggers, esp from the southern states, have highlighted this issue which goes to show how widespread this problem is.Nobody knows whether a solution is in sight and if there is one whats the time frame.. Unlike in other countries where heas would have rolled by now, our electricity minister seems to be only growing in power...
The state government, finally, came out with an open statement that load shedding is in fact going on and stated the exact no. of hours each region will be experiencing power failure. But, as we have slowly started to realize the announced power cut is only half that of the real one....horrendous...
A number of bloggers, esp from the southern states, have highlighted this issue which goes to show how widespread this problem is.Nobody knows whether a solution is in sight and if there is one whats the time frame.. Unlike in other countries where heas would have rolled by now, our electricity minister seems to be only growing in power...
Attention Seekers
Hi All,
A friend of mine had written a thought provoking article on education in India(my view could be biased) a few days back and received very harsh criticism from a particular blogger. The criticism was all the more surprising bcos the rest of the comments( read readers) were flowering praises on him.
After the rather scathing remarks made on him, my friend did try to reason out with him but to no avail. The blogger came back with yet another nasty reply.
The reason why i have highlighted the above incident is that i feel some bloggers out there are just want the lime light for themselves..by spurting out nasties at someone u r guaranteeing urselves of a reply and consequently attention( case in point jade goody)...
if the blogger had tried to argue on platform that had been equal then there would have been a healthy discussion going on but i guess thats exactly what the blogger didnt want...and what hurts me the most is that its hard to shrug off callous ppl like the guy mentioned above..leaves a bad taste in the mouth(but make no mistake here i welcome criticism with open arms but it MUST be constructive)
A friend of mine had written a thought provoking article on education in India(my view could be biased) a few days back and received very harsh criticism from a particular blogger. The criticism was all the more surprising bcos the rest of the comments( read readers) were flowering praises on him.
After the rather scathing remarks made on him, my friend did try to reason out with him but to no avail. The blogger came back with yet another nasty reply.
The reason why i have highlighted the above incident is that i feel some bloggers out there are just want the lime light for themselves..by spurting out nasties at someone u r guaranteeing urselves of a reply and consequently attention( case in point jade goody)...
if the blogger had tried to argue on platform that had been equal then there would have been a healthy discussion going on but i guess thats exactly what the blogger didnt want...and what hurts me the most is that its hard to shrug off callous ppl like the guy mentioned above..leaves a bad taste in the mouth(but make no mistake here i welcome criticism with open arms but it MUST be constructive)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Engineering Seats Vacant
Hi All,
I read in the news that more than 8000 seats are still lying vacant despite the 2nd extensive rounds of counseling. With this as the status quo i keep wondering some times why the regulatory bodies are still sanctioning new engineering colleges esp in Tamilnadu.
may be its time we focus on the existing ones and ensure that these have relevant and sufficient infrastructure in place and that coaching and assessment levels are up to the mark. In short we should be aspiring to make every engineering college in our country to the level of IITs
I read in the news that more than 8000 seats are still lying vacant despite the 2nd extensive rounds of counseling. With this as the status quo i keep wondering some times why the regulatory bodies are still sanctioning new engineering colleges esp in Tamilnadu.
may be its time we focus on the existing ones and ensure that these have relevant and sufficient infrastructure in place and that coaching and assessment levels are up to the mark. In short we should be aspiring to make every engineering college in our country to the level of IITs
Monday, August 25, 2008
Power Cuts...
hi All,
i have been experiencing power cuts quite frequently these days and today was really horrible. There were a total of 3.5 hrs of load shedding, way above the govt specified 2 hours for tier 2 towns such as Trichy.
These power cuts can be quite annoying esp when u meddling with ur system cos then u gotta save what ever u r doing and switch off the system and all this in record time. [ probably u would have gathered an idea abt my UPS's capability by now...:) ]
After the initial minutes of irritation that i experience, i start to find myself cursing my country for pushing me, forcefully, into the stone ages. How can we still not have found a solution to the power problem till now. Why hasn't capacity been augmented till now. Could we have brought more private players into the picture. Or how abt more active procurement of power from the national grid esp given the current political dynamics where the central govt is heavily dependent on the ministers from Tamilnadu for just staying in power.
At the end of the day, we only have un answered questions and agony. I guess thats something we have to bear with for being born in this country...
i have been experiencing power cuts quite frequently these days and today was really horrible. There were a total of 3.5 hrs of load shedding, way above the govt specified 2 hours for tier 2 towns such as Trichy.
These power cuts can be quite annoying esp when u meddling with ur system cos then u gotta save what ever u r doing and switch off the system and all this in record time. [ probably u would have gathered an idea abt my UPS's capability by now...:) ]
After the initial minutes of irritation that i experience, i start to find myself cursing my country for pushing me, forcefully, into the stone ages. How can we still not have found a solution to the power problem till now. Why hasn't capacity been augmented till now. Could we have brought more private players into the picture. Or how abt more active procurement of power from the national grid esp given the current political dynamics where the central govt is heavily dependent on the ministers from Tamilnadu for just staying in power.
At the end of the day, we only have un answered questions and agony. I guess thats something we have to bear with for being born in this country...
Sunday, August 24, 2008
So its Destination London
Hi All,
As i write this post, the Olympics Games is just coming to a close at Beijing. Laurels have been showed on China during the run up to the games and while the Games themselves. But the biggest one of all came from the IOC Chief who said China has set a new standard for conducting the Games.
The Olympic flag was brought down, in an usual ceremony, that marks the end of the Games at the National Stadium which is also affectionately called as the Bird's Nest. The London Mayor was in attendance at the ceremony to accept the Olympic flag as his city hosts the next Games. He seemed quite excited and was all smiles when the flag was handed over to him.
But what he probably doesn't know/ didn't want to show was that preparing London for the games will be an uphill task. He will be studying every minute detail/aspect/process that China took care of during the period it played host to the Games and make sure that he and his city at least live up to expectations and if possible outlive them.
As i write this post, the Olympics Games is just coming to a close at Beijing. Laurels have been showed on China during the run up to the games and while the Games themselves. But the biggest one of all came from the IOC Chief who said China has set a new standard for conducting the Games.
The Olympic flag was brought down, in an usual ceremony, that marks the end of the Games at the National Stadium which is also affectionately called as the Bird's Nest. The London Mayor was in attendance at the ceremony to accept the Olympic flag as his city hosts the next Games. He seemed quite excited and was all smiles when the flag was handed over to him.
But what he probably doesn't know/ didn't want to show was that preparing London for the games will be an uphill task. He will be studying every minute detail/aspect/process that China took care of during the period it played host to the Games and make sure that he and his city at least live up to expectations and if possible outlive them.
Relief
Hi All,
To my great relief, the amount that was wrongly debited from my account got credited back...:)
But doesn't wash off the wrongs of the railways committed against me. Three days of absolute mental torture on the "lost" money, an exercise of convenience turning out to be one of nightmare, screwed up travel plan, insinuations from all around and much more...the past 3 days have been ones that i would do best to forget...
I hope the railways wakes up to the numerous complaints it receives every day and act in a manner to negate unfortunate incidents,like the one that happened to me. I would even argue further that accountability must be brought into the picture and that some heads must roll(not just for what happened to me but for similar incidents also)...
To my great relief, the amount that was wrongly debited from my account got credited back...:)
But doesn't wash off the wrongs of the railways committed against me. Three days of absolute mental torture on the "lost" money, an exercise of convenience turning out to be one of nightmare, screwed up travel plan, insinuations from all around and much more...the past 3 days have been ones that i would do best to forget...
I hope the railways wakes up to the numerous complaints it receives every day and act in a manner to negate unfortunate incidents,like the one that happened to me. I would even argue further that accountability must be brought into the picture and that some heads must roll(not just for what happened to me but for similar incidents also)...
Saturday, August 23, 2008
The Day After!!!
On reading the title u might think something colossally evil,along the lines of 9/11, occurred to me. I would pardon u for thinking in that fashion for what did happen to me is almost in that degree.
The morning after the day i had been "conned" of my money by IRCTC, i rushed to the railway station to get a good explanation from the railway authorities. I was all pumped up, partly from the agony of being pushed around by the IRCTC website, partly from the sister, for whom i had planned to book the ticket for, and mostly from my parents for being 'lazy' and not opting for the conventional option of booking tickets. With so many shareholders in causing agony, visualizing my state of mind wouldn't be that difficult and even before i had set foot in the railway station, i had a clear plan in my head and the i ran over it repeatedly so that i wouldn't goof up when it mattered the most.
My crusade started off at the reservation centre at the Central Railway Station. My eyes scanned the huge hall and instantly deviated to the a small enclosure at the side of the hall that read " Chief Reservation Officer". Just as i made my way, an officer inside the air conditioned room spotted me and beckoned me to come inside. As i explained my predicament to him uncanny smirk developed across his face which troubled me quite a bit. I stopped my blurting and waited as if expecting him to continue from where i left off. He gave me plain straightforward reply. It seems he was responsible for tickets reserved at the reservation counters only and not for internet bookings. For all other queries i could contact the Station Master.
So it was off to the Station Master's room which was embedded right in the middle of the station. A middle aged man with reasonable build was seated there and seemed to be in serious discussions with his colleagues seated across the table. My interjection was not very appreciated by the people across the table though the man himself didn't really seem to have any problems with it. [ As they the cronies usually make the most noise...:) ]
The master gave me a patient hearing and then explained in detail why he couldn't be of help to me. The railways reserves some amount of seats in each train and class for the IRCTC and the IRCTC is simply an agent for the railways. There was no way the railways could access the database of the IRCTC and extract the PNR number i had requested. However he gave me a couple of numbers to reach the IRCTC. After storing all the numbers, i left the station rather dejectedly for not being able solve the problems that eclipsed me from the day before.
The scorching sun and the crowded bus were some features of my return journey and they only made my futile attempt that much worse. I promptly called the IRCTC and say it in short... due to technical reasons the ticket did not get booked at all and the debited money would get re credited back to my account within five working days.. NOW I AM STILL WAITING FOR MY MONEY...
The morning after the day i had been "conned" of my money by IRCTC, i rushed to the railway station to get a good explanation from the railway authorities. I was all pumped up, partly from the agony of being pushed around by the IRCTC website, partly from the sister, for whom i had planned to book the ticket for, and mostly from my parents for being 'lazy' and not opting for the conventional option of booking tickets. With so many shareholders in causing agony, visualizing my state of mind wouldn't be that difficult and even before i had set foot in the railway station, i had a clear plan in my head and the i ran over it repeatedly so that i wouldn't goof up when it mattered the most.
My crusade started off at the reservation centre at the Central Railway Station. My eyes scanned the huge hall and instantly deviated to the a small enclosure at the side of the hall that read " Chief Reservation Officer". Just as i made my way, an officer inside the air conditioned room spotted me and beckoned me to come inside. As i explained my predicament to him uncanny smirk developed across his face which troubled me quite a bit. I stopped my blurting and waited as if expecting him to continue from where i left off. He gave me plain straightforward reply. It seems he was responsible for tickets reserved at the reservation counters only and not for internet bookings. For all other queries i could contact the Station Master.
So it was off to the Station Master's room which was embedded right in the middle of the station. A middle aged man with reasonable build was seated there and seemed to be in serious discussions with his colleagues seated across the table. My interjection was not very appreciated by the people across the table though the man himself didn't really seem to have any problems with it. [ As they the cronies usually make the most noise...:) ]
The master gave me a patient hearing and then explained in detail why he couldn't be of help to me. The railways reserves some amount of seats in each train and class for the IRCTC and the IRCTC is simply an agent for the railways. There was no way the railways could access the database of the IRCTC and extract the PNR number i had requested. However he gave me a couple of numbers to reach the IRCTC. After storing all the numbers, i left the station rather dejectedly for not being able solve the problems that eclipsed me from the day before.
The scorching sun and the crowded bus were some features of my return journey and they only made my futile attempt that much worse. I promptly called the IRCTC and say it in short... due to technical reasons the ticket did not get booked at all and the debited money would get re credited back to my account within five working days.. NOW I AM STILL WAITING FOR MY MONEY...
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Indian Railways sucks to the core!!!
I tried to book tickets online( e ticket to be more exact) for a journey from Trichy to Chennai, today at around 4 in the afternoon. I used my SBI atm cum debit card to make the online payment. I clicked on the "pay" button after confirming the details that i had provided. Much to my shock a blank page loaded save the solitary sentence that read like a half URL(I tried clicking it, pasting it even modifying it but to no avail)
During the booking process, i was informed by the server that only waiting list was available. So i wasn't expecting a ticket number but rather a PNR number. But there was nothing in the screen to satiate my expectation(s).
I logged in to the SBI internet banking account and saw that the fare amount had been deducted from my account. So now i had a situation in my hand where i had paid the money but no way to make sure that it had been used for the purpose that i desired.
After several frantic attempts, i managed to get hold of a telephone number for contacting the relevant authorities. But the website, being an Indian one, lived up to its expectations by providing me with a 6 digit number. We all know that it has been eons since a 7 digit telephone number had been introduced in trichy and many other parts of Tamilnadu. Though i managed to get the line by appending a 2, it was quite appalling to find that the contact number had not been updated. You might say this is a small mistake on the part of the Indian Railways, but this callous attitude towards customer service reflects elsewhere too. If anybody tends to think or justify this blunder is actually encouraging the railways to be more insensitive towards its passengers. There are no to ways about this.
I grabbed my phone and called the number and a bloke picked by the phone..the conversation was in Tamil but i shall try to reproduce it in english as realistically as i can..
"hello is this the railways?"
"huh?"
"hello is this the railways enquiry number?"
"huh?"
hello is this the railway enquiry number?"
"so what"
i was so cross at this point that i nearly cursed him. He could have acknowledged that it was indeed the railways when i asked him initially. Even in my 3rd attempt he didnt answer my question, as u can see.
He spurted out a number, as if a some external force commanded him to and told me to call that number. Even before i could jot that down he almost hanged up the phone. My phone was back in action as i tried to call the number provided by the rather mechanical officer. And this is what i got..
"This number is busy...please try again later..."
ARGHHHH!!!
During the booking process, i was informed by the server that only waiting list was available. So i wasn't expecting a ticket number but rather a PNR number. But there was nothing in the screen to satiate my expectation(s).
I logged in to the SBI internet banking account and saw that the fare amount had been deducted from my account. So now i had a situation in my hand where i had paid the money but no way to make sure that it had been used for the purpose that i desired.
After several frantic attempts, i managed to get hold of a telephone number for contacting the relevant authorities. But the website, being an Indian one, lived up to its expectations by providing me with a 6 digit number. We all know that it has been eons since a 7 digit telephone number had been introduced in trichy and many other parts of Tamilnadu. Though i managed to get the line by appending a 2, it was quite appalling to find that the contact number had not been updated. You might say this is a small mistake on the part of the Indian Railways, but this callous attitude towards customer service reflects elsewhere too. If anybody tends to think or justify this blunder is actually encouraging the railways to be more insensitive towards its passengers. There are no to ways about this.
I grabbed my phone and called the number and a bloke picked by the phone..the conversation was in Tamil but i shall try to reproduce it in english as realistically as i can..
"hello is this the railways?"
"huh?"
"hello is this the railways enquiry number?"
"huh?"
hello is this the railway enquiry number?"
"so what"
i was so cross at this point that i nearly cursed him. He could have acknowledged that it was indeed the railways when i asked him initially. Even in my 3rd attempt he didnt answer my question, as u can see.
He spurted out a number, as if a some external force commanded him to and told me to call that number. Even before i could jot that down he almost hanged up the phone. My phone was back in action as i tried to call the number provided by the rather mechanical officer. And this is what i got..
"This number is busy...please try again later..."
ARGHHHH!!!
Encouraging Sports
Hi All,
I thought i would use this post to elaborate on how sports can be promoted and how we can create a sporting culture in our country.
There was a brief mention of the wrangle that we are finding ourselves in when there is a even the very mention of sports in my last post. The problems are clearly deep rooted and hence the solutions will certainly not be simplistic and if they are then we only are digging the grave,that we are finding ourselves in, even deeper.
1. I would like to see sports being encouraged right from the primary school level. This rule should be enforced on all schools regardless of their status i.e. both govt & private schools. A system must be put in place to ensure that students' achievements in sports somehow find their way to their report cards. This sends a strong signal to the society at large that energy and resources spent on sports is being appreciated. [ it is an open secret that most middle class Indian parents want their wards to become doctors or engineers. By changing this desire, we can create a greater pool of athletes.]
2. Scouts from relevant sporting bodies must scour the entire country in order to find young talent and in deserving cases provide scholarships to these students to continue their education in special schools that channel their talent and energy to more meaningful purposes. i.e. "Catch them young"
3. A new government policy on sports is the need of the hour. it must be a policy that provides incentives, subsidies and tax breaks for anything that is even remotely associated with sports. This will ensure that the much needed infrastructure is created..like stadiums, running tracks, courts etc. The policy must also address issues such as cronyism. Strict rules must be enacted and implemented so as to make sure that the only consideration in selecting candidates for major sporting events is based purely on merit and nothing else.
4. India, as most would agree, in a one-sport nation. Cricket enjoys demi-god status in every nook and corner of the country. Somehow over the years we have lost the plot and started to think that the only sport in the world is cricket. This shallowness can be justified by the modest successes/glory the sport has brought for India in recent times. Its time we regain our senses and look at the broader picture. We as a society must evolve and learn to accept and embrace other sports as well. Though the government can play an active role in this, for the most part it is we who have to change and move on from cricket.
I thought i would use this post to elaborate on how sports can be promoted and how we can create a sporting culture in our country.
There was a brief mention of the wrangle that we are finding ourselves in when there is a even the very mention of sports in my last post. The problems are clearly deep rooted and hence the solutions will certainly not be simplistic and if they are then we only are digging the grave,that we are finding ourselves in, even deeper.
1. I would like to see sports being encouraged right from the primary school level. This rule should be enforced on all schools regardless of their status i.e. both govt & private schools. A system must be put in place to ensure that students' achievements in sports somehow find their way to their report cards. This sends a strong signal to the society at large that energy and resources spent on sports is being appreciated. [ it is an open secret that most middle class Indian parents want their wards to become doctors or engineers. By changing this desire, we can create a greater pool of athletes.]
2. Scouts from relevant sporting bodies must scour the entire country in order to find young talent and in deserving cases provide scholarships to these students to continue their education in special schools that channel their talent and energy to more meaningful purposes. i.e. "Catch them young"
3. A new government policy on sports is the need of the hour. it must be a policy that provides incentives, subsidies and tax breaks for anything that is even remotely associated with sports. This will ensure that the much needed infrastructure is created..like stadiums, running tracks, courts etc. The policy must also address issues such as cronyism. Strict rules must be enacted and implemented so as to make sure that the only consideration in selecting candidates for major sporting events is based purely on merit and nothing else.
4. India, as most would agree, in a one-sport nation. Cricket enjoys demi-god status in every nook and corner of the country. Somehow over the years we have lost the plot and started to think that the only sport in the world is cricket. This shallowness can be justified by the modest successes/glory the sport has brought for India in recent times. Its time we regain our senses and look at the broader picture. We as a society must evolve and learn to accept and embrace other sports as well. Though the government can play an active role in this, for the most part it is we who have to change and move on from cricket.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Olympics..again..i know..
Hi All,
i came across a post in one of my friends blog and though i only had a fleeting glance(pardon the redundancy) at it, it struck a chord in me almost instantly
he was lamenting about the poor show of India in the Beijing games and consequently in the medals tally as well. allow him to quote him here.." while in other countries it will be news if their athletes lose events, over here in India the media goes nuts if a athlete wins a medal"
the current context couldn't have been put more aptly...such is the certain belief of losing rather than winning...and i guess we cant blame the media or the public at large for this bout of low confidence..such has been the sorry state of affairs of sports in India.
we never had an integrated and comprehensive training programme for our athletes, absence of incentives for athletes to immerse themselves in their desired sports, government policy encouraging sports in schools has been only of lip service and serious investment in sports infrastructure has not even been heard of..
despite all this shortcomings, its an absolute miracle that we even have athletes who , by hook or by crook, manage to find themselves in the scheme of things..hats off to them..
i will try to explore what can be done to improve the general sporting atmosphere in India..bye for now..
i came across a post in one of my friends blog and though i only had a fleeting glance(pardon the redundancy) at it, it struck a chord in me almost instantly
he was lamenting about the poor show of India in the Beijing games and consequently in the medals tally as well. allow him to quote him here.." while in other countries it will be news if their athletes lose events, over here in India the media goes nuts if a athlete wins a medal"
the current context couldn't have been put more aptly...such is the certain belief of losing rather than winning...and i guess we cant blame the media or the public at large for this bout of low confidence..such has been the sorry state of affairs of sports in India.
we never had an integrated and comprehensive training programme for our athletes, absence of incentives for athletes to immerse themselves in their desired sports, government policy encouraging sports in schools has been only of lip service and serious investment in sports infrastructure has not even been heard of..
despite all this shortcomings, its an absolute miracle that we even have athletes who , by hook or by crook, manage to find themselves in the scheme of things..hats off to them..
i will try to explore what can be done to improve the general sporting atmosphere in India..bye for now..
Arghhhh
Hi All,
I guess i have broken my promise again... i promised that i will publish two posts on Monday the 18th of august...but managed to do post only one..which leaves me with three post due (1 for Monday, 1 yesterday and the 1 today)...
Publishing 3 posts in single day, or should i say one night, can be an uphill task..esp for a super duper lazy person like me.. but i am going to give it a shot anyway..no harm trying..:)
while contemplating what should be the contents of this post, i thought it would be appropriate to discuss my erratic nature in updating my blog.. consider this..i had promised to update my blog with one post everyday..as u know i never kept the promise though i intended to..
a certain thought has refused to go off my mind for a few hours now...is it all right if u compensate for ur pending work both in terms of quality and quantity...?
case in point me..i have 3 posts pending..lets just say i manage abt 3 posts today( we all know that it almost equivalent to hoping the sun will rise from the west tomorrow )..but lets just consider that for argument sake..
so will my action make it all square or my failure to post at regular intervals still matter..i dont have explicitly state my opinion bcos u probably know it by now..i would love to know ur stand on this...
see u all in a few minutes..hopefully...:)
I guess i have broken my promise again... i promised that i will publish two posts on Monday the 18th of august...but managed to do post only one..which leaves me with three post due (1 for Monday, 1 yesterday and the 1 today)...
Publishing 3 posts in single day, or should i say one night, can be an uphill task..esp for a super duper lazy person like me.. but i am going to give it a shot anyway..no harm trying..:)
while contemplating what should be the contents of this post, i thought it would be appropriate to discuss my erratic nature in updating my blog.. consider this..i had promised to update my blog with one post everyday..as u know i never kept the promise though i intended to..
a certain thought has refused to go off my mind for a few hours now...is it all right if u compensate for ur pending work both in terms of quality and quantity...?
case in point me..i have 3 posts pending..lets just say i manage abt 3 posts today( we all know that it almost equivalent to hoping the sun will rise from the west tomorrow )..but lets just consider that for argument sake..
so will my action make it all square or my failure to post at regular intervals still matter..i dont have explicitly state my opinion bcos u probably know it by now..i would love to know ur stand on this...
see u all in a few minutes..hopefully...:)
Monday, August 18, 2008
Old habits die hard!!!
Hi all,
another classic example of an old bad habit refusing to go away. i forgot,probably the 3rd or for the fourth time, to publish a post yesterday. I will try to make up for it by posting one now and another one a few hours from now.
it has been almost been a week since i got my tentative month of joining from Wipro. The whole family scrambled to the computer screen to see what would have been a message that was never expected before October. So when i screamed thru my lungs about the arrival of the email, the rush was more than that of what i anticipated.
I, in my usual style, started scrutinising the email. My mother succumbing to her impatient self skimmed thru and pointed to a word which was in bold and in quotes. My eyes followed her finger movement and found the word or should i say the month "november". I searched in the vicinity for some exact dates but was left disappointed when i realized there was none.
A few minutes later, after going thru the entire mail, it dawned on me that the email had just provided a tentative moth for joining which was nothing close to our expectations. All our faces suddenly turned long and dull. I cursed Wipro, probably for the ten thousandth time, for delaying our appointment. All the hype and excitement had come crashing down in just seconds and i now i had to wait for another 2 months before i could start thinking of my transisition into the corporate world. Whats worse was that the stated month was tentative and was subject to change. I reverted to my usual word rather dejectedly( which usually means juggling btw playing re-volt, a racing game, and surfing the internet aimlessly)
A few days after the arrival of the email i realized that i was rather lucky,comparatively. The rest of the enginnerring college students who have been place in wipro had received their tentative month of joining as jan 09 and in some extreme cases march 09. I heaved a sigh of relief that mine wasn't that late.
ok guys thats all for now...
another classic example of an old bad habit refusing to go away. i forgot,probably the 3rd or for the fourth time, to publish a post yesterday. I will try to make up for it by posting one now and another one a few hours from now.
it has been almost been a week since i got my tentative month of joining from Wipro. The whole family scrambled to the computer screen to see what would have been a message that was never expected before October. So when i screamed thru my lungs about the arrival of the email, the rush was more than that of what i anticipated.
I, in my usual style, started scrutinising the email. My mother succumbing to her impatient self skimmed thru and pointed to a word which was in bold and in quotes. My eyes followed her finger movement and found the word or should i say the month "november". I searched in the vicinity for some exact dates but was left disappointed when i realized there was none.
A few minutes later, after going thru the entire mail, it dawned on me that the email had just provided a tentative moth for joining which was nothing close to our expectations. All our faces suddenly turned long and dull. I cursed Wipro, probably for the ten thousandth time, for delaying our appointment. All the hype and excitement had come crashing down in just seconds and i now i had to wait for another 2 months before i could start thinking of my transisition into the corporate world. Whats worse was that the stated month was tentative and was subject to change. I reverted to my usual word rather dejectedly( which usually means juggling btw playing re-volt, a racing game, and surfing the internet aimlessly)
A few days after the arrival of the email i realized that i was rather lucky,comparatively. The rest of the enginnerring college students who have been place in wipro had received their tentative month of joining as jan 09 and in some extreme cases march 09. I heaved a sigh of relief that mine wasn't that late.
ok guys thats all for now...
Saturday, August 16, 2008
China...perfect olympics..?
hi all,
China had promised that it would provide a green,hi tech Olympics that the world has never seen. That statement was never taken lightly by the IOC, or the international community for that matter, bcos it came from where it came from and we all very well know that the chinese will go any length to keep their word.
Critics were made to bite their own words upon seeing the controls China brought in to the run up to the Olympics and the opening ceremony was just awe inspiring.
or was it?
A Chinese official has gone on record saying that the fireworks on the opening day was actually prerecorded feed. It was always disclosed that, much to the shock of the entire world, that the singer was actually miming and the beautiful voice was prevented from making an appearance simply bcos she had improper teeth. A couple of days back the Team USA management made its displeasure clear about the alleged underage of the Chinese gymnast girls team. Another controversy that has cropped up is that not all of the representatives of china's 56 cultural groups had carried the flag to the opening ceremony, as the Chinese govt had claimed...
These events have raised a question of whether this olympics is as perfect as China claims. But i read in today's paper about the real and its copy. The article claimed that if the copy is as good as the real, or even better, then does it mater whether we should be presented with the real or the fake. Off course goody goody ppl may argue this is no justification for the cheating. True Enough. Point taken.
One thing is for sure. The world at large will forget these controversial events/ news in just a few days and carry on with life. They will always remember China as a nation that raced ahead with its construction of stadiums so much so that the IOC had asked it cool off a lil to prevent a major embarrassment to Athens(which was struggling till the last day). China will also be remembered for the marvelous show it put up during the opening ceremony( and probably the closing as well). This olympics will be remembered for how china managed to bring its people together and also how it managed to provide a safe olympics.
NOT
1.for how china managed to use the olympics as a cover to crush dissent regardless of whether it sabotaged the olympics or not..
2. for how china managed to reassert its claim over tibet
3. for conducting labour camps with no regard to human rights
So ppl wake up and feel the real world...what matters is the end product...
China had promised that it would provide a green,hi tech Olympics that the world has never seen. That statement was never taken lightly by the IOC, or the international community for that matter, bcos it came from where it came from and we all very well know that the chinese will go any length to keep their word.
Critics were made to bite their own words upon seeing the controls China brought in to the run up to the Olympics and the opening ceremony was just awe inspiring.
or was it?
A Chinese official has gone on record saying that the fireworks on the opening day was actually prerecorded feed. It was always disclosed that, much to the shock of the entire world, that the singer was actually miming and the beautiful voice was prevented from making an appearance simply bcos she had improper teeth. A couple of days back the Team USA management made its displeasure clear about the alleged underage of the Chinese gymnast girls team. Another controversy that has cropped up is that not all of the representatives of china's 56 cultural groups had carried the flag to the opening ceremony, as the Chinese govt had claimed...
These events have raised a question of whether this olympics is as perfect as China claims. But i read in today's paper about the real and its copy. The article claimed that if the copy is as good as the real, or even better, then does it mater whether we should be presented with the real or the fake. Off course goody goody ppl may argue this is no justification for the cheating. True Enough. Point taken.
One thing is for sure. The world at large will forget these controversial events/ news in just a few days and carry on with life. They will always remember China as a nation that raced ahead with its construction of stadiums so much so that the IOC had asked it cool off a lil to prevent a major embarrassment to Athens(which was struggling till the last day). China will also be remembered for the marvelous show it put up during the opening ceremony( and probably the closing as well). This olympics will be remembered for how china managed to bring its people together and also how it managed to provide a safe olympics.
NOT
1.for how china managed to use the olympics as a cover to crush dissent regardless of whether it sabotaged the olympics or not..
2. for how china managed to reassert its claim over tibet
3. for conducting labour camps with no regard to human rights
So ppl wake up and feel the real world...what matters is the end product...
Friday, August 15, 2008
As promised...)
Hi All,
i am back as i promised yesterday..though i have no idea what to write today..hmmmm..how abt independence since we are celebrating India's 62nd independence day today....
independence..a very subjective word...to a child it means the ability to scatter away from the books and rush to that neighbourhood playground and drain himself of all the energy he had. to a teenager it means the freedom to socialize with who he wants, do the things that he desires rather than what his wards wish for him, to a house wife it means autonomy from her husband, to a husband it means freedom from his nagging wife....
but the common denominator in all the above mentioned scenarios is that the individual in question feels happy or should i say elated...and this is the very essence of independence...it empowers,emboldens,excites,delights the individual experiencing it. its probably a feeling that has to be experienced rather than narrated!!!( which goes against the cause of this very blog and blogging in general..haha)
now let me indulge in some soul searching and tell u what independence means to me.. to free myself of financial dependence on my parents[read to have the liberty to spend the way i like...:)], to face challenges in life using my own ability rather than incessant inputs from my parents, to walk around as a ADULT free from the shadows of elders and the list goes on...
in retrospect, the above may sound as a wishlist..but i guess to me its all the same..
see u all tomm.
i am back as i promised yesterday..though i have no idea what to write today..hmmmm..how abt independence since we are celebrating India's 62nd independence day today....
independence..a very subjective word...to a child it means the ability to scatter away from the books and rush to that neighbourhood playground and drain himself of all the energy he had. to a teenager it means the freedom to socialize with who he wants, do the things that he desires rather than what his wards wish for him, to a house wife it means autonomy from her husband, to a husband it means freedom from his nagging wife....
but the common denominator in all the above mentioned scenarios is that the individual in question feels happy or should i say elated...and this is the very essence of independence...it empowers,emboldens,excites,delights the individual experiencing it. its probably a feeling that has to be experienced rather than narrated!!!( which goes against the cause of this very blog and blogging in general..haha)
now let me indulge in some soul searching and tell u what independence means to me.. to free myself of financial dependence on my parents[read to have the liberty to spend the way i like...:)], to face challenges in life using my own ability rather than incessant inputs from my parents, to walk around as a ADULT free from the shadows of elders and the list goes on...
in retrospect, the above may sound as a wishlist..but i guess to me its all the same..
see u all tomm.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Giving procastination a whole new meaning...:)
Hi all,
I am back and probably by now u would have realized that i am one of the most irregular and erratic bloggers the blogging world has ever witnessed. Some how i seem to want to post something everyday but someone/something comes in the way of this noble pursuit...but make no mistake about..my absence of daily posts does not in anyway mean that i am busy and occupied with more valuable tasks...NO I AM NOT BUSY AND I AM TOTALLY JOBLESS THESE DAYS....:)
Reg the post i promised about the solutions to terrorism in India, i decided that the solutions were pretty much obvious and could be derived by the reader simply by the reading the post and did not warrant a new post on its own( or u could take this as a reason i utilized to procrastinate and further the cause of my laziness..i don't mind...)
Bye for now
I am back and probably by now u would have realized that i am one of the most irregular and erratic bloggers the blogging world has ever witnessed. Some how i seem to want to post something everyday but someone/something comes in the way of this noble pursuit...but make no mistake about..my absence of daily posts does not in anyway mean that i am busy and occupied with more valuable tasks...NO I AM NOT BUSY AND I AM TOTALLY JOBLESS THESE DAYS....:)
Reg the post i promised about the solutions to terrorism in India, i decided that the solutions were pretty much obvious and could be derived by the reader simply by the reading the post and did not warrant a new post on its own( or u could take this as a reason i utilized to procrastinate and further the cause of my laziness..i don't mind...)
Bye for now
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Olympics: JUST a sporting event?
Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger)
Though the Games have been a quadrennial event that were supposedly said to bring nations together, which would have been other bickering about land, resources etc, it is an undeniable fact that the Games are more than just about jellying nations (and consequently their peoples). In the course of this write-up I will try to explore the political interference that reared its evil face over the history of Olympics
The political interference in Games has been, unfortunately, as old as the modern Games themselves. In 1936, Hitler used the Games for showcasing Germany as modern nation capable of constructing colossal stadiums and providing the corresponding logistics to match. The rather infamous Nazi salute featured in the Olympics too. The Games were close to being boycotted by the Americans due to the overt anti-Jewish stance of the then Nazi government. In 1972, another political drama played out but only that this it was in Munich. Palestinian militants abducted Israeli athletes and then killed them for avenging the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Later on in 1980, when cold war was at its peak, the Games were held in Moscow. The Americans boycotted the event simply due to the venue of the Games. The Soviets returned the favour in 1984 when the Games were held in Los Angeles in 1984.
The games since then have been free of controversies and political statements, barring some minor incidents, ever since. But the Beijing Olympics brought us back to the days that we thought were history. China’s rigid stand on Tibet as an integral part of China has been a sticking point with many countries esp. the Western ones which feel sympathetic to the Tibetan cause. Couple this with poor human rights track record of China and bingo we have yet another global sporting event that was potentially to be swallowed up political diktat.
Tibetan cause came to the fore when Tibetan monks went on a rampage earlier this year. World nations went into a huddle and revived their call for Tibetan independence. Some even threatened a boycott along the lines of the Moscow and LA games if China tried to use disproportionate force to quell the protest. The torch relay for the Beijing Games was not spared either. Tibetan activists made their presence felt when the torch went around the world, a usual ritual organised by the host nation and the IOC. In some cases the Olympic flame was extinguished, an incident that is considered to be an insult to the host nation in this case China. Tibetan activists managed to lodge their protests right in the Chinese capital as well by hoisting the Tibetan flag at Tiananmen Square. On his the part, the Dalai Lama has said that he never opposed China hosting the Olympics and that in fact China deserved to host the reputed event. He has asked his supporters to refrain from violence in any form. China, on expected lines, condemned the protest but never found fault with the nations for not providing fool proof security for the torch relay. Beijing probably didn’t want to bite more than it can chew!
Though the Games have been a quadrennial event that were supposedly said to bring nations together, which would have been other bickering about land, resources etc, it is an undeniable fact that the Games are more than just about jellying nations (and consequently their peoples). In the course of this write-up I will try to explore the political interference that reared its evil face over the history of Olympics
The political interference in Games has been, unfortunately, as old as the modern Games themselves. In 1936, Hitler used the Games for showcasing Germany as modern nation capable of constructing colossal stadiums and providing the corresponding logistics to match. The rather infamous Nazi salute featured in the Olympics too. The Games were close to being boycotted by the Americans due to the overt anti-Jewish stance of the then Nazi government. In 1972, another political drama played out but only that this it was in Munich. Palestinian militants abducted Israeli athletes and then killed them for avenging the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Later on in 1980, when cold war was at its peak, the Games were held in Moscow. The Americans boycotted the event simply due to the venue of the Games. The Soviets returned the favour in 1984 when the Games were held in Los Angeles in 1984.
The games since then have been free of controversies and political statements, barring some minor incidents, ever since. But the Beijing Olympics brought us back to the days that we thought were history. China’s rigid stand on Tibet as an integral part of China has been a sticking point with many countries esp. the Western ones which feel sympathetic to the Tibetan cause. Couple this with poor human rights track record of China and bingo we have yet another global sporting event that was potentially to be swallowed up political diktat.
Tibetan cause came to the fore when Tibetan monks went on a rampage earlier this year. World nations went into a huddle and revived their call for Tibetan independence. Some even threatened a boycott along the lines of the Moscow and LA games if China tried to use disproportionate force to quell the protest. The torch relay for the Beijing Games was not spared either. Tibetan activists made their presence felt when the torch went around the world, a usual ritual organised by the host nation and the IOC. In some cases the Olympic flame was extinguished, an incident that is considered to be an insult to the host nation in this case China. Tibetan activists managed to lodge their protests right in the Chinese capital as well by hoisting the Tibetan flag at Tiananmen Square. On his the part, the Dalai Lama has said that he never opposed China hosting the Olympics and that in fact China deserved to host the reputed event. He has asked his supporters to refrain from violence in any form. China, on expected lines, condemned the protest but never found fault with the nations for not providing fool proof security for the torch relay. Beijing probably didn’t want to bite more than it can chew!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
India: A soft target for terrorist?
The recent string of bomb blasts has raised some serious questions. Has India become an easy prey for terrorists? Are we as a country become too numb to terrorism?
The answer to these questions seems obvious and it is a big fat YES! India has become a terrorist’s hotbed with terror activity increasingly exponentially over the years. Over the course of this discourse I will try to elaborate my views on the problem.( The corresponding solutions will be posted in my next post)
1. Law Enforcement Agencies
A. Ill Equipped
Let’s be honest with ourselves and stop the barrage of attempts to lionise of our police force or even the CBI for that matter. Our agencies are one of the most impotent forces in the world. From weapons to technology to connectivity, name it and u will be able to find fault with our agencies. Modernisation, too, has been on the back burner for quite some time now and has only aggravated the troubles of the already badly armed agencies.
B. Corrupt and Demoralized
Corruption has been a never ending problem that our agencies have been facing for time immemorial. Even our top officers have a price tag and it goes without saying that those at the lower rung do fancy their chance of striking gold by looking the other way when it matters the most. Motivation seems to be in dire need in our agencies. Lack of enthusiasm in our agencies stem from facts like a below par leadership, negative perception at workplace and the likes.
C. Lack of coordination
India was split of linguistic lines and that division hasn’t seem to go away even a wee bit. Coordination of law enforcement agencies between various states is still pathetically low. Why hasn’t it dawned on them that they are fighting an enemy who has links across states and even countries and that the least they should to do is effectively coordinate with their counterparts in other states in more ways than one.
D. Political patronage
It is a known fact that law enforcement agencies have become a tool for political vendetta. The interference levels of the ruling party/alliance has reached intolerable levels that these agencies have by proxy become the nodal points for implementation of these parties political designs. How many times have we seen that the entire police force in our states being turned upside down when a new political is sworn into power. There have also been innumerable numbers of times when federal agencies, like the CBI, have been used for witch hunting to “take care” of the prime opposition party or the political rivals of allied parties. So it is clear that these agencies are fully occupied with “tasks” given by their political masters and have little time, energy or resource which can be dedicated for combating terror.
E. Questionable Practices
Witness harassment has been a mainstay in our agencies and this has been a major stumbling block in the general public coming forward and assisting these agencies in their investigations. Lack of a clear witness protection policy also plays in the minds of witnesses when contemplating providing help to these agencies. Our agencies have been accused with another shady practice, that of unjustified arrests. Under pressure from various quarters, our agencies make arrests that are usually totally unrelated to the case. A classic example I could point out off hand would be the detention of hundreds of Muslim youth after the Hyderabad blasts. This not only lowers the image of these agencies but more importantly gives ample reason for terrorists to further propagate their devious means.
2. Leadership
A. Lack of political will
Our leaders have been always unwilling to bring issues relating to terrorism to the common man. They fear that people will perceive this is a sign of weakness of the government and hence they might lose popular appeal. A school of thought also pervades in our political class that anti-terrorism laws/ discussion is against a specific society (read Muslims). Appeasement policies aren’t helping the cause either and in fact might be working against it. If certain section of society needs to be told off, then it must be told off. No point in trying to be nicey nice.
3. The General Public
A. Apathy
Our general public is too caught up with its own bread and butter issues that it barely has the time or willingness to confront the problem of terrorism. I guess they can’t be blamed or their apathy because one’s own problems are as important as national ones. Moreover, the general public has become too numb to these terrorist as they we hear about terrorists practically everyday in the news.
B. Lack of confidence in the system
The inordinate delay (it takes almost a decade for reaching closure in criminal cases) in criminal cases has simply eroded the confidence people had on the legal system. This combined with corrupt law enforcement officers have totally repelled away the general public from even remotely participating in important cases.
The answer to these questions seems obvious and it is a big fat YES! India has become a terrorist’s hotbed with terror activity increasingly exponentially over the years. Over the course of this discourse I will try to elaborate my views on the problem.( The corresponding solutions will be posted in my next post)
1. Law Enforcement Agencies
A. Ill Equipped
Let’s be honest with ourselves and stop the barrage of attempts to lionise of our police force or even the CBI for that matter. Our agencies are one of the most impotent forces in the world. From weapons to technology to connectivity, name it and u will be able to find fault with our agencies. Modernisation, too, has been on the back burner for quite some time now and has only aggravated the troubles of the already badly armed agencies.
B. Corrupt and Demoralized
Corruption has been a never ending problem that our agencies have been facing for time immemorial. Even our top officers have a price tag and it goes without saying that those at the lower rung do fancy their chance of striking gold by looking the other way when it matters the most. Motivation seems to be in dire need in our agencies. Lack of enthusiasm in our agencies stem from facts like a below par leadership, negative perception at workplace and the likes.
C. Lack of coordination
India was split of linguistic lines and that division hasn’t seem to go away even a wee bit. Coordination of law enforcement agencies between various states is still pathetically low. Why hasn’t it dawned on them that they are fighting an enemy who has links across states and even countries and that the least they should to do is effectively coordinate with their counterparts in other states in more ways than one.
D. Political patronage
It is a known fact that law enforcement agencies have become a tool for political vendetta. The interference levels of the ruling party/alliance has reached intolerable levels that these agencies have by proxy become the nodal points for implementation of these parties political designs. How many times have we seen that the entire police force in our states being turned upside down when a new political is sworn into power. There have also been innumerable numbers of times when federal agencies, like the CBI, have been used for witch hunting to “take care” of the prime opposition party or the political rivals of allied parties. So it is clear that these agencies are fully occupied with “tasks” given by their political masters and have little time, energy or resource which can be dedicated for combating terror.
E. Questionable Practices
Witness harassment has been a mainstay in our agencies and this has been a major stumbling block in the general public coming forward and assisting these agencies in their investigations. Lack of a clear witness protection policy also plays in the minds of witnesses when contemplating providing help to these agencies. Our agencies have been accused with another shady practice, that of unjustified arrests. Under pressure from various quarters, our agencies make arrests that are usually totally unrelated to the case. A classic example I could point out off hand would be the detention of hundreds of Muslim youth after the Hyderabad blasts. This not only lowers the image of these agencies but more importantly gives ample reason for terrorists to further propagate their devious means.
2. Leadership
A. Lack of political will
Our leaders have been always unwilling to bring issues relating to terrorism to the common man. They fear that people will perceive this is a sign of weakness of the government and hence they might lose popular appeal. A school of thought also pervades in our political class that anti-terrorism laws/ discussion is against a specific society (read Muslims). Appeasement policies aren’t helping the cause either and in fact might be working against it. If certain section of society needs to be told off, then it must be told off. No point in trying to be nicey nice.
3. The General Public
A. Apathy
Our general public is too caught up with its own bread and butter issues that it barely has the time or willingness to confront the problem of terrorism. I guess they can’t be blamed or their apathy because one’s own problems are as important as national ones. Moreover, the general public has become too numb to these terrorist as they we hear about terrorists practically everyday in the news.
B. Lack of confidence in the system
The inordinate delay (it takes almost a decade for reaching closure in criminal cases) in criminal cases has simply eroded the confidence people had on the legal system. This combined with corrupt law enforcement officers have totally repelled away the general public from even remotely participating in important cases.
Convocation
A day to remember and to forget!
The day was July 19th 2008. A day I had been anxiously been waiting for. A day that I wished would be etched in my memory for the rest of my life. I turned out to be just that but for reasons not entirely pleasant.
I had a bad start for the day and my perennial habit of waking up late struck yet again and it never hurt like it did on that day. (And this too after persistent tries from my mother to some how wake me up) Squinting my right eye to see what the time was, from my mobile phone, was enough to send a sliver of shock down my spine. The display showed 9.20 am. I sat up as if I was a told to do so by some external force. My mind suddenly turned hazy apparently in jolt that I had received from waking up late. Thankfully having faced these situations before came in handy and I planned, or should I say played, out my moves in mind. Take a quick bath, skip breakfast and beg my father to drop me in a Pal Pannai (a bus stop on the way to college instead of going to the main bus stand.)
The 1st task was easy primarily due to the fact that I never stayed in a bathroom for more than 5 minutes max. There was a moment of humour in the bathroom when my thoughts drifted back to the day before. I had planned to attend driving classes and even visit the hair dresser before proceeding to the convocation ceremony. The 2nd one seemed the right thing to do in a crunch situation and my usually rumbling stomach didn’t complain much for being refused its daily kick start fuel.
The 3rd task was usually the toughest thing to do but given the gravity of the situation my dad gracefully agreed and off I was to Pal Pannai. The ride was a rather bumpy one but I wasn’t complaining one bit because this was the best shot I had to meeting the 12 pm deadline for registration. The Thanjavur destined bus didn’t take too long to come and I scrambled up the foot board in an attempt to secure a seat and found my efforts were probably unwarranted as the bus was eerily empty. It was a Saturday alright and the absence of the working passengers could be excused but where were my fellow graduands. Only then did it strike me that I was not just late but extraordinarily delayed.
Repulsive thoughts coursed through my mind…how some of my seniors were refused to entry to the ceremony hall simply because they didn’t meet the deadline for registration and consequent verbal duel between the wards’ parents and the college administration, how sad my parents will be realizing that I couldn’t graduate not because of not being able to clear my papers but rather due to the fact that I didn’t have the enough discipline to wake up early on the day that mattered the most.
Thankfully those thoughts came crashing down when a couple of equally charged fellow graduands boarded the bus. The most logical thing to do then was to initiate a conversation with them and I did just that. Minutes into our chat, we managed to reach a decent level of comfort and I figured that was probably because we were finding ourselves in the same dire circumstances. SMSs screamed from our mobiles to our respective friends regarding the status of the registration process and contents of the reply SMSs were duly shared.
It was 11.45 am when the bus halted just in front of my college entrance and I sprinted to the registration venue, which was almost 400m away from the spot, like there was no tomorrow. I halted only to hand over my belongings to my friends who were waiting en route.11.55am was the exact time when I had step foot into the registration room. A mere 5 minutes had separated me from being allowed to participate in the gradation ceremony and from my worst fears. The registration did go off smoothly and I came out of the room as if I had achieved something significant in my life.
From then to 4 pm (the time the ceremony was scheduled to begin) was used to catch up with old times, recount experiences of extreme boredom and to put the Digi-Cam of ours to some good work. It wasn’t long before the clock struck 4 and the much clichéd phrase ‘time flies when you are having fun’ suddenly made so much sense. We were made to form rows of four so that we could be led into the ceremony location by none other than our vice chancellor and this was when my second round of misery began.
There was a distinct distinction between the other graduands and me. I didn’t have the compulsory yellow gown that every one else seemed to be sporting. By the time I had registered, the gowns had run out and I was told that if there were any extras then they would be provided to me. I had to beg borrow or steal a gown some how before I would be allowed to get onto the stage and receive my degree. My pursuit of a gown did turn out to be harder than I had anticipated. None of my friends were willing to lend me their gown, even after my relentless pestering. A slew of suggestions came in from all corners and one of them did sound enticing enough to try out. Since the degrees were awarded department wise, my other department friends could afford to lend me their gowns. As if by default, I messaged Balaji (my all weather friend) and he generously consented. I heaved a sigh of relief as yet another hurdle was crossed.
The ceremony began on a rather hostile note with organisers persuading parents, who had occupied the seats that were reserved for the graduands, to move out of their seats which effectively meant that the parents had to exit the hall as there was not even an inch of space left inside. The emcee only made matters worse by giving a rather boring elucidation our journey for the past four years, the obstacles we had to overcome and sacrifices we had to make. Frankly not even a soul was listening, even for courtesy sake. But this didn’t seem to even bother the emcee a wee bit and she carried on as if she was on a narrative crusade.
Our department’s turn came after an excruciating 2 hour wait. I was all geared up with the newly received gown and there was a general excitement that pervaded among my clique. My heart skipped a few beats when some degree folders got mixed up placing some of my friends were in a spot of bother and thereby energising my ever pessimistic mind; what if the same happened to me, how would I react, what should I do.
Ramanathan Palaniappan was the call from the micro phone and it was loud enough to bring me back to reality. Pacing a few steps to where the vice chancellor was standing, I extended my hand to him and in stead of a handshake I got a degree folder. I had heard that the vice chancellor was a tireless man and that statement made a lot of sense then as even after a 1000 hand over’s, this man didn’t seem to be objecting at all. I winked to my parents, who were gleefully watching the events unfold from the visitor’s area, as sign of victory or may be even for reaching closure.
A still shot frenzy ensued and we scuttled to get every possible millimetre of space to capture the essence of the ceremony. I had a few shots taken of me and parents. But if u thought it was all over, then u couldn’t be more wrong. I still had to report back to the same place I had registered to receive the refund for not being provided the gown. It was only when I reached the designated room that I realized the enormity of the task. At least 50 people were milling around the refund counter and a hundred more were waiting for their turn. Jostling, pushing, shoving and every other possible related verb was carried out to outmanoeuvre the rest and receive the refund at the earliest. It took nearly a good 30 minutes for me to get back my money and by then I was completely drenched in my own sweat and the life squeezed out of me.
After a couple of drinks to reinvigorate my tired body I boarded the bus back home in the company of Ramanathan, another good friend of mine. Overall the ceremony was one that I would relish for many years to come.
The day was July 19th 2008. A day I had been anxiously been waiting for. A day that I wished would be etched in my memory for the rest of my life. I turned out to be just that but for reasons not entirely pleasant.
I had a bad start for the day and my perennial habit of waking up late struck yet again and it never hurt like it did on that day. (And this too after persistent tries from my mother to some how wake me up) Squinting my right eye to see what the time was, from my mobile phone, was enough to send a sliver of shock down my spine. The display showed 9.20 am. I sat up as if I was a told to do so by some external force. My mind suddenly turned hazy apparently in jolt that I had received from waking up late. Thankfully having faced these situations before came in handy and I planned, or should I say played, out my moves in mind. Take a quick bath, skip breakfast and beg my father to drop me in a Pal Pannai (a bus stop on the way to college instead of going to the main bus stand.)
The 1st task was easy primarily due to the fact that I never stayed in a bathroom for more than 5 minutes max. There was a moment of humour in the bathroom when my thoughts drifted back to the day before. I had planned to attend driving classes and even visit the hair dresser before proceeding to the convocation ceremony. The 2nd one seemed the right thing to do in a crunch situation and my usually rumbling stomach didn’t complain much for being refused its daily kick start fuel.
The 3rd task was usually the toughest thing to do but given the gravity of the situation my dad gracefully agreed and off I was to Pal Pannai. The ride was a rather bumpy one but I wasn’t complaining one bit because this was the best shot I had to meeting the 12 pm deadline for registration. The Thanjavur destined bus didn’t take too long to come and I scrambled up the foot board in an attempt to secure a seat and found my efforts were probably unwarranted as the bus was eerily empty. It was a Saturday alright and the absence of the working passengers could be excused but where were my fellow graduands. Only then did it strike me that I was not just late but extraordinarily delayed.
Repulsive thoughts coursed through my mind…how some of my seniors were refused to entry to the ceremony hall simply because they didn’t meet the deadline for registration and consequent verbal duel between the wards’ parents and the college administration, how sad my parents will be realizing that I couldn’t graduate not because of not being able to clear my papers but rather due to the fact that I didn’t have the enough discipline to wake up early on the day that mattered the most.
Thankfully those thoughts came crashing down when a couple of equally charged fellow graduands boarded the bus. The most logical thing to do then was to initiate a conversation with them and I did just that. Minutes into our chat, we managed to reach a decent level of comfort and I figured that was probably because we were finding ourselves in the same dire circumstances. SMSs screamed from our mobiles to our respective friends regarding the status of the registration process and contents of the reply SMSs were duly shared.
It was 11.45 am when the bus halted just in front of my college entrance and I sprinted to the registration venue, which was almost 400m away from the spot, like there was no tomorrow. I halted only to hand over my belongings to my friends who were waiting en route.11.55am was the exact time when I had step foot into the registration room. A mere 5 minutes had separated me from being allowed to participate in the gradation ceremony and from my worst fears. The registration did go off smoothly and I came out of the room as if I had achieved something significant in my life.
From then to 4 pm (the time the ceremony was scheduled to begin) was used to catch up with old times, recount experiences of extreme boredom and to put the Digi-Cam of ours to some good work. It wasn’t long before the clock struck 4 and the much clichéd phrase ‘time flies when you are having fun’ suddenly made so much sense. We were made to form rows of four so that we could be led into the ceremony location by none other than our vice chancellor and this was when my second round of misery began.
There was a distinct distinction between the other graduands and me. I didn’t have the compulsory yellow gown that every one else seemed to be sporting. By the time I had registered, the gowns had run out and I was told that if there were any extras then they would be provided to me. I had to beg borrow or steal a gown some how before I would be allowed to get onto the stage and receive my degree. My pursuit of a gown did turn out to be harder than I had anticipated. None of my friends were willing to lend me their gown, even after my relentless pestering. A slew of suggestions came in from all corners and one of them did sound enticing enough to try out. Since the degrees were awarded department wise, my other department friends could afford to lend me their gowns. As if by default, I messaged Balaji (my all weather friend) and he generously consented. I heaved a sigh of relief as yet another hurdle was crossed.
The ceremony began on a rather hostile note with organisers persuading parents, who had occupied the seats that were reserved for the graduands, to move out of their seats which effectively meant that the parents had to exit the hall as there was not even an inch of space left inside. The emcee only made matters worse by giving a rather boring elucidation our journey for the past four years, the obstacles we had to overcome and sacrifices we had to make. Frankly not even a soul was listening, even for courtesy sake. But this didn’t seem to even bother the emcee a wee bit and she carried on as if she was on a narrative crusade.
Our department’s turn came after an excruciating 2 hour wait. I was all geared up with the newly received gown and there was a general excitement that pervaded among my clique. My heart skipped a few beats when some degree folders got mixed up placing some of my friends were in a spot of bother and thereby energising my ever pessimistic mind; what if the same happened to me, how would I react, what should I do.
Ramanathan Palaniappan was the call from the micro phone and it was loud enough to bring me back to reality. Pacing a few steps to where the vice chancellor was standing, I extended my hand to him and in stead of a handshake I got a degree folder. I had heard that the vice chancellor was a tireless man and that statement made a lot of sense then as even after a 1000 hand over’s, this man didn’t seem to be objecting at all. I winked to my parents, who were gleefully watching the events unfold from the visitor’s area, as sign of victory or may be even for reaching closure.
A still shot frenzy ensued and we scuttled to get every possible millimetre of space to capture the essence of the ceremony. I had a few shots taken of me and parents. But if u thought it was all over, then u couldn’t be more wrong. I still had to report back to the same place I had registered to receive the refund for not being provided the gown. It was only when I reached the designated room that I realized the enormity of the task. At least 50 people were milling around the refund counter and a hundred more were waiting for their turn. Jostling, pushing, shoving and every other possible related verb was carried out to outmanoeuvre the rest and receive the refund at the earliest. It took nearly a good 30 minutes for me to get back my money and by then I was completely drenched in my own sweat and the life squeezed out of me.
After a couple of drinks to reinvigorate my tired body I boarded the bus back home in the company of Ramanathan, another good friend of mine. Overall the ceremony was one that I would relish for many years to come.
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