(Please understand that the title should be undestood as "Dummies guide to writing matrimonial profiles and NOT writing profiles - for dummies as in profiles for dummies.. or dummies' profile... or ... Gawd, I'm confused!)
On Saturday, Mom asked me to finalize it off! I was on a mission to write my profile for a matrimonial portal. Having no experience whatsoever in these matters, I did the best thing that we engineers always do - check what the seniors have done and copy!
With this noble motive in mind, I logged into the site. Now, I generally searched for the profile of females of the species homo-spaiens. This time, I had to make do with the males since I was one of the tribe. And so, I logged in. What followed was an hour serious studies. Here's a rough guide on how to prepare your profile for a matrimonial portal.
Who should post the profile?
This is a very good question. All good guys, like the good guys of Ekta Kapoor's serials allow the woman in their life to take control. Since they are not married, the good guy will let his parents (meaning dear mummy) handle the job of posting the profile.
(Please note that the real description is provided in brackets to help you identify the correct characteristics)
About myself.
Well, this is a very tough question that baffles the well minded. But, of course not when mummy dear is helping. You should divide this section into multiple parts. The first one is on health and hygiene.
A. Health & Hygiene
Our son is clean and healthy. He has healthy habits. (Meaning, he takes bath whenever there is water supply, if not, he just uses Axe, assuming his pocket money allows him to buy!)
Our son does not smoke. He does not drink. (Holy s****! What does the guy do when he's thirsty? Well, it's not clear!)
B. Looks
He's fair. (as in fairly ugly) OR
He's athletic build (oh yeah, if he is an athlete, Sumo wrestlers are ballerinas!)
Has nice hair (well, here's the last offer - marry in 20 days and watch the last strands of it fall off!)
C. Studies
Our son has always got first rank (oh yeah, did we forget to tell you that the class teacher was my sister's second brother'-in-law's third-cousin's aunty?) He always used to study hard (the piles of Playboy in his room is proof enough). He did his engineering with full heart (look how excited he was in the college photo, of course, his eyes seemed to be crooked and staring at that thin girl, second row, third from left..)
D. Career
Our son is very hard working. He works all the time. (Free net connection at office, lovely ladies in the neighbouring call-centre - free food coupons..)
He got two promotions. (The company sends trucks to hire and having no one else, promotes anyone!) He's at onsite (since others in the team could no bear him, they sent him off to irritate the clients!)
E. Income & Status
He's quite economical. (Have you seen Pushpak where Kamal washes his shirt? If not watch it. That is how *economical* son is.. Scrooge McDuck aka. Uncle Scrooge would look like an angel in front of him..) If he got any more economical, he'd go BPL (below-poverty-line).
About family
We are a happy family. (Oh yeah, except for the occasional gun shots that are heard around the house). We are a nuclear family (and believe me, we are about as radio-active!)
We believe in values. (As in the land value, gold value, stock value and the value add that will come in when daughter in law comes in..)
Father-in-law will be a very quite guy (hic..hic..hic!) Mother in-law is very serene and peaceful. Durga is our home-God. (Note that the last two points are not related.)
About Partner
Well, he's been the partner for almost 30 years now. I can as well speak to the wall than him. Oops, I forgot. This is about my son's partner..
We'd like a girl from a happy family (like ours) with good values ($$) having a good background (golden is preferable). She should be ready to adjust (as in without water since our son does not drink). Horoscope should match perfectly. Or else the marriage will not be happy (what's life without life threatening moments?)
Disclaimer
Please note that the blog is written in a hilarious note - no offence to users of the portals - hell, even I am using one now!
It was fun reading the profiles. I know at the end of day, I am supposed to get married, the traditional style, but, the entire processes and the humongous diplomatic skills is such a pain in the back-side.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Who am I?
Well, this sounds almost like Jackie Chan's question in his movie. And no, I've no been coshed on my head. Actually, this question came up as my Mom was asking me to write a profile for Kanndamatrimonial.com. You see, I am supposed to get hitched. (Not that I mind it, but, the whole process sounds more complicated than the CMMi – Level 5 Processes that we at Cognizant follow).
Think about it. This simple question on “Who am I” is so complicated that I have looked at it for 2 hours with flashes of images passing through the eyes – the schools I've been in, the college, the offices, the appraisals – and yet, it's so tough to tell who you are and what you have been in the past 26 years in about 250 words – that's about 10 words per year.
When I started to think about it, I realized how contradictory my entire persona is! I seem to be almost out-of-the-box concept! I was not born in any one place, I was not affiliated any one language, I don't crave for any one kind of food nor do I have a complete passion for only one subject / hobby. At times, it is nice. I never seem to have time since I am perusing so many hobbies. Yet, at times, I feel like an out cast in a world filled with appraisal haunted, salary-obsessed and politically minded IT janta. No, I am cribbing here, it's just that I never seem to fit-in to any sort of group or stereotype. It's almost like life has been a sense of contradiction – a sort of an experience of neither being here nor being there...
Is it just me or is are there some others too? It's almost like multiple people crumpled and stuffed into one body! Just a passing thought..
Think about it. This simple question on “Who am I” is so complicated that I have looked at it for 2 hours with flashes of images passing through the eyes – the schools I've been in, the college, the offices, the appraisals – and yet, it's so tough to tell who you are and what you have been in the past 26 years in about 250 words – that's about 10 words per year.
When I started to think about it, I realized how contradictory my entire persona is! I seem to be almost out-of-the-box concept! I was not born in any one place, I was not affiliated any one language, I don't crave for any one kind of food nor do I have a complete passion for only one subject / hobby. At times, it is nice. I never seem to have time since I am perusing so many hobbies. Yet, at times, I feel like an out cast in a world filled with appraisal haunted, salary-obsessed and politically minded IT janta. No, I am cribbing here, it's just that I never seem to fit-in to any sort of group or stereotype. It's almost like life has been a sense of contradiction – a sort of an experience of neither being here nor being there...
Is it just me or is are there some others too? It's almost like multiple people crumpled and stuffed into one body! Just a passing thought..
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Wedding Woes
No, no, no... Please do not get confused that this blog is about a harassed, hysterical, hypochindriacal husband. NO! This blog is about the wily relatives and the innumerable Machiavellian Uncles and Aunts who plot ruthlessly with rather sinister minds on how to get the other unsuspecting free birds into the caged institution of marriage!
(Before proceeding, some disclaimers:
• If my mom is reading it, “Mom, I am not against marriage.. you can continue your girl hunt!”
• If my uncles and aunts are reading it, “Why on earth are you reading my blogs? Please go out there and find some eligible bachelors and spinsters!”)
• Some of the thoughts are suitable for mature audience. So if you don’t consider mature enough, then please get of here!
• I respect elders. This blog is for humor only. So, please don’t consider that I am horribly ill-mannered, irritating, iconoclastic nut-case.
The background to this post is the chat that I had with my cousin yesterday. You see, she is a trained Bhratnatyam Dancer – and a really good one too. In the invitees list were her class-mates, the other dancers.. I attended her marriage after a very long gap. The previous marriage I had attended was when I was in 7th standard – so I was way below the radar of the potent preying eyes of uncles and (mostly) aunts. Uncles are generally a good breed. Introduce a nice topic like cricket or politics and they’ll forget about the other unimportant artefacts of life.
So, coming back to the wedding, what happened was this. Since I was being seen by my relatives and relatives’ relatives after a long time (about 10 years to be precise), it was a painful process of recognition. It would go something like this:
“Aiyyo! Who are you?”
(Well, I ain’t no gate crasher!) “Aunty, nanu Raji maga” (Aunty, I am Raji’s son)
“Ooh howda!” (Oooh is it?) “Last time I saw you, you were this high!” The hands will be dangling something like 38.75 cms above the ground level. Please don’t ask me how I got the precise measure. It is like the estimation of projects that we do – a lot of research with a final touch of gut feel.
Anyway, so coming back. The next set of question follows:
“So, what are you doing?”
Actually, I am not doing anything, since you are taking up my time!
“Aunty, I work in Cognizant”
“OOOhhh. Why? Did you not get a job in Wipro, Satyam, TCS or Infy?”
Aunty thought process: If you don’t work in the companies above, you must have been one loser!
“So where do you work?”
“Hyderabad”
“So you know cooking?”
“Yes”
“What do you cook?”
So there I am being interrogated by this toothless aunt, wearing about a ton of gold jewels while this stunning sexy nubile girl walks past us. Her scent takes my breath away, but, the aunt is in no mood to relent.
There is a deluge of questions on my culinary skills next. In olden days, us guys were not supposed to know cooking. In the modern times, it is better or else, you’ll have to shell out crores dough on your wife’s calls to her mom, every time she attempts to create an article of viand suitable for (mostly dogs and) husbands.
Anyway, so, there I am stuck with this bald-uncle looking down upon me and an aunt questioning me about my cooking habits while there is a group of this sexy ladies all flirting around. What a life!
So, once this interrogation is done, the aunt’s database is updated. I am now on the list. Next time she meets someone, she’ll start with, “Oh you know so and so’s son? He is so good!” Well, in 5 minutes how did you know I am good? Or bad for that matter?
Now that my mom is into the mode of girl-hunting, she’s coming in contact with more and more aunts and the pedestrian statements. The most heard statement being,: “You know this girl? She is so beautiful. I think she is the ideal match” Strangely, every girl will be really beautiful and everyone will be ideal. When the photo does arrive, it is entirely another matter that most of the times, my mom will look younger than the girl in question. (Mom, it is not derogatory, think of it as a cynical compliment!)
The biggest mystery in life with this is, how is it these white-haired, barrel-sized, bull-dozer mannered aunts and uncles get to see all the beauties? When we guys struggle with traffic, brave the heat, perform such great sacrifices like shaving on a Saturday and going to places like Imax and still fail in spotting beauties then how is it that this really irritating, interrogative aunt’s get to meet the beauties? Either we guys don’t know where to look or someone’s lying! I think it is one of those questions that should come on the Conspiracy Files on BBC or should be the next topic of a Dan Brown novel. Maybe, he can call it as Angels and Aunties! (Please note the transcription of Angels and Demons to Angels and Aunties is a pure coincidence. No harm intended whatsoever! Muhuhahahaha! )
And so, on this day in the wedding, I somehow get over one round of interrogation when some other relative catches you and the deluge of questions follow. And the girls around move away.. and I am stuck explaining about why I am still (rather still was in) India even after having been working for 2 years...
(Before proceeding, some disclaimers:
• If my mom is reading it, “Mom, I am not against marriage.. you can continue your girl hunt!”
• If my uncles and aunts are reading it, “Why on earth are you reading my blogs? Please go out there and find some eligible bachelors and spinsters!”)
• Some of the thoughts are suitable for mature audience. So if you don’t consider mature enough, then please get of here!
• I respect elders. This blog is for humor only. So, please don’t consider that I am horribly ill-mannered, irritating, iconoclastic nut-case.
The background to this post is the chat that I had with my cousin yesterday. You see, she is a trained Bhratnatyam Dancer – and a really good one too. In the invitees list were her class-mates, the other dancers.. I attended her marriage after a very long gap. The previous marriage I had attended was when I was in 7th standard – so I was way below the radar of the potent preying eyes of uncles and (mostly) aunts. Uncles are generally a good breed. Introduce a nice topic like cricket or politics and they’ll forget about the other unimportant artefacts of life.
So, coming back to the wedding, what happened was this. Since I was being seen by my relatives and relatives’ relatives after a long time (about 10 years to be precise), it was a painful process of recognition. It would go something like this:
“Aiyyo! Who are you?”
(Well, I ain’t no gate crasher!) “Aunty, nanu Raji maga” (Aunty, I am Raji’s son)
“Ooh howda!” (Oooh is it?) “Last time I saw you, you were this high!” The hands will be dangling something like 38.75 cms above the ground level. Please don’t ask me how I got the precise measure. It is like the estimation of projects that we do – a lot of research with a final touch of gut feel.
Anyway, so coming back. The next set of question follows:
“So, what are you doing?”
Actually, I am not doing anything, since you are taking up my time!
“Aunty, I work in Cognizant”
“OOOhhh. Why? Did you not get a job in Wipro, Satyam, TCS or Infy?”
Aunty thought process: If you don’t work in the companies above, you must have been one loser!
“So where do you work?”
“Hyderabad”
“So you know cooking?”
“Yes”
“What do you cook?”
So there I am being interrogated by this toothless aunt, wearing about a ton of gold jewels while this stunning sexy nubile girl walks past us. Her scent takes my breath away, but, the aunt is in no mood to relent.
There is a deluge of questions on my culinary skills next. In olden days, us guys were not supposed to know cooking. In the modern times, it is better or else, you’ll have to shell out crores dough on your wife’s calls to her mom, every time she attempts to create an article of viand suitable for (mostly dogs and) husbands.
Anyway, so, there I am stuck with this bald-uncle looking down upon me and an aunt questioning me about my cooking habits while there is a group of this sexy ladies all flirting around. What a life!
So, once this interrogation is done, the aunt’s database is updated. I am now on the list. Next time she meets someone, she’ll start with, “Oh you know so and so’s son? He is so good!” Well, in 5 minutes how did you know I am good? Or bad for that matter?
Now that my mom is into the mode of girl-hunting, she’s coming in contact with more and more aunts and the pedestrian statements. The most heard statement being,: “You know this girl? She is so beautiful. I think she is the ideal match” Strangely, every girl will be really beautiful and everyone will be ideal. When the photo does arrive, it is entirely another matter that most of the times, my mom will look younger than the girl in question. (Mom, it is not derogatory, think of it as a cynical compliment!)
The biggest mystery in life with this is, how is it these white-haired, barrel-sized, bull-dozer mannered aunts and uncles get to see all the beauties? When we guys struggle with traffic, brave the heat, perform such great sacrifices like shaving on a Saturday and going to places like Imax and still fail in spotting beauties then how is it that this really irritating, interrogative aunt’s get to meet the beauties? Either we guys don’t know where to look or someone’s lying! I think it is one of those questions that should come on the Conspiracy Files on BBC or should be the next topic of a Dan Brown novel. Maybe, he can call it as Angels and Aunties! (Please note the transcription of Angels and Demons to Angels and Aunties is a pure coincidence. No harm intended whatsoever! Muhuhahahaha! )
And so, on this day in the wedding, I somehow get over one round of interrogation when some other relative catches you and the deluge of questions follow. And the girls around move away.. and I am stuck explaining about why I am still (rather still was in) India even after having been working for 2 years...
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Bheja Fry!
Yesterday night I watched the movie Bheja Fry. It’s an amazing movie about how an idiot can wreck havoc in life – and yet win it back for you with his simplicity and down-to-earth attitude.
What amazed me about the movie was that there were so many things that you can connect with each of us. It was almost like Dil Chahtha Hai where I am sure everyone of could have identified ourselves with the characters.
In one of the scenes in the movie, the main character irritates his co-passenger in a bus. He wants a window seat – it’s just that he likes it that way and when he wants to shift, he falls all over the next person, keeps on singing, does not care about his co-passengers comfort and keeps on irritating him with all the details.
This is so much like real life. I mean, how many times has it happened to you that you are travelling by bus, train, or a shared rickshaw and there is this one character who comes in with a devil-may-care attitude and you are left hapless, helpless with a horrible sense of premonition that the entire journey is going to be one big mess, something that will irritate you the whole day – something that you’ll think about and smile two months down the line!
Well, I used to work in Hyderabad and had to travel home to Pune often and sometimes to Bangalore. During these journeys, I’ve encountered enough of this rather exotic kind of sub-species of homo-sapiens (well, I am not so sure that these creations of God rightly belong to the same species as me, but, let’s keep the argument simple and grudgingly assume it to be true!).
So, there was this female who was travelling in a KSRTC bus from B’lore to Hyderabad. She suddenly gets up and starts to shout at her really dumb-looking passenger. He looks like the type of a guy who would drool at heroines in a movie theatre when the lights were out, but, who’d never utter a squeak in front of a real female. Beside him is this amazon of a woman. If she were the last surviving female on earth, I am sure her temper would have fended off any unfair advances and the species would have gone the way of dinosaurs.
Anyway, coming back to the journey, this female gets up and starts to fight with the conductor. She says that she is a single girl. Girl! Girl! Girl! Girl! (The word resonated multiple times around the bus – think of it like the Ekta Kapoor’s serial where a sexy looking female announces that she’s going to become the ma of a guy who’s strayed from the path of fidelity).. Well, after the initial resonation of her claim to be a girl (My God, I can’t believe she said that – if she were a girl then, Lalita Pawar would be a teen!) had died down, the conductor went to her place. With a mouth full of paan he asked, “En re? Enu problem?” (What madam? What’s the problem?). The girl(??) with a melodious voice that could shatter diamond exclaimed that she was a single, unmarried woman and it was not appropriate for her to sit with some unidentified male beside her during a night journey. “Oh yeah, she’s right,” I thought. “After all, what sort of a demented man would want to spend a night beside such a shrew?”
Well, her question stumped the conductor. I am not sure what shocked him more. Whether it was the girl (huh?) who complained, instead of the guy or if her sudden inappropriateness – after all, she looked like a woman who could fend off the entire battalion of male soldiers, if need be. After a minute’s silence (probably in homage of all the guys who had been slain by her attitude and words, and a moment of silent prayer to get some kind of other-wordly strength), the conductor asked her what he could do. Hmm.. this guys was intelligent. If you can’t think, don’t. Let the problem creator be the problem solver. Good management funda.
So, the amazon-girl replied that she’d like to have a female sitting beside her for the journey or the seat should be left vacant – rather more like, half the remaining seat beside her should either be unoccupied or should be filled up by a timid lady, who was perching on the edge of the seat so that she could get up and run at the first sign of any volcanic activity beside her.
Well, the conductor was now in a big quandary. There were only two other females in the bus – one a mother of a 6-7 year old and the other one looked like a newly married girl, who was cuddling and molly-coddling with her new hubby. He was now in a dharma-sankat – whether to separate a newly-wedded couple or to drag a mother from her son. The conductor approached both the women and both refused. The newly married wanted to be beside her hubby. The mother wanted to be beside her son. So, he went back and reported to the amazon-lady that she had no other choice but to maintain status-quo as there were no other seats free.
The amazon was now in her flow. “How dare you make me sleep beside this guy?” she rhetorically asked. The guy had shrunk to a state of a miserable vermin that was about to be trapped and beaten! The conductor was growing deperate too. He went out and spit the paan. I am sure it was quite symbolic. But, this did not help him resolve the problem. The lady was still on her feet and refusing to let the bus move. Just when he was about to give up, our hero beside the amazon-lady, in a sudden sense of intelligence went to the mother of the kid and pleaded with her. Ostensibly, he’d probably have said that the choice was between reaching Hyderabad or not reaching Hyderabad at all. Anyway, there was a short interchange and finally, the mother left her son and exchanged her seat. The guy seemed to be so relieved that he treated the kid as his own son – he left the kid sleep side-ways. The kid, apparently, a football player in the making spared no efforts to try out free-kicks in his dreams. Despite this, our hero spent a happy time, and stared out at the vacant earth on the dark night. He had a small smile on his face. I am sure, it would have been the most heroic thing he could have done. After all, he’d saved our damsel (as it were) in distress.
As to our amazon, she thundered and rumbled at the ineptitude of the bus system and finally sat down. The bus started to move and the sill Govinda-Khadar Kahn movie resumed. Every body tried to watch it with keen interest as they were worried that any surreptitious glance at our damsel would be misconstrued as an act of filrtation and she’d send the disgraceful male to a state of perdition and probably make him sit in the luggage compartment.
And so, the journey contined….
Well, this was just one of the best instance of a passenger coming with a devil may care attitude. There are many others that I’ve probably written elsewhere. But, the movie sort of rekindled my thoughts over these past episodes. I am sure that it is not the end of it. Every time I go on a long journey, I end up having some such experience. Not sure if it is just me or if everyone of you too face similar issues… Maybe, God likes my blogs and wants me to experience it all and blog about it! :)
What amazed me about the movie was that there were so many things that you can connect with each of us. It was almost like Dil Chahtha Hai where I am sure everyone of could have identified ourselves with the characters.
In one of the scenes in the movie, the main character irritates his co-passenger in a bus. He wants a window seat – it’s just that he likes it that way and when he wants to shift, he falls all over the next person, keeps on singing, does not care about his co-passengers comfort and keeps on irritating him with all the details.
This is so much like real life. I mean, how many times has it happened to you that you are travelling by bus, train, or a shared rickshaw and there is this one character who comes in with a devil-may-care attitude and you are left hapless, helpless with a horrible sense of premonition that the entire journey is going to be one big mess, something that will irritate you the whole day – something that you’ll think about and smile two months down the line!
Well, I used to work in Hyderabad and had to travel home to Pune often and sometimes to Bangalore. During these journeys, I’ve encountered enough of this rather exotic kind of sub-species of homo-sapiens (well, I am not so sure that these creations of God rightly belong to the same species as me, but, let’s keep the argument simple and grudgingly assume it to be true!).
So, there was this female who was travelling in a KSRTC bus from B’lore to Hyderabad. She suddenly gets up and starts to shout at her really dumb-looking passenger. He looks like the type of a guy who would drool at heroines in a movie theatre when the lights were out, but, who’d never utter a squeak in front of a real female. Beside him is this amazon of a woman. If she were the last surviving female on earth, I am sure her temper would have fended off any unfair advances and the species would have gone the way of dinosaurs.
Anyway, coming back to the journey, this female gets up and starts to fight with the conductor. She says that she is a single girl. Girl! Girl! Girl! Girl! (The word resonated multiple times around the bus – think of it like the Ekta Kapoor’s serial where a sexy looking female announces that she’s going to become the ma of a guy who’s strayed from the path of fidelity).. Well, after the initial resonation of her claim to be a girl (My God, I can’t believe she said that – if she were a girl then, Lalita Pawar would be a teen!) had died down, the conductor went to her place. With a mouth full of paan he asked, “En re? Enu problem?” (What madam? What’s the problem?). The girl(??) with a melodious voice that could shatter diamond exclaimed that she was a single, unmarried woman and it was not appropriate for her to sit with some unidentified male beside her during a night journey. “Oh yeah, she’s right,” I thought. “After all, what sort of a demented man would want to spend a night beside such a shrew?”
Well, her question stumped the conductor. I am not sure what shocked him more. Whether it was the girl (huh?) who complained, instead of the guy or if her sudden inappropriateness – after all, she looked like a woman who could fend off the entire battalion of male soldiers, if need be. After a minute’s silence (probably in homage of all the guys who had been slain by her attitude and words, and a moment of silent prayer to get some kind of other-wordly strength), the conductor asked her what he could do. Hmm.. this guys was intelligent. If you can’t think, don’t. Let the problem creator be the problem solver. Good management funda.
So, the amazon-girl replied that she’d like to have a female sitting beside her for the journey or the seat should be left vacant – rather more like, half the remaining seat beside her should either be unoccupied or should be filled up by a timid lady, who was perching on the edge of the seat so that she could get up and run at the first sign of any volcanic activity beside her.
Well, the conductor was now in a big quandary. There were only two other females in the bus – one a mother of a 6-7 year old and the other one looked like a newly married girl, who was cuddling and molly-coddling with her new hubby. He was now in a dharma-sankat – whether to separate a newly-wedded couple or to drag a mother from her son. The conductor approached both the women and both refused. The newly married wanted to be beside her hubby. The mother wanted to be beside her son. So, he went back and reported to the amazon-lady that she had no other choice but to maintain status-quo as there were no other seats free.
The amazon was now in her flow. “How dare you make me sleep beside this guy?” she rhetorically asked. The guy had shrunk to a state of a miserable vermin that was about to be trapped and beaten! The conductor was growing deperate too. He went out and spit the paan. I am sure it was quite symbolic. But, this did not help him resolve the problem. The lady was still on her feet and refusing to let the bus move. Just when he was about to give up, our hero beside the amazon-lady, in a sudden sense of intelligence went to the mother of the kid and pleaded with her. Ostensibly, he’d probably have said that the choice was between reaching Hyderabad or not reaching Hyderabad at all. Anyway, there was a short interchange and finally, the mother left her son and exchanged her seat. The guy seemed to be so relieved that he treated the kid as his own son – he left the kid sleep side-ways. The kid, apparently, a football player in the making spared no efforts to try out free-kicks in his dreams. Despite this, our hero spent a happy time, and stared out at the vacant earth on the dark night. He had a small smile on his face. I am sure, it would have been the most heroic thing he could have done. After all, he’d saved our damsel (as it were) in distress.
As to our amazon, she thundered and rumbled at the ineptitude of the bus system and finally sat down. The bus started to move and the sill Govinda-Khadar Kahn movie resumed. Every body tried to watch it with keen interest as they were worried that any surreptitious glance at our damsel would be misconstrued as an act of filrtation and she’d send the disgraceful male to a state of perdition and probably make him sit in the luggage compartment.
And so, the journey contined….
Well, this was just one of the best instance of a passenger coming with a devil may care attitude. There are many others that I’ve probably written elsewhere. But, the movie sort of rekindled my thoughts over these past episodes. I am sure that it is not the end of it. Every time I go on a long journey, I end up having some such experience. Not sure if it is just me or if everyone of you too face similar issues… Maybe, God likes my blogs and wants me to experience it all and blog about it! :)
Monday, May 21, 2007
The Zahir - Best Quotes
I read the book, 'The Zahir' by Paulo Coelho recently. Here are some of the best quotes from the amazing novel.
Buy Book: India Only
Buy Book: India Only
About freedom
Slaves to the luxury, to the appearance of luxury, to the appearance of the appearance of luxury. Slaves to a life they had not chosen, but which they ad decided to live because someone had managed to convince them that it was all for the best. And so their identical days and nights passed, days and nights in which adventure was just a word in a book or an image on the television that was always on, and whenever a door opened, they would say:
'I am not interested. I'm not in the mood.'
How could they possibly know if they were in the mood or not if they had never tried? But there was no point in askingl the truth was they were aftaid of any change that would upset the world they had grown used to.
..freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose - and commit myself to - what is best for me.
All you have to do is to pay attention: lessons always arrive when you are ready, and if you can read the signs, you will learn everything you need to know in order to take the next step.
On seeing the restoration work going on at a cathedral:
And suddenly, in the middle of the central nave, i realize something very important: the cathedral is me, it is all of us. We are all growing and changing shape, we notice certain weaknesses that need to be corrected, we don't always choose the best solution, but we carry on regardless, trying to remain upright and decent, in order to do honour not to the walls or the doors or the windows, but to empty space inside, the space where we worship and venerate what is dearest and most important to us.
About friends:
Our true friends are those who are with us when the good things happen. They cheer us on and are pleased by our triumphs. False friends only appear at difficult times, with their sad, supportive faces, when, in fact, our suffering is serving to console them for their miserable lives.
About Love:
Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused.
This force on earth to make us happy, to bring us closer to God and to our neighbours and yet, given the way that we love now, we enjoy one hour of anxiety for every minute of peace.About the situation in a war:
Slaves to the luxury, to the appearance of luxury, to the appearance of the appearance of luxury. Slaves to a life they had not chosen, but which they ad decided to live because someone had managed to convince them that it was all for the best. And so their identical days and nights passed, days and nights in which adventure was just a word in a book or an image on the television that was always on, and whenever a door opened, they would say:
'I am not interested. I'm not in the mood.'
How could they possibly know if they were in the mood or not if they had never tried? But there was no point in askingl the truth was they were aftaid of any change that would upset the world they had grown used to.
..freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose - and commit myself to - what is best for me.
All you have to do is to pay attention: lessons always arrive when you are ready, and if you can read the signs, you will learn everything you need to know in order to take the next step.
On seeing the restoration work going on at a cathedral:
And suddenly, in the middle of the central nave, i realize something very important: the cathedral is me, it is all of us. We are all growing and changing shape, we notice certain weaknesses that need to be corrected, we don't always choose the best solution, but we carry on regardless, trying to remain upright and decent, in order to do honour not to the walls or the doors or the windows, but to empty space inside, the space where we worship and venerate what is dearest and most important to us.
About friends:
Our true friends are those who are with us when the good things happen. They cheer us on and are pleased by our triumphs. False friends only appear at difficult times, with their sad, supportive faces, when, in fact, our suffering is serving to console them for their miserable lives.
About Love:
Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused.
This force on earth to make us happy, to bring us closer to God and to our neighbours and yet, given the way that we love now, we enjoy one hour of anxiety for every minute of peace.About the situation in a war:
About love
‘A fatally wounded soldier never asks the medical team: “Please save me!” His last words are usually: “Tell me wide and son that I love them.” At the last moment, they speak of love.’
On books being movies
On why the author never sold rights of his novels to movies – rather more on why a movie made out of a novel is never as good:
Up until then, whenever anyone mentioned the possibility of making a film adaptation, my answer had always been, ‘No, I’m not interested.’ I believe that each reader creates his own film inside his head, gives faces to the characters, constructs every scene, hears the voices, smells the smells. And that is why, whenever a reader goes to see a film, based on a novel that he likes, he leaves feeling disappointed.
About railway tracks
After explaining the reason for the railway tracks to be exactly 143.5 cms apart:
‘..At some point in history, someone turned up and said: when two people get married, they must stay frozen like that for the rest of their lives. You will move along side by side like two tracks, keeping always that same distance apart. Even if sometimes one of you needs to be a little further away or a little closer, that is against the rules. The rules say: be sensible, think of the future, think of your children. You can’t change, you must be like two railway tracks that remain the same distance apart all the way from their point of departure of their destination. The rules don’t allow for love to change, or to grow at the start and diminish halfway through – it’s too dangerous. And so, after the enthusiasm of the first few years, they maintain the same distance, the same solidity, the same functional nature. Your purpose is to allow the train bearing the survival oftje species to head off into the future: your children will only apart. If you’re not happy with something that never changes, think of them, think of the children you brought into the world’
About the question: ‘Why am I unhappy?’
No one should ever ask themselves that: why am I unhappy? The question carries within it the virus that will destroy everything. If we ask that question, it means we want to find out what makes us happy. If what makes us happy is different from what we have now, then we must either change once and for all or stay as we are, feeling even more unhappy.
On the perception:
‘Marie, let’s suppose that two firemen go into a forest to put out a small fire. Afterwards, when they emerge and go over to a stream, the face of one is all smeared with black, while the other man’s face is completely clean. My question is this: which of the two will wash his face.’
‘That’s a silly question. The one with the dirty face of course.’
‘No, the one with the dirty face will look at the other man and assume that he looks like him and vice-versa, the man with the clean face will see his colleague covered in grime and say to himself: I must be dirty too. I’d better have a wash.’
Esther asks why people are sad.
“That’s simple,” says the old man. “They are the prisoners of their personal history. Everyone believes that the main aim in life is to follow a plan. They never ask if that plan is theirs or if it was created by another person. They accumulate experiences, memories, things other people’s ideas, and it is more than they can possibly cope with. And that is why they their dreams.”
The accomodator
The accommodator or giving-up point: there is always an event in our lives that is responsible for us failing to progress: a trauma, a particularly bitter defeat, a disappearance in love, even a victory that we did not quite understand, can make cowards of us and prevent us from moving on. As part of the process of increasing his hidden powers, the shaman must first free himself from that giving-up point and, to do so, he must review his whole life and find out where it occurred.
About loneliness
Needless to say, I had been alone on other occasions during the year. Needless to say, my girlfriend was only two hours away by plane. Needless to say, after a busy day, what could be better than a stroll through the narrow streets and lanes of the old city, without having to talk to anyone, simply enjoying the beauty around me. And yet the feeling that surfaced was one of oppressive, distressing loneliness – not having someone with whom I could share the city, the walk, the things I’d like to say.
..there is nothing worse than the feeling that no one cares whether we exist or not, that no one is interested in what we have to say about life, and that the world can continue turning without our awkward presence.
Improving Behaviour - MBA Style
Hello my dear readers! I am back after a long sabbatical. It had been one hell of roller coaster of a journey.. It was almost like what Charles Dickens had mentioned in his epic, the Tale of Two Cities:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair..
To explain, let me tell you what happened. In the period from Jan to June, I had to study a subject called “Managing Self Development - Leadership Development”. It is a module in the MBA that seeks to give an insight what you think, feel and how you behave – probably helping you to probe into the “whys” of such behaviour. This pattern of deep thought and self-reflection helps you to identify the patterns in behaviour that is either leading to a success in the life or if it is hindering your very work. Coupled with this subject, I had one of my worst appraisals ever – but a time when I got some of the harshest, yet most open feedback from my managers and leads.
I went from a time of intense despair at the loss of a promotion to the joy of being given the responsibility to start and drive a new group.
The real reason though for not getting my promotion could be a point that I identified was my inability to act assertively. Assertiveness has been defined as a behaviour that involves:
• Standing up for your own rights in such a way that you do not violate another person’s rights
• Expressing your needs, wants, opinions, feelings and beliefs in direct, honest and appropriate ways. (Beck and Beck, 1998)
On examining so many things, what came across was that I had been hurting myself and my image by keeping things to myself. What I had always though of as being independent and self-contained was being seen as my inability to open up, to network and to communicate! Well, I am working on it and that plan was the assignment for my MBA.
One thing that I found really useful that I think anyone can try is the use. It’s like a dairy, but more structured. In this, I note down my behaviour at a specific event and try and analyze how I could improve on my (leadership) behaviour. The reason is that behaviour is something that is learnt by all individuals and a thing that can be also be unlearned where necessary.
I found it really useful in helping me improve and identify a lot of areas where I could improve. Thought I’d just share this simple formula with you all!
The format of a typical journal is as follows:
Date
(When the event occurred)
What happened?
{A brief on the actual event – something like, My offshore team rejected my request to take up this work…)
My emotions
(What did I feel at this point of time? Remember, only emotions go here – things like, I felt angry, I felt annoyed, etc. Don’t put in thoughts like, I felt like hitting him..)
My thoughts & ideas
(Here, put in what you actually thought during the entire episode – things like, I felt so frustrated that I thought, I should just drop it all and get out! Maybe on how you generally behave in such events)
My behaviour
(In this section, out in details like how you actually behaved in such events, including body language. For example, something like, “I tend to withdraw to myself, my hands are crossed, answers become crisp, “Yes or no”, I snap at others…)
Implications for my development
(In this section, mention on how you could have behaved, if you behaved in a satisfactory manner; if you acted aggressively or if you had to close up your thoughts just because somebody put you down. This is the area where you can resolve on working on behaviour that needs improvement.)
Well, that’s it! This simple tool helped me in identifying so many things. This exercise brought out the fact on how much I was suppressing my feelings from everyone. In fact, in one survey, I figured out that if I were in love, I’d never ever express it simply because I believed that it was just my feeling and there is no need to tell it to any body else, even to the person I was (theoretically) in love with! Wow! That was something to chew on!
And so, I’ve prepared on some plans on behaviour change and working on it right now. The load of the MBA has reduced slightly – so watch out from some updates on my blogs!
(If you get a chance, do read the wonderful book, "Assertiveness at Work – A practical guide to handling awkward situations" by Ken Beck and Kate Beck)
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Ekalavya - The Royal Guard
On Saturday, I watched the movie "Ekalavya - The Royal Guard". It's a movie made by a the great Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The visuals are a treat to watch - every frame moves from the pristine lands of Rajasthan to the palatial royal accommodations of the Ranas. Every scene is like a painting - with the story moving across this picturesque piece of art.
The excellence though ends there. The main plot of the movie is very thinly. The premise of the movie is the sacrifice made by Ekalavya. In the Mahabharatha, Ekalavya cuts off his thumbnail and gifts it to his master, Drona. He does not flinch or question this unjust demand made of him. For him, his dharma dictated that he do as he was asked by his teacher, even though he'd never taught him for a day.
The movie seems to question this very concept of the unjust dharma. Ekalavya - the royal guard of the kings has sacrificed everything in his life. He the royal guard entrusted to protect the king and his family. He is not supposed to have any other interest or feelings in life. He is to protect the king, unquestioningly and hunt down anyone who harms the king.
The movie's core question is this unquestioning Dharma. Should somebody be asked to do something just because it his this Dharma? Or is Dharma an abstract concept that is not set in stone, but, is a decision arrived after a rational thought process? The movie wants to prove to the audience that the very definition of Dharma is to identify an action based on this unique ability that only we, the homo sapiens have - the ability to think.
Although the movie raises a very valid question, the plot is too thin and wears down the audience by the clichéd story-telling. It's not really exciting and the scenes are predictable. The redeeming feature is the humorous moments when the correct inspector, played by Sanjay Dutt comes on screen.
Big B lives up to his reputation delivering a class act. Saif look quite convincing as a regal heir (which he is anyway!) Vidya Balan is looking stunningly beautiful in her natural self. Even without much of make-up, she's fabulous. So is Raima Sen. Yet, the only characters who matter are Amitabh and Saif. There's just one song, a soothing lullaby scored by Shantanu Moitra.
On the whole, a nice movie to watch over the weekend. But, don't expect to come out feeling very happy or motivated or depressed or dejected. It's a movie to watch for the visual treat it offers.
The excellence though ends there. The main plot of the movie is very thinly. The premise of the movie is the sacrifice made by Ekalavya. In the Mahabharatha, Ekalavya cuts off his thumbnail and gifts it to his master, Drona. He does not flinch or question this unjust demand made of him. For him, his dharma dictated that he do as he was asked by his teacher, even though he'd never taught him for a day.
The movie seems to question this very concept of the unjust dharma. Ekalavya - the royal guard of the kings has sacrificed everything in his life. He the royal guard entrusted to protect the king and his family. He is not supposed to have any other interest or feelings in life. He is to protect the king, unquestioningly and hunt down anyone who harms the king.
The movie's core question is this unquestioning Dharma. Should somebody be asked to do something just because it his this Dharma? Or is Dharma an abstract concept that is not set in stone, but, is a decision arrived after a rational thought process? The movie wants to prove to the audience that the very definition of Dharma is to identify an action based on this unique ability that only we, the homo sapiens have - the ability to think.
Although the movie raises a very valid question, the plot is too thin and wears down the audience by the clichéd story-telling. It's not really exciting and the scenes are predictable. The redeeming feature is the humorous moments when the correct inspector, played by Sanjay Dutt comes on screen.
Big B lives up to his reputation delivering a class act. Saif look quite convincing as a regal heir (which he is anyway!) Vidya Balan is looking stunningly beautiful in her natural self. Even without much of make-up, she's fabulous. So is Raima Sen. Yet, the only characters who matter are Amitabh and Saif. There's just one song, a soothing lullaby scored by Shantanu Moitra.
On the whole, a nice movie to watch over the weekend. But, don't expect to come out feeling very happy or motivated or depressed or dejected. It's a movie to watch for the visual treat it offers.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Dare to Dream!
On Saturday, I watched the movie Guru. Even though the disclaimer says that it is a work of fiction, from all aspects, it's the story of Dhirubhai Ambani, the man who built Reliance.
The primary line in the movie is, "Dare to Dream!" The story of Ambani is about a boy who set out as a failure and who went on to succeed so highly that the Government had to try some underhanded techniques to rein him in.
Think about it. Success in life is about having a dream, a passion to live that dream and courage to face the obstacles and the wisdom to know when one road to destiny is wrong and you need to take a detour.
Everybody goes through the routine of living - wake up in the morning, curse the time, get ready, crib at the crowd in buses and trains, sit in office, grumble at the work loads, complain to the colleagues, bitch about the boss , return home and nag about how bad the day was! Is this type of living a real life or is it just survival?
What if you had a big dream? What if each day was a day to inch closer to the grand vision, a vision that is so challenging that everyone around you may question you but, you and only you have the knowledge that no matter what people say, you are committed and you will reach that destiny? Wouldn't that life be infinitely more enjoyable, more challenging and gratifying?
In the movie, there is a scene where Gurubhai has just managed to get a good profit on polyester trading. He announces his plans saying that he's going to open a industry to manufacture it instead of simply importing it. Then he announces, "Till now, we were working just 18 hours. From now on, we'll work 25 hours to make our industry succeed!" Just imagine what such a fire in the belly would mean to life!
Everyday and every moment will be valuable. Anything that is not taking you to the goal becomes a waste. What other people think and say will become meaningless. They are not the people who have dreamt and they will never understand the inner urge that is driving you!
If boss is a problem, then, why work for someone who is a hindrance to your destiny? Simply move on! I am sure all of us have this kind of people - people who feel like they are chained to the position having a boss who is an arrogant, de motivating and uninspiring and rules by power of cover your a** policy. Yet, these kind of people will complain, rant and rave. But, on the next day morning, they'll go back to the same boss and humour him.
It's just a matter of living the dream. Without a big dream in life, these people have nothing to live for, nothing to achieve. So, all they can do is simply play politics and blame games. Within a short period of time, they too get promoted and become similar bosses. Life goes on. Yet, destinies remain unfulfilled. Dreams are either never dreamt at all or they are left only half dreamt.
Swami Vivekananda had said, "Arise, awake and stop not until the goal is reached." Yes, you need to struggle and overcome any difficulties until the final goal is reached. But, the journey to the goal begins after a dream. The song, jaga hain clearly defines the ground work that is necessary for this journey to destiny. The song goes:
Don't you too think that it's true? Before embarking on a big journey to destiny, it is quite necessary to *dream* it up, to plan, to strategize and motivate oneself saying, "No matter what comes along, I am now prepared and shall go till the end to achieve my goal!"
I guess the one scene in the movie said it all. Guru is being tried for corruption and lot many allegations. He's just suffered from stroke that has left his right-side of body completely useless. His voice has grown very small and can barely speak. He's growing old. His factories have been sealed. One of his long time friend has tried to commit suicide. His long time friend's daughter has just expired. And yet, he stands up to the court and says, "You can take away my voice, my money, my house, my factories or my friends. You can even take away my body, my useless arms and legs. But, there is one thing that you can never take away. And that is my courage. As long as I have it, I am going to compete and build. I am going to build the biggest industrial company in India and that is my dream!"
Wish I too could sleep so deeply one day and dream up such a vision!
The primary line in the movie is, "Dare to Dream!" The story of Ambani is about a boy who set out as a failure and who went on to succeed so highly that the Government had to try some underhanded techniques to rein him in.
Think about it. Success in life is about having a dream, a passion to live that dream and courage to face the obstacles and the wisdom to know when one road to destiny is wrong and you need to take a detour.
Everybody goes through the routine of living - wake up in the morning, curse the time, get ready, crib at the crowd in buses and trains, sit in office, grumble at the work loads, complain to the colleagues, bitch about the boss , return home and nag about how bad the day was! Is this type of living a real life or is it just survival?
What if you had a big dream? What if each day was a day to inch closer to the grand vision, a vision that is so challenging that everyone around you may question you but, you and only you have the knowledge that no matter what people say, you are committed and you will reach that destiny? Wouldn't that life be infinitely more enjoyable, more challenging and gratifying?
In the movie, there is a scene where Gurubhai has just managed to get a good profit on polyester trading. He announces his plans saying that he's going to open a industry to manufacture it instead of simply importing it. Then he announces, "Till now, we were working just 18 hours. From now on, we'll work 25 hours to make our industry succeed!" Just imagine what such a fire in the belly would mean to life!
Everyday and every moment will be valuable. Anything that is not taking you to the goal becomes a waste. What other people think and say will become meaningless. They are not the people who have dreamt and they will never understand the inner urge that is driving you!
If boss is a problem, then, why work for someone who is a hindrance to your destiny? Simply move on! I am sure all of us have this kind of people - people who feel like they are chained to the position having a boss who is an arrogant, de motivating and uninspiring and rules by power of cover your a** policy. Yet, these kind of people will complain, rant and rave. But, on the next day morning, they'll go back to the same boss and humour him.
It's just a matter of living the dream. Without a big dream in life, these people have nothing to live for, nothing to achieve. So, all they can do is simply play politics and blame games. Within a short period of time, they too get promoted and become similar bosses. Life goes on. Yet, destinies remain unfulfilled. Dreams are either never dreamt at all or they are left only half dreamt.
Swami Vivekananda had said, "Arise, awake and stop not until the goal is reached." Yes, you need to struggle and overcome any difficulties until the final goal is reached. But, the journey to the goal begins after a dream. The song, jaga hain clearly defines the ground work that is necessary for this journey to destiny. The song goes:
jaage hain deer tak
hamen kuch deer sone do
thodi se raat aur hai
subah to hone do
aadhe adhure khwaab jo
pure na ho sake
ek baar phir se neend mein
woh khwaab bone do
Don't you too think that it's true? Before embarking on a big journey to destiny, it is quite necessary to *dream* it up, to plan, to strategize and motivate oneself saying, "No matter what comes along, I am now prepared and shall go till the end to achieve my goal!"
I guess the one scene in the movie said it all. Guru is being tried for corruption and lot many allegations. He's just suffered from stroke that has left his right-side of body completely useless. His voice has grown very small and can barely speak. He's growing old. His factories have been sealed. One of his long time friend has tried to commit suicide. His long time friend's daughter has just expired. And yet, he stands up to the court and says, "You can take away my voice, my money, my house, my factories or my friends. You can even take away my body, my useless arms and legs. But, there is one thing that you can never take away. And that is my courage. As long as I have it, I am going to compete and build. I am going to build the biggest industrial company in India and that is my dream!"
Wish I too could sleep so deeply one day and dream up such a vision!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Guru - Dream your Destiny
Yesterday, I went to watch the movie, Guru. It was a long wait since, I was planning to watch while I was in India itself, but, somehow never managed to get time to go to a theatre. Finally, I ended up watching the movie in CineWorld, UK.
The movie is very clearly the story of Dhirubhai Ambani. It is the saga of a man, who dared to dream – to dream big! Starting out as a failure in Maths, moving to Turkey to escape the brunt of his father’s cane, this man came back to create the biggest corporate house in India. He dared to go to the public when the banks and other traditional lenders closed doors. He competed, he fought, he bribed and toadied where necessary, but, he never gave up his dream and this is the story of the movie Guru.
Abhishekh Bacchan has done a very good job in potraying the role of this great industrialist. There are times when his lack of experience shows. Overall, his performance is amazing and there is definitely a trace of Big B in his demeanour.
Aishwarya is good in her role as the dedicated wife of the big man. Her role though does not have much meat in it. In fact, there is no big roles apart from Abhishekh. Madhavan as a reporter is good. Unfortunately, he has nothing much to do in the movie. Same is the case with Vidya Balan. Mithun though has redeemed himself as an actor. His role of the newspaper editor is quite respectable and surprisingly, quite convincing.
The songs are all misplaced and Mani Ratnam could take a leaf out of Ram Gopal Verma’s tactic and use them only for promotion. It is a bit silly to see the protagonist of Ambani being intoxicated with bhang and dancing with his wife when she’s just given birth to twins! Or to see two poor girls reciting a very soulful song to a dad, who’s lying in hospital after suffering from a paralytic stroke. I guess all people succumb to the bug of commercialism. Mani would do well to maintain the thin line that separates his movies from the crowd. The songs were definitely a put-off for me. Maybe, Mani should have watched Kannathil Muttamitthal to see how good he was in adding the musical effects to his movies..
A R Rahman is okay. Nothing too catchy or moving. Lyrics by Gulzar is good, but a bit too tough for the mere mortals to follow.
Rajiv Menon’s camerawork is sheer magic. From the lush greenery of Bagalkot, Karnataka to the congested suburbs of Mumbai, he’s shown that with a good camera, everything can be made to look vibrant, colourful and visually gratifying.
On the whole though, the movie is worth a watch. If nothing else, it teaches us the basic value of life – Dream big and no matter what, if you are convinced that it is worth living and fighting for, do not shirk behind, but, go ahead and achieve it.
The movie is very clearly the story of Dhirubhai Ambani. It is the saga of a man, who dared to dream – to dream big! Starting out as a failure in Maths, moving to Turkey to escape the brunt of his father’s cane, this man came back to create the biggest corporate house in India. He dared to go to the public when the banks and other traditional lenders closed doors. He competed, he fought, he bribed and toadied where necessary, but, he never gave up his dream and this is the story of the movie Guru.
Abhishekh Bacchan has done a very good job in potraying the role of this great industrialist. There are times when his lack of experience shows. Overall, his performance is amazing and there is definitely a trace of Big B in his demeanour.
Aishwarya is good in her role as the dedicated wife of the big man. Her role though does not have much meat in it. In fact, there is no big roles apart from Abhishekh. Madhavan as a reporter is good. Unfortunately, he has nothing much to do in the movie. Same is the case with Vidya Balan. Mithun though has redeemed himself as an actor. His role of the newspaper editor is quite respectable and surprisingly, quite convincing.
The songs are all misplaced and Mani Ratnam could take a leaf out of Ram Gopal Verma’s tactic and use them only for promotion. It is a bit silly to see the protagonist of Ambani being intoxicated with bhang and dancing with his wife when she’s just given birth to twins! Or to see two poor girls reciting a very soulful song to a dad, who’s lying in hospital after suffering from a paralytic stroke. I guess all people succumb to the bug of commercialism. Mani would do well to maintain the thin line that separates his movies from the crowd. The songs were definitely a put-off for me. Maybe, Mani should have watched Kannathil Muttamitthal to see how good he was in adding the musical effects to his movies..
A R Rahman is okay. Nothing too catchy or moving. Lyrics by Gulzar is good, but a bit too tough for the mere mortals to follow.
Rajiv Menon’s camerawork is sheer magic. From the lush greenery of Bagalkot, Karnataka to the congested suburbs of Mumbai, he’s shown that with a good camera, everything can be made to look vibrant, colourful and visually gratifying.
On the whole though, the movie is worth a watch. If nothing else, it teaches us the basic value of life – Dream big and no matter what, if you are convinced that it is worth living and fighting for, do not shirk behind, but, go ahead and achieve it.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Art of War
I am currently quite enchnated by Art of War and it's application to the modern management.
What follows is a short analysis of my understanding of the ancient text with my application to the modern management.
Part 1 Laying Plans
As per Tsun Zu, the following five things must be kept in mind when planning for a war:
1. The moral law – causes people to follow the leader in complete accord, undismayed by danger
2. Heaven – night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons
3. Earth – distances, great and small, danger and security, open ground narrow passes; the chances of life and death
4. Commander stands for virtues of –
1. wisdom
2. sincerity
3. benevolence
4. courage
5. strictness
5. Discipline – divisions , budgeting and maintenance of roads for supply lines
And as a note of warning:
As circumstances are favourable, one should modify one’s plans.
Modern management
If you apply the above principles to modern management, the following things become clear:
The first point talks about the importance of the Principles and the Processes in an organization. The work done should not be dependent on any individuals. People should be trained in such a way so that they know the right from the wrong in the business. Constant monitoring is not possible.
The next two points seems to tell that in a business, you have cycles. Learn it and try to leverage it. For example, there is a product life cycle, starting with the initial introduction, followed by growth phase, the stabilizing mature phase and the decline phase. Or there is also the Hype cycle for technology where something new becomes a buzzword, then falls as a passing fad by when people start to realize the new concept/product’s real importance followed by a plateau of productivity.
The 4th point describes the qualities of a leader of the organization. As a leader, the person should have the perspective to understand, analyze and solve the issues, take the courage and enter new territories, if necessary. There will always be tough challenges with people becoming trying to follow their own agenda. Here’s the strictness that’s necessary while benevolence is the need for the leader to share the success and attribute to the team rather than hog the entire limelight for himself / herself.
The next point stresses the importance of maintaining a systematic approach to running the organization with the concentrating on the important aspects and ensuring that in the quest for seeking new land or markets, the one that supplies the daily bread and butter is not lost. The need to plan and budget for the future would ensure that there is a clear focus and with the discipline, there would be a constant metric on the progress to decide if the correct path is being followed.
Part 2 Attack by Strategem
As per Tsun Zu,
Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
(1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
(5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
Management lesson
This simple chapter explains nothing but the modern SWOT analysis. Look carefully and what Sun Tzu seems to be saying is the first do a clear SWOT analysis of your position, analyze the forces that are operating on the market (Porter's 5 forces model) and identify the your position (PESTEL factors). Once these analysis are done, you'll get a clear picture of what your business is, where it is heading, what it is doing and what it should be doing, who are the competitors and how well are they doing and where to attack them in terms of competition.
The last quote is so beautiful that essentially says that unless you know the what, why, how and when of your own operations and strategy, analyzing the competition is simply a lost game.
What follows is a short analysis of my understanding of the ancient text with my application to the modern management.
Part 1 Laying Plans
As per Tsun Zu, the following five things must be kept in mind when planning for a war:
1. The moral law – causes people to follow the leader in complete accord, undismayed by danger
2. Heaven – night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons
3. Earth – distances, great and small, danger and security, open ground narrow passes; the chances of life and death
4. Commander stands for virtues of –
1. wisdom
2. sincerity
3. benevolence
4. courage
5. strictness
5. Discipline – divisions , budgeting and maintenance of roads for supply lines
And as a note of warning:
As circumstances are favourable, one should modify one’s plans.
Modern management
If you apply the above principles to modern management, the following things become clear:
The first point talks about the importance of the Principles and the Processes in an organization. The work done should not be dependent on any individuals. People should be trained in such a way so that they know the right from the wrong in the business. Constant monitoring is not possible.
The next two points seems to tell that in a business, you have cycles. Learn it and try to leverage it. For example, there is a product life cycle, starting with the initial introduction, followed by growth phase, the stabilizing mature phase and the decline phase. Or there is also the Hype cycle for technology where something new becomes a buzzword, then falls as a passing fad by when people start to realize the new concept/product’s real importance followed by a plateau of productivity.
The 4th point describes the qualities of a leader of the organization. As a leader, the person should have the perspective to understand, analyze and solve the issues, take the courage and enter new territories, if necessary. There will always be tough challenges with people becoming trying to follow their own agenda. Here’s the strictness that’s necessary while benevolence is the need for the leader to share the success and attribute to the team rather than hog the entire limelight for himself / herself.
The next point stresses the importance of maintaining a systematic approach to running the organization with the concentrating on the important aspects and ensuring that in the quest for seeking new land or markets, the one that supplies the daily bread and butter is not lost. The need to plan and budget for the future would ensure that there is a clear focus and with the discipline, there would be a constant metric on the progress to decide if the correct path is being followed.
Part 2 Attack by Strategem
As per Tsun Zu,
Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
(1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
(5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
Management lesson
This simple chapter explains nothing but the modern SWOT analysis. Look carefully and what Sun Tzu seems to be saying is the first do a clear SWOT analysis of your position, analyze the forces that are operating on the market (Porter's 5 forces model) and identify the your position (PESTEL factors). Once these analysis are done, you'll get a clear picture of what your business is, where it is heading, what it is doing and what it should be doing, who are the competitors and how well are they doing and where to attack them in terms of competition.
The last quote is so beautiful that essentially says that unless you know the what, why, how and when of your own operations and strategy, analyzing the competition is simply a lost game.
Friday, August 04, 2006
What's Friendship?
August 6th is Friendship Day. I did not know about it until I got a forward from Nisha.
Friendship days used to come and go. It never meant much to me. I had too many friends around me to start thinking of them on any one day. But, here, staying away from all the people who mean so much to me, the importance of the day hit me like a brick.
What is it that makes friends so special? Is it because they share your experiences? You share that with parents and siblings. Is it because they share your ups and downs? This is shared with the colleagues at work or class mates in the college. Then, what is it that makes them so different? Maybe it’s because as friends, we share a lot more than some moments of time. We probably share a part of life, a few ticks of clock that not just becomes a part of your personal history but a part of you!
Come to think of it. When you are staying so far away, the only people who make an effort and try to talk to you and know what you want are the friends you left behind. Sure, there’ll be new acquaintances. But, is it the same thing?
You go to office. There are people around. You smile at them, make small talk and ask them what they did over the weekend. But, do we really care? Does the answer they give really matter? You could as well be talking to the chair and furniture and it’d make no difference. But, when you ask the friends, after a few moments, you get to know something that they never even told! Isn’t that a miracle by itself? What is that gave away you true feelings or thoughts? Is it that these special people in your life get to see a glimpse of your soul?
Not a day goes by when I don’t think of these *old days*. Those days filled with no responsibility, days filled with a lot of laughter, banter and fun. Invariably, the heart comes up with the question, “Can those days ever come back again?” And the mind answers, “Sorry”. With a loud sigh and heavy heart, I look around shake the head and move on. Yes, it is hard to be away from the people who really care for you. But, that is life. Everyone moves on in this journey called life.
Maybe it is because people move on that we finally start to understand the meaning of a true companionship. Maybe if things were to like a fairy tale, we’d never be able to appreciate the good things in life….
But, one thing is for certain. Once the paths of life have met and an exchange has taken place, there is no need to renew it. Unlike others, with friends life continues at any point in time. You may be engrossed in a big business, a major crisis and yet when a mail, call or a forward arrives, you are transported back to the days and moments you’d spent with this person called friend. And that is enough to go on in this world of aliens.
Happy Friendship day to all of you and thank you for being my friend.
Friendship days used to come and go. It never meant much to me. I had too many friends around me to start thinking of them on any one day. But, here, staying away from all the people who mean so much to me, the importance of the day hit me like a brick.
What is it that makes friends so special? Is it because they share your experiences? You share that with parents and siblings. Is it because they share your ups and downs? This is shared with the colleagues at work or class mates in the college. Then, what is it that makes them so different? Maybe it’s because as friends, we share a lot more than some moments of time. We probably share a part of life, a few ticks of clock that not just becomes a part of your personal history but a part of you!
Come to think of it. When you are staying so far away, the only people who make an effort and try to talk to you and know what you want are the friends you left behind. Sure, there’ll be new acquaintances. But, is it the same thing?
You go to office. There are people around. You smile at them, make small talk and ask them what they did over the weekend. But, do we really care? Does the answer they give really matter? You could as well be talking to the chair and furniture and it’d make no difference. But, when you ask the friends, after a few moments, you get to know something that they never even told! Isn’t that a miracle by itself? What is that gave away you true feelings or thoughts? Is it that these special people in your life get to see a glimpse of your soul?
Not a day goes by when I don’t think of these *old days*. Those days filled with no responsibility, days filled with a lot of laughter, banter and fun. Invariably, the heart comes up with the question, “Can those days ever come back again?” And the mind answers, “Sorry”. With a loud sigh and heavy heart, I look around shake the head and move on. Yes, it is hard to be away from the people who really care for you. But, that is life. Everyone moves on in this journey called life.
Maybe it is because people move on that we finally start to understand the meaning of a true companionship. Maybe if things were to like a fairy tale, we’d never be able to appreciate the good things in life….
But, one thing is for certain. Once the paths of life have met and an exchange has taken place, there is no need to renew it. Unlike others, with friends life continues at any point in time. You may be engrossed in a big business, a major crisis and yet when a mail, call or a forward arrives, you are transported back to the days and moments you’d spent with this person called friend. And that is enough to go on in this world of aliens.
Happy Friendship day to all of you and thank you for being my friend.
Friday, July 21, 2006
The Miracle of Life
For the past few days, there have been one natural disaster after the other marred by some human manufactured conflagrations. There was the tsunami in Indonesia (again) interspersed with the bombings in Mumbai followed by the sudden drying up of the Amazon basin with the West Asian flare up.
I was reading a book called “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson. Amongst many other things, it traces the birth of life, the now incredible to imaging volcanic eruptions, the meteorite crashes that would make nuclear weapons look like kid’s toys and the deep freeze of the Ice Age. To top it all, the BBC was having a program about the massive glass deposits in Sahara which could have been caused by “Air bursts” – a meteorite exploding as a ball of fire just before it crashed into earth which not just created heat, but, melted the sand to form among other things, glass and diamond!
All of this got me thinking – life is so fragile. A simple earth-quake and millions are devastated. A tsunami hits the land and a country is brought down to its knees. The homo sapiens, a thinking man has is left absolutely powerless in this sudden display of raw power from the nature.
Why is it that we who could build such complex things as super computers, electron microscopes, airplanes and rockets be left so helpless against the nature’s fury? Explaining the complexity in measuring or monitoring the earth’s activities, Bryson has made a comment that is quite intriguing. Before saying that here’s the context:
• To predict earth quakes, we need to understand the working of the earth’s interior. Currently, all our knowledge of earth’s core is more of a conjecture. We have barely scratched the surface. Ditto with volcanoes.
• To say anything about draught and rain, we need to predict weather accurately. Our most computers have a problem in telling this simple thing: If you blow smoke in a room, how will it travel? If this can’t be predicted, then how can we predict the movement of water vapor and clouds in a very open environment with the earth spinning at thousands of kilometers on its axis and running ahead along its orbit?
• Even the latest satellites and telescopes can only see at barely the outer reaches of most galaxies and stars. We have barely understood our solar system. We simply don’t know how many comets and meteors are there. They could be simply like any pedestrian who suddenly comes on the path of earth’s orbit on a very dark night. Before we even know it, BANG!
Complaining about all this, Bryson says:
And yet, we survive and evolve and look and the sky and say, “How did it all begin?”
Isn’t it marvelous and truly incredible that in such a hostile environment we could all come to life and enjoy the bounties of life. Yet, instead of enjoying it, we are so involved in drawing lines on ground that can’t be seen just a few meters from the ground - we shed so much blood and cause strife. What if tomorrow a meteorite would hurl down and hit the war torn region of West Asia? The land there will simply vanish and so will the life. What will the freedom fighters fight over (assuming some are still alive)? A cindered earth which is poisonous and can neither be used for growing food nor for living?
Don’t you sometimes feel that we quibble over things that should not even be considered important? Somehow, we build grand museums and teach history and yet, we never seem to learn anything from it.. The same old quarrels, the same old greed and lust for power and finally, the same old winners oppressing the losers. Sure, the nature follows the rule of Survival of the Fittest. And yet, after all the blood-letting, if you discover there is nothing much to celebrate and nobody to even share the happiness with, is the whole struggle worth fighting?
{I know the thoughts are very jumbled – but, I just jotted down whatever kept coming into the mind..}
I was reading a book called “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson. Amongst many other things, it traces the birth of life, the now incredible to imaging volcanic eruptions, the meteorite crashes that would make nuclear weapons look like kid’s toys and the deep freeze of the Ice Age. To top it all, the BBC was having a program about the massive glass deposits in Sahara which could have been caused by “Air bursts” – a meteorite exploding as a ball of fire just before it crashed into earth which not just created heat, but, melted the sand to form among other things, glass and diamond!
All of this got me thinking – life is so fragile. A simple earth-quake and millions are devastated. A tsunami hits the land and a country is brought down to its knees. The homo sapiens, a thinking man has is left absolutely powerless in this sudden display of raw power from the nature.
Why is it that we who could build such complex things as super computers, electron microscopes, airplanes and rockets be left so helpless against the nature’s fury? Explaining the complexity in measuring or monitoring the earth’s activities, Bryson has made a comment that is quite intriguing. Before saying that here’s the context:
• To predict earth quakes, we need to understand the working of the earth’s interior. Currently, all our knowledge of earth’s core is more of a conjecture. We have barely scratched the surface. Ditto with volcanoes.
• To say anything about draught and rain, we need to predict weather accurately. Our most computers have a problem in telling this simple thing: If you blow smoke in a room, how will it travel? If this can’t be predicted, then how can we predict the movement of water vapor and clouds in a very open environment with the earth spinning at thousands of kilometers on its axis and running ahead along its orbit?
• Even the latest satellites and telescopes can only see at barely the outer reaches of most galaxies and stars. We have barely understood our solar system. We simply don’t know how many comets and meteors are there. They could be simply like any pedestrian who suddenly comes on the path of earth’s orbit on a very dark night. Before we even know it, BANG!
Complaining about all this, Bryson says:
..we live in a universe whose age we can’t quite compute, surrounded by stars whose distance from us and each other we don’t altogether know, filled with matter we can’t identify, operating in conformance with physical laws whose properties we don’t truly understand.
And yet, we survive and evolve and look and the sky and say, “How did it all begin?”
Isn’t it marvelous and truly incredible that in such a hostile environment we could all come to life and enjoy the bounties of life. Yet, instead of enjoying it, we are so involved in drawing lines on ground that can’t be seen just a few meters from the ground - we shed so much blood and cause strife. What if tomorrow a meteorite would hurl down and hit the war torn region of West Asia? The land there will simply vanish and so will the life. What will the freedom fighters fight over (assuming some are still alive)? A cindered earth which is poisonous and can neither be used for growing food nor for living?
Don’t you sometimes feel that we quibble over things that should not even be considered important? Somehow, we build grand museums and teach history and yet, we never seem to learn anything from it.. The same old quarrels, the same old greed and lust for power and finally, the same old winners oppressing the losers. Sure, the nature follows the rule of Survival of the Fittest. And yet, after all the blood-letting, if you discover there is nothing much to celebrate and nobody to even share the happiness with, is the whole struggle worth fighting?
{I know the thoughts are very jumbled – but, I just jotted down whatever kept coming into the mind..}
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Bend it like Beckham and mend it like Football!
This was an article that had appeared in Times of India on 8th July, 2006. Amazing philosophy! Hope you'll like it..
Spirituality seldom dribbled with soccer, until the ‘Hand of God’ came into play during the quarter-final match of the 1986 World Cup football between Argentina and England. Diego Maradona claimed that divine intervention had helped him score the controversial goal.
A short film made in 2003 by Mike Walker — Does God Play Football? — explored the relationship between God and Tommy, a seven-year-old football fan. Tommy’s only desire is to have a father of his own to play football with. In the absence of a real Dad, he adopts God as his father with the help of a local priest — very like how the human soul longs for communion with the Universal spirit.
An individual remains unfit for spiritual journey without the requisite physical and mental strength. Vivekananda said: “You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Bhagavad Gita”. A player’s patience and perseverance is tested on the football field at every moment; the ability to wriggle out of tough situations and hold on to one’s nerves in tight situations. A seeker, too, has to undergo such trials during the inward game of realisation.
Look at football as a metaphor for life. The ball is the individual’s ego. Team members are family and friends; trust in teammates is the foundation of a good relationship and helps the player win the match of happiness. The opposition players are obstacles like anger, pride, hatred, that must be overcome to reach the goalpost. The goalpost is the universal consciousness to which a person must ultimately submit the ego, to achieve true bliss. The coach is the guru who teaches the way and the player learns from his mistakes on the field. The referee is the law of karma that reinforces the correct rules for playing. The audience is society that reacts to performance on the field. As in life, a game that has started must end. As long as the person is in the game, one gets the illusion of limited time and space. Only when the game gets over, does one realise the limitlessness of time and space.
Every player is assigned a particular role on the field according to his skills — forward, midfielder, defender, or goalkeeper. Similarly, in life we have designated roles. Our capabilities and choices determine the contribution we make to the world through our work. Like a player who can manoeuvre the ball on the field, a person has the free will to choose his thoughts, words and actions. Football is meditation ‘on the run’. A player is always ‘in the moment’ for the entire duration of play. The player has no thought of past and no use for future, as all the scoring opportunities are created in the ‘now’.
Football teaches one to be a good spectator, one who watches the game with passionate detachment. For him, an exciting football match is only that — a game. Wins or losses, even for his favourite team, do not bother him. A good spectator is like a joyful observer of life; he witnesses events around him as they come and go, and remains detached as he is always centred in truth.
Today, football is a faith binding a legion of followers across the world. People, irrespective of their religions, nationalities and cultures, are tuning in simultaneously to watch live football. If this is not universal brotherhood, what else is?
Spirituality seldom dribbled with soccer, until the ‘Hand of God’ came into play during the quarter-final match of the 1986 World Cup football between Argentina and England. Diego Maradona claimed that divine intervention had helped him score the controversial goal.
A short film made in 2003 by Mike Walker — Does God Play Football? — explored the relationship between God and Tommy, a seven-year-old football fan. Tommy’s only desire is to have a father of his own to play football with. In the absence of a real Dad, he adopts God as his father with the help of a local priest — very like how the human soul longs for communion with the Universal spirit.
An individual remains unfit for spiritual journey without the requisite physical and mental strength. Vivekananda said: “You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Bhagavad Gita”. A player’s patience and perseverance is tested on the football field at every moment; the ability to wriggle out of tough situations and hold on to one’s nerves in tight situations. A seeker, too, has to undergo such trials during the inward game of realisation.
Look at football as a metaphor for life. The ball is the individual’s ego. Team members are family and friends; trust in teammates is the foundation of a good relationship and helps the player win the match of happiness. The opposition players are obstacles like anger, pride, hatred, that must be overcome to reach the goalpost. The goalpost is the universal consciousness to which a person must ultimately submit the ego, to achieve true bliss. The coach is the guru who teaches the way and the player learns from his mistakes on the field. The referee is the law of karma that reinforces the correct rules for playing. The audience is society that reacts to performance on the field. As in life, a game that has started must end. As long as the person is in the game, one gets the illusion of limited time and space. Only when the game gets over, does one realise the limitlessness of time and space.
Every player is assigned a particular role on the field according to his skills — forward, midfielder, defender, or goalkeeper. Similarly, in life we have designated roles. Our capabilities and choices determine the contribution we make to the world through our work. Like a player who can manoeuvre the ball on the field, a person has the free will to choose his thoughts, words and actions. Football is meditation ‘on the run’. A player is always ‘in the moment’ for the entire duration of play. The player has no thought of past and no use for future, as all the scoring opportunities are created in the ‘now’.
Football teaches one to be a good spectator, one who watches the game with passionate detachment. For him, an exciting football match is only that — a game. Wins or losses, even for his favourite team, do not bother him. A good spectator is like a joyful observer of life; he witnesses events around him as they come and go, and remains detached as he is always centred in truth.
Today, football is a faith binding a legion of followers across the world. People, irrespective of their religions, nationalities and cultures, are tuning in simultaneously to watch live football. If this is not universal brotherhood, what else is?
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
The Man who Sued God
Has it ever happened to you that something bad happens and finding nobody else responsible, you simply bow down to fate and say, “Whatever happens, God destined it to be that way!” Well, think about it. If God planned something to happen in a particular way, is he responsible for it? If so, is he liable for the damages caused by his plans? Quite intriguing isn’t it?
Well, the movie, “The man who sues God” takes this thought to a near reality. Based on a true case in Australia
The movie starts out being a vindictive action by a man who has lost his only possession – his boat. Yet, when the case begins to develop, it really gets interesting. The first point he makes is, if the Church and other religious institutes call themselves as the representatives of God on earth, are they responsible for such calamities? If a flood occurs and it is called as an “act of God”, will the church bear the expenses of re habilitating the people who have suffered the losses?
The next point that he makes is that if we as humans knew what was going to happen, then, why would we even insure? If an insurance company can’t insure against a potential risk, saying it is an “act of God”, then, why have insurance?
The other point that he raises is, who are the people representing god on earth? Is is the Church or the insurance companies? If the insurance companies can come up with a clause of “act of God”, do they have experts in the areas of working of God?All this leaves the Church and the Insurance companies fuming. The conundrum for the church is this: If they call themselves the representatives of God, then, they must be liable for the damages caused by “acts of God”. To get away from this liability, they’ll have to prove that God does not exist. If this is the case, the, the Church would be the biggest and most fraudulent organization in the world. All the money collected in the name of God and charities would all be in the name of an entity which they can’t prove exists!
The end in the movie is a bit of anti-climax. The church and the insurance companies agree to split some expense and close the case. Since the hero has no money to continue the litigation, he accepts the money and manages to get some extra so that he can settle the amounts that many of people with similar problems.
The amazing thing about the movie was the way it was presented. What turned out to be an absolutely dumb thing became a real legal challenge. I mean, the Church having to prove that God does not exist to win the case seemed to be truly incredible. A poor guy, with no money and not even his boat manages to hold the Insurance and the Church for ransom!
Friday, April 07, 2006
Chennai in London!
Last weekend, we had been to East Ham to see some houses for rent. Our office is shifting again (!!!).
East Ham is an area that is about 40 minutes from the Waterloo Station. Yet, in those 40 minutes, it felt like we had traveled from London, UK to Chennai, India!
The place is amazing! The first site after getting down out of the station is a South Indian Dosa restaurant. Beside it, there is a video shop, selling (believe it or not!) only Tamil movie DVDs and VCDs. Just to check out the shop, we went in. The shop keeper was like any typical Tamil shop keeper. We asked him, “Do you have any Hindi movies?” He just took one bunch and gave it to us. I said, “Do you have Jaane bhi do Yarron?” He said, “See, I don’t understand Hindi. There are the Hindi CDs I have. Please select from his bunch!” Well, at least it made sense. Learning Hindi in UK is not really very useful, unless of course, you are staying in Southall! (Punjabi would be more useful)
After getting over the initial shock, we went to the real estate agent to show us the house. The guy, it turned out was called Ray (he called himself Ray of Sunshine). This guy looked at us and said, “Where are you from?” So, we went into giving the typical biography, “Hello! Myil from Chennai, Sriram from Pune and me from Pune” So he said, “Ok. Don’t you want to ask where I am from?” So, I said, “Where are you from?” He said, “I am a half Indian, half Pakistani, a half-Muslim and a half-Hindu!” Oh yeah, one of his parents is from Gujarat and the other from the area that is opposite to Gujarat on the other side of the border. Talk about a world without borders!
The houses though are not worth mentioning. They were so-so. So, we were roaming around the place. We found a eating joint called “Chennai Dosas”. It looked really inviting, given the fact that it was 3 pm in the afternoon and we had not eaten since 9 am. On entrance, the fresh aroma of filter coffee mixed with the enchanting smell of hot sambar wafted around. This moment was sheer magic. It was like a moment in heaven! After weeks and weeks of curd rice (with no pickle) and one day of Sandwich (minus cheese, salad, butter, salt and pepper), the very aroma was titillating.
Savoring this captivating moment, we sat down. I had starter as Dahi Vada and then, as a main course, Rava Masala Onion Dosa. The climax of this gustatory miracle was a Filter Kapee. Anyone who is an connoisseur of coffee in India would have been happy here. More so, if for 4 months, all you have been drinking is water+coffee powder – sugar – milk!
Well, I thought the surprises would end here, but, there was one last miracle. As it was not yet time to return, we were perambulating near the shopping center. We discovered a Temple -a Balaji Temple. Paying heeds to the God in UK, we came out and behold! There was a shop selling chakkali/murukku and mixture and all the condiments that moms make during all the festivals. We barged into the shop and literally ransacked the place of these condiments and 5 bottles of pickles (for the curd rice that we would be having over the future) we left for home. Thus ended the amazing trip to Chennai of UK.
East Ham is an area that is about 40 minutes from the Waterloo Station. Yet, in those 40 minutes, it felt like we had traveled from London, UK to Chennai, India!
The place is amazing! The first site after getting down out of the station is a South Indian Dosa restaurant. Beside it, there is a video shop, selling (believe it or not!) only Tamil movie DVDs and VCDs. Just to check out the shop, we went in. The shop keeper was like any typical Tamil shop keeper. We asked him, “Do you have any Hindi movies?” He just took one bunch and gave it to us. I said, “Do you have Jaane bhi do Yarron?” He said, “See, I don’t understand Hindi. There are the Hindi CDs I have. Please select from his bunch!” Well, at least it made sense. Learning Hindi in UK is not really very useful, unless of course, you are staying in Southall! (Punjabi would be more useful)
After getting over the initial shock, we went to the real estate agent to show us the house. The guy, it turned out was called Ray (he called himself Ray of Sunshine). This guy looked at us and said, “Where are you from?” So, we went into giving the typical biography, “Hello! Myil from Chennai, Sriram from Pune and me from Pune” So he said, “Ok. Don’t you want to ask where I am from?” So, I said, “Where are you from?” He said, “I am a half Indian, half Pakistani, a half-Muslim and a half-Hindu!” Oh yeah, one of his parents is from Gujarat and the other from the area that is opposite to Gujarat on the other side of the border. Talk about a world without borders!
The houses though are not worth mentioning. They were so-so. So, we were roaming around the place. We found a eating joint called “Chennai Dosas”. It looked really inviting, given the fact that it was 3 pm in the afternoon and we had not eaten since 9 am. On entrance, the fresh aroma of filter coffee mixed with the enchanting smell of hot sambar wafted around. This moment was sheer magic. It was like a moment in heaven! After weeks and weeks of curd rice (with no pickle) and one day of Sandwich (minus cheese, salad, butter, salt and pepper), the very aroma was titillating.
Savoring this captivating moment, we sat down. I had starter as Dahi Vada and then, as a main course, Rava Masala Onion Dosa. The climax of this gustatory miracle was a Filter Kapee. Anyone who is an connoisseur of coffee in India would have been happy here. More so, if for 4 months, all you have been drinking is water+coffee powder – sugar – milk!
Well, I thought the surprises would end here, but, there was one last miracle. As it was not yet time to return, we were perambulating near the shopping center. We discovered a Temple -a Balaji Temple. Paying heeds to the God in UK, we came out and behold! There was a shop selling chakkali/murukku and mixture and all the condiments that moms make during all the festivals. We barged into the shop and literally ransacked the place of these condiments and 5 bottles of pickles (for the curd rice that we would be having over the future) we left for home. Thus ended the amazing trip to Chennai of UK.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Brain Drain - Chankya explains why..
I am reading a book called Chanakya Neeti. It is a collection of the couplets by one of the greatest thinkers in India, Chanakya. In this simple 2 line stanza, he's explained the causal effect of brain drain. Wonder why we were beating our breasts for so many years, instead of reading this simple thing and starting to work on the ares of improvement!
Do not live in a country that does not allow you: self-respect, honour, means of living, a family, kith and kin, friends, well wishers, ways of education and self-development. Quit such a country. It is not fit for living.
Just think about it: A person wants to earn a living, have a happy life. If for each step of the life, a stifling bureaucracy digs its nose and robs the person and makes the person stoop low and loose his dignity, then, why will the person ever want to stay in such a place? Even after having earned the money by hard-work, if a socialistic government accuses the person of being an exploiter and taxes the harshest, then, why should this person even want to contribute his wealth for nation building in terms of taxes? No wonder we had huge hordes of black money! Education was all based on who knew whom. Merit was of no use. Of course, there were lots of friends and family members. Yet, all the other factors mentioned above were missing.
Compare it with the India now. The heroes now are Narayana Murthy, Abdul Kalam, et al: people who ooze dignity. And people who are also very rich. India now offers variety of opportunities for making a living; making money is not a bad thing anymore, things happen without one having to lose the self-respect. Education is still a bit tough, yet, meritocracy has taken firm roots. Family and friends are always there to guide us all. No wonder now people from abroad are now flocking back to the nation.
Do not live in a country that does not allow you: self-respect, honour, means of living, a family, kith and kin, friends, well wishers, ways of education and self-development. Quit such a country. It is not fit for living.
Just think about it: A person wants to earn a living, have a happy life. If for each step of the life, a stifling bureaucracy digs its nose and robs the person and makes the person stoop low and loose his dignity, then, why will the person ever want to stay in such a place? Even after having earned the money by hard-work, if a socialistic government accuses the person of being an exploiter and taxes the harshest, then, why should this person even want to contribute his wealth for nation building in terms of taxes? No wonder we had huge hordes of black money! Education was all based on who knew whom. Merit was of no use. Of course, there were lots of friends and family members. Yet, all the other factors mentioned above were missing.
Compare it with the India now. The heroes now are Narayana Murthy, Abdul Kalam, et al: people who ooze dignity. And people who are also very rich. India now offers variety of opportunities for making a living; making money is not a bad thing anymore, things happen without one having to lose the self-respect. Education is still a bit tough, yet, meritocracy has taken firm roots. Family and friends are always there to guide us all. No wonder now people from abroad are now flocking back to the nation.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Movie Review: Rang de Basanti
On Sunday, I watched the movie, Rang de Basanti in Southall, London. My first bollywood movie in UK.
It is a story of a group of friends, who representt the present generation: a generation who seem to have nothing to worry and nothing to motivate and live life for. Suddenly, a lady from Britain arrives. She’s the granddaughter of a jailor of the prison where Bhagat Singh and other revolutionaries were hanged.
Till the first half, it is all about fun and jokes where people kid each other about the freedom movement and all. The real fun is the guy who is so crazy about rap music that he converts the national anthem, vande mataram and other songs to a rap.. All he says is two words from everything and then moves on to some meaningless gibberish in English.
In the second half, the story turns serious. One of the friends, a pilot in the Air Force is killed as he crash-lands his Mig 21. The defence minister instead of initiating an enquiry accuses the pilot of being reckless. This suddenly ignites the passion to fight in them all and the friends take up a protest march. When there is a lathi(police stick/baton) charge and some of the friends are hurt and the pilot’s mother is beaten badly, the friends suddenly turn into revolutionaries. They kill the defence minister and take over a radio station to convey their justifications and are ultimately killed by the security forces.
Somehow, the analogy in the movie did not seem to be right. The revolution that started after the lathi charging and firing in Jallianwala bagh is definitely not comparable to the lathi-charge against the protesters in the present. And the sudden change from being reckless youths to passionate revolutionaries is sort of abrupt. The sudden decision to kill the defence minister and then killing one of the defence related bureaucrat who happens to a hero’s father is quite a overkill. (No pun intended!)
The cynicism that is prevalent in India, where the attitude is “Chalta hai” has been captured very nicely. The lack of any motivation for the Gen X/Y/Z (whatever we are called now) is also portrayed nicely. Yet, to say that killing is the correct means to achieve a goal seemed to be wrong. I guess the real moral of the story was somehow lost in the revolutionary zeal.
The director, I guess wanted to say what the pilot (played by Madhavan) says. This is repeated by Siddharth in the radio station too. The message is: “Stop complaining. If you want things to happen, you must be the initiator.” He says, if you want to change something, why don’t you become a defenceman, an IAS officer who can administer and weed out corruption, a minister who can reinvigorate a sense of serving? Instead, we all sit in Café’s sipping Hot Chocolate (or whatever) watching NDTV and then saying, India is going to the dogs! I guess the only way to improve our country is to first improve ourselves, our thinking.. I guess, Kennedy’s saying still holds, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”.
The movie has made scathing attacks against the power hungry politicians yet, leaves away the bureaucrats with a bare scratch. After these are the guys who run the country. Policitans come and politicians fade away. What remains is the endless, tireless machinery of the babus. Against the strength of this babudom even the politicians may see themselves helpless. This was happened time and again when the whole IAS cadre raised against any move to classify them as public servants. The reason is, if they become public servants, then, they will have to serve the people, not harass, exploit and rule them. This strange phenomenon of a stone walling bureaucracy is very well brought out in the book, “India in slow motion” by Mark Tully.
Guess I was digressing a bit. Despite all the problems portrayed in the movie, I guess the youth in India are still much better off. At least there is a peer pressure and family expectation to study hard and be someone in life. In the west, even such a motivation does not exist and without the parents support, their life gets truly directionless.
Anyway, the movie on the whole was really well-made and the cinematography was class apart! The sepia colored flash-backs and the beautiful yellow sun-flowers in the end symbolizing sacrifice was a real nice touch. Three things just stood out in terms of picturization: The friends running towards a Mig 21 taking off with waving the shirts above their heads: Amir Khan breaking down after the pilot’ death and Amir’s absolutely surprise when he realizes the Brisher knows Hindi. “Yeh kudi to Hindi samjthi hai yaar!” Too good.
It is a story of a group of friends, who representt the present generation: a generation who seem to have nothing to worry and nothing to motivate and live life for. Suddenly, a lady from Britain arrives. She’s the granddaughter of a jailor of the prison where Bhagat Singh and other revolutionaries were hanged.
Till the first half, it is all about fun and jokes where people kid each other about the freedom movement and all. The real fun is the guy who is so crazy about rap music that he converts the national anthem, vande mataram and other songs to a rap.. All he says is two words from everything and then moves on to some meaningless gibberish in English.
In the second half, the story turns serious. One of the friends, a pilot in the Air Force is killed as he crash-lands his Mig 21. The defence minister instead of initiating an enquiry accuses the pilot of being reckless. This suddenly ignites the passion to fight in them all and the friends take up a protest march. When there is a lathi(police stick/baton) charge and some of the friends are hurt and the pilot’s mother is beaten badly, the friends suddenly turn into revolutionaries. They kill the defence minister and take over a radio station to convey their justifications and are ultimately killed by the security forces.
Somehow, the analogy in the movie did not seem to be right. The revolution that started after the lathi charging and firing in Jallianwala bagh is definitely not comparable to the lathi-charge against the protesters in the present. And the sudden change from being reckless youths to passionate revolutionaries is sort of abrupt. The sudden decision to kill the defence minister and then killing one of the defence related bureaucrat who happens to a hero’s father is quite a overkill. (No pun intended!)
The cynicism that is prevalent in India, where the attitude is “Chalta hai” has been captured very nicely. The lack of any motivation for the Gen X/Y/Z (whatever we are called now) is also portrayed nicely. Yet, to say that killing is the correct means to achieve a goal seemed to be wrong. I guess the real moral of the story was somehow lost in the revolutionary zeal.
The director, I guess wanted to say what the pilot (played by Madhavan) says. This is repeated by Siddharth in the radio station too. The message is: “Stop complaining. If you want things to happen, you must be the initiator.” He says, if you want to change something, why don’t you become a defenceman, an IAS officer who can administer and weed out corruption, a minister who can reinvigorate a sense of serving? Instead, we all sit in Café’s sipping Hot Chocolate (or whatever) watching NDTV and then saying, India is going to the dogs! I guess the only way to improve our country is to first improve ourselves, our thinking.. I guess, Kennedy’s saying still holds, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”.
The movie has made scathing attacks against the power hungry politicians yet, leaves away the bureaucrats with a bare scratch. After these are the guys who run the country. Policitans come and politicians fade away. What remains is the endless, tireless machinery of the babus. Against the strength of this babudom even the politicians may see themselves helpless. This was happened time and again when the whole IAS cadre raised against any move to classify them as public servants. The reason is, if they become public servants, then, they will have to serve the people, not harass, exploit and rule them. This strange phenomenon of a stone walling bureaucracy is very well brought out in the book, “India in slow motion” by Mark Tully.
Guess I was digressing a bit. Despite all the problems portrayed in the movie, I guess the youth in India are still much better off. At least there is a peer pressure and family expectation to study hard and be someone in life. In the west, even such a motivation does not exist and without the parents support, their life gets truly directionless.
Anyway, the movie on the whole was really well-made and the cinematography was class apart! The sepia colored flash-backs and the beautiful yellow sun-flowers in the end symbolizing sacrifice was a real nice touch. Three things just stood out in terms of picturization: The friends running towards a Mig 21 taking off with waving the shirts above their heads: Amir Khan breaking down after the pilot’ death and Amir’s absolutely surprise when he realizes the Brisher knows Hindi. “Yeh kudi to Hindi samjthi hai yaar!” Too good.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Just another day at onsite..
Today, I thought would be just another normal day working at onsite. It’s been almost 4 months since I came to UK. At the end of the day, I really keep thinking, “How wrong could I have been?”
The day started with a call from my PM saying there was an issue with the deployment we had done yesterday. This was at 5:55 am in the morning. Life seemed to be all a turmoil from then on.
It seemed that some of the sites were down and we were being held responsible for it. There are sometimes when the meaning of self-confidence seems to make no sense. Here were client mails, client operations guys and our own company folks questioning if I had done something wrong. Ultimately, I was sitting and wondering, “Did I really screw-up this time? Is the tiny voice that seems to be making a last ditch effort all wrong? Should I just strangle and stifle that voice so that it shall stop tormenting me? Should I accept that I am one big mess?” All this and some more thoughts passed through my mind. I felt like the lousiest being on earth.
There were calls from here to India, India to US, US to UK and all around again. Somehow, I was not supposed to attend it. It seemed like a discussion by a jury, before it came out, looked at the pathetic soul which they now ruled and pronounced, “Guilty!” “Am I?” Somewhere a flickering doubt remained and kept pestering me.
By evening, the problem seemed to have evaporated. People were all friendly and “Happy Weekend to you” wishes were flying around. After day when my very being was put to test, these folks carried on like nothing happened at all. My manager simply said, “Welcome to the client-facing role”. That statement was made after handling many clients and multiple such issues. I wondered, what will it be like at his position? For after one day of this tribulation, I felt like a loser. For a person to answer these things, day-in and day-out, what must it be like? I could not imagine. My manager simply said, “These things happen. Concentrate on your daily work and things will work out fine.”
Yes, things will work out fine. But, the unsullied soul of mine is now ragged and stained. Will it ever get repaired? Probably not. Yes, I’ll become harder. The virginal innocence seems to have been raped at the hard-doors of reality. But yes, I’ll survive. Maybe, over a period of time, I’ll not even look back on such things. But, today, it was a day of absolute dismay, a day when everything I do was questioned.
Well, if you have read till here, and still willing to come onsite, please do. Just remember, on one day, you too shall face such a situation and maybe, I’ll be around and tell you, “Don’t worry. These things happen.”
The day started with a call from my PM saying there was an issue with the deployment we had done yesterday. This was at 5:55 am in the morning. Life seemed to be all a turmoil from then on.
It seemed that some of the sites were down and we were being held responsible for it. There are sometimes when the meaning of self-confidence seems to make no sense. Here were client mails, client operations guys and our own company folks questioning if I had done something wrong. Ultimately, I was sitting and wondering, “Did I really screw-up this time? Is the tiny voice that seems to be making a last ditch effort all wrong? Should I just strangle and stifle that voice so that it shall stop tormenting me? Should I accept that I am one big mess?” All this and some more thoughts passed through my mind. I felt like the lousiest being on earth.
There were calls from here to India, India to US, US to UK and all around again. Somehow, I was not supposed to attend it. It seemed like a discussion by a jury, before it came out, looked at the pathetic soul which they now ruled and pronounced, “Guilty!” “Am I?” Somewhere a flickering doubt remained and kept pestering me.
By evening, the problem seemed to have evaporated. People were all friendly and “Happy Weekend to you” wishes were flying around. After day when my very being was put to test, these folks carried on like nothing happened at all. My manager simply said, “Welcome to the client-facing role”. That statement was made after handling many clients and multiple such issues. I wondered, what will it be like at his position? For after one day of this tribulation, I felt like a loser. For a person to answer these things, day-in and day-out, what must it be like? I could not imagine. My manager simply said, “These things happen. Concentrate on your daily work and things will work out fine.”
Yes, things will work out fine. But, the unsullied soul of mine is now ragged and stained. Will it ever get repaired? Probably not. Yes, I’ll become harder. The virginal innocence seems to have been raped at the hard-doors of reality. But yes, I’ll survive. Maybe, over a period of time, I’ll not even look back on such things. But, today, it was a day of absolute dismay, a day when everything I do was questioned.
Well, if you have read till here, and still willing to come onsite, please do. Just remember, on one day, you too shall face such a situation and maybe, I’ll be around and tell you, “Don’t worry. These things happen.”
Monday, January 09, 2006
My color is Blue!
Took a quiz on this site.
And this was the result:
You're the color blue. You have the three c's in
life--you're cool, caring and confident.
Trustworthy and honest, people are naturally
attracted to you. You're unusually optimistic,
but that makes life all the better. You're an
imaginative person who loves sleeping and
dreaming. Hard-working and determined, you
excell in school. You're everybody's favorite,
and this is because you have this undefined
richness in your personality and attitude.
Mild-tempered and stable. Not to mention very
intelligent. Along with the fact that you're
conservative, you're worried about the
environment. So basically, you're a generous,
dependable and devoted--just the kind of person
everybody needs. Wouldn't it be great if
everybody in the world were like you?
What color are you? (Amazingly detailed & accurate--with pics!)
brought to you by Quizilla
And this was the result:
You're the color blue. You have the three c's in
life--you're cool, caring and confident.
Trustworthy and honest, people are naturally
attracted to you. You're unusually optimistic,
but that makes life all the better. You're an
imaginative person who loves sleeping and
dreaming. Hard-working and determined, you
excell in school. You're everybody's favorite,
and this is because you have this undefined
richness in your personality and attitude.
Mild-tempered and stable. Not to mention very
intelligent. Along with the fact that you're
conservative, you're worried about the
environment. So basically, you're a generous,
dependable and devoted--just the kind of person
everybody needs. Wouldn't it be great if
everybody in the world were like you?
What color are you? (Amazingly detailed & accurate--with pics!)
brought to you by Quizilla
Saturday, January 07, 2006
World is Flat - My thoughts
Last week, I read a book titled, World is Flat. It was a very good work by Thomas L Friedman, trying to explain the globalization that we are living in. He has attributed most of the knowledge to Nandan Nilekhani and Vivek Paul. Infosys and Wipro seem to be present in every other page and Bangalore seems to be there all around. It was quite a change to read about India, as such an attractive place, rather than the usual stuff about corruption, poverty and communalism.
Some things in the book were really worth mentioning. First thing is, where the author describes the method to identify if a country is going to prosper or not. He says, before investing, you need to ask this: “Are the people living in this country dreaming about a future or are they recollecting its past greatness?” When it is the latter, he says, the heydays of the country have ended and it is time that the people living their dreams take over. Think about it. For people like me, growing up in India from the time markets opened up in 1990, the nation has looks like an entirely different one. Politics aside, the India Shining campaign was a huge success. Why? Instead of telling about Gandhi, Nehru and all, it said, what we can do and what we are doing. It did not try to tell us about the greatness of freedom fighters and the sacrifices they made.
Come to think of it: Did Gandhi, Nehru, et. all sacrifice so much to see a country that would honor them for 50 years, or did they do it so that they could drive the nation to the league of developed ones? Somehow, this point seemed to have lost out for half a century and we were living in the larger than life shadows of figures from history rather than honoring those who were continuously propelling India to her destiny of greatness.
Another point that was worth nothing was on the issue of openness: Friedman tells this small tale: There is this person whose family was split during the partition and his part of family ended up in Pakistan while another severed part ended in Mumbai, India. Friendman questioned him about the fact that India seemed to be developing into an IT giant, while Pakistan seemed to be getting world coverage for all the wrong reasons. So, this person replied, something like this: In India, when my relative sees a rich business man sitting in a plush home in Mumbai, he’ll turn to his dad and say, “Someday, I’ll be like him.” In Pakistan, the small kid, seeing a rich businessman will say, “Someday, I’ll kill him!”
Come to thing of it: Despite the rampart corruption, stifling reservation and anachronistic legislation, India is powered by a stifling competition. More importantly, there is a free press and the fundamental right of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Thought is not censured.
In the same week that I read the book, something else strange happened: I was sitting at the client location in UK and the client PM was talking about his trip to India. He was definitely pleased. In fact, he is handling two projects: One from our company, an Indian IT service provider and another one being handled by the client’s own IT department. It seems the second project was over-running the budget and the deadlines seemed like a joke. At one point he said something like this: Maybe we should have given this to you guys itself.
That statement summarized the change in perception: India is not a cheap destination. India and Indians are now seen as an epitome of quality and delivery capabilities. What we promise, we deliver. And this perception is for delivering extremely complicated 24/7/365 enterprise solutions and web solutions being accessed by millions of people, generating billions of dollars in revenue. Howz that metamorphosis for a country that was known for only its elephants, snake charmers and />
Still, like the debate over India Shining campaign, there are problems that we need to address. The rampart corruption, the illiteracy, the caste system and all are going to be issues that the government and the people of the country have to solve. I guess it is time now that the quality of life issues is addresses like a typical business problem for an IT organization. With detailed plans, timelines and budget, I am quite sure that a country that handles the sites like eBay and Yahoo can definitely solve the so called Third World Problems.
But one thing is clear: Behold, India is now awakening and staking her claim to greatness that she always deserved!
Some things in the book were really worth mentioning. First thing is, where the author describes the method to identify if a country is going to prosper or not. He says, before investing, you need to ask this: “Are the people living in this country dreaming about a future or are they recollecting its past greatness?” When it is the latter, he says, the heydays of the country have ended and it is time that the people living their dreams take over. Think about it. For people like me, growing up in India from the time markets opened up in 1990, the nation has looks like an entirely different one. Politics aside, the India Shining campaign was a huge success. Why? Instead of telling about Gandhi, Nehru and all, it said, what we can do and what we are doing. It did not try to tell us about the greatness of freedom fighters and the sacrifices they made.
Come to think of it: Did Gandhi, Nehru, et. all sacrifice so much to see a country that would honor them for 50 years, or did they do it so that they could drive the nation to the league of developed ones? Somehow, this point seemed to have lost out for half a century and we were living in the larger than life shadows of figures from history rather than honoring those who were continuously propelling India to her destiny of greatness.
Another point that was worth nothing was on the issue of openness: Friedman tells this small tale: There is this person whose family was split during the partition and his part of family ended up in Pakistan while another severed part ended in Mumbai, India. Friendman questioned him about the fact that India seemed to be developing into an IT giant, while Pakistan seemed to be getting world coverage for all the wrong reasons. So, this person replied, something like this: In India, when my relative sees a rich business man sitting in a plush home in Mumbai, he’ll turn to his dad and say, “Someday, I’ll be like him.” In Pakistan, the small kid, seeing a rich businessman will say, “Someday, I’ll kill him!”
Come to thing of it: Despite the rampart corruption, stifling reservation and anachronistic legislation, India is powered by a stifling competition. More importantly, there is a free press and the fundamental right of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Thought is not censured.
In the same week that I read the book, something else strange happened: I was sitting at the client location in UK and the client PM was talking about his trip to India. He was definitely pleased. In fact, he is handling two projects: One from our company, an Indian IT service provider and another one being handled by the client’s own IT department. It seems the second project was over-running the budget and the deadlines seemed like a joke. At one point he said something like this: Maybe we should have given this to you guys itself.
That statement summarized the change in perception: India is not a cheap destination. India and Indians are now seen as an epitome of quality and delivery capabilities. What we promise, we deliver. And this perception is for delivering extremely complicated 24/7/365 enterprise solutions and web solutions being accessed by millions of people, generating billions of dollars in revenue. Howz that metamorphosis for a country that was known for only its elephants, snake charmers and />
Still, like the debate over India Shining campaign, there are problems that we need to address. The rampart corruption, the illiteracy, the caste system and all are going to be issues that the government and the people of the country have to solve. I guess it is time now that the quality of life issues is addresses like a typical business problem for an IT organization. With detailed plans, timelines and budget, I am quite sure that a country that handles the sites like eBay and Yahoo can definitely solve the so called Third World Problems.
But one thing is clear: Behold, India is now awakening and staking her claim to greatness that she always deserved!
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